RiShiKeSh & BaCk

back to delhi.... back to summers.. back to heat... this weekend seemed longer then it really was....

i jumped from a 22 feet high wall into the ganges....
i travelled in the lovely UP roadways and Uttranchal roadways buses for over 12 hours...
i slept most of the time during time mentioned above in just about 20% of the space that i usually need to sleep...
i waited at har ki pauri for the aarti to begin for over 2 hours...
i saw the friday sun setting in delhi...
saturday morning sun-rise in Rishikesh...
saturday morning sun-set in Haridwar...
and i slept the entire day on sunday....
not to forget that I got back my oldie goldie Maruti 800 after the grand work done on it....

too much to do for a weekend... here is how it all started....had planned for a rafting trip.... yes.. i went for one about a month ago... so what... second trip to the ganges was planned for the weekend of Friday the 13th.... left home around 2200 hrs with Waquar and Tushar and in about an hours time.. reached the ISBT only to realise that the next.. and last 2*2 push back deluxe bus to rishikesh was to leave the ISBT at 0000 hrs.... almost every bus was going to rishikesh.. and we three did not bother.... and to our unpleasent surprise that last bus did not turn up :( and we were left with no option but to take a up roadways to rishikesh... fare just about 116 bucks to rishikesh.. comfort... none... we still planned our way towards the last seats of the bus and tried to lay down so that we could just pretend to be asleep when someone comes and we can continue that way till the end of our journey... but fate had something else in mind... that damn bus was full.. and I had to move from almost lying down to sitting on two seats... and continue that way till rishikesh.... trust me it was not the most comfortable way to travel...

we reached haridwar.. in the morning.. around 0530 hours... and it was a wonderful temprature there... saw the ganges when i woke up..and a cool breeze welcomed me as well... and this time i did not get back to sleep... was awake till rishikesh with my camera in front of my face so that i could take some good pics.. lets see what have i managed to capture when the fotos come....
in rishikesh around 0600 hrs.. with no shops open... asked a few rafting agents about the status.. and managed to get some place in a raft... from shiv puri to rishikesh..though i reeeeeally wanted to do that 27 km stretch.. but no space... so 450 bucks.. and shivpuri to rishikesh is what we had to settle for....

went to the river banks after we finalised everything... and stayed there for a good one hour... what a feeling that was.. really cool strong winds.... and the sound of water flowing in its full glory.... why is delhi not on the banks of ganga i was wondering..... and then realised that it would have the same fate as the yamuna... so i dropped the idea of doing something to get it closer to Delhi...

started for shivpuri at 0930 hours... and to give us company were two foreigners and one fella who was an indian but his accent highlighted his amount of conversation with the two UK based friends he had... Adams and Caroline.. and this guy was Charandeep....

this journey from rishikesh to shivpuri was interesting too.. as i was sitting at the back of a Tata 207 ( a small pickup truck) and it was fun standing there and enjoying the breeze hit my face while our driver was negotiating sharp turns on the hills and i working hard to hold on to the bars to save myself from falling :)

anyway... we reached the place from where we had to start... used a specially designed pump to inflate the lovely blue coloured raft !!! brand new bright red life jackets.. and smart looking yellow and blue paddles....

we were in the river at 1145 hours finally... first time for waquar and tushar.. and both of them were visibly excited... third time for me.. and i was looking forward to a great experience again... the water level was high.. and the current sharper.. but to my surprise the rapids were easier this time.. coz the raft was just gliding over them.. comparing the exp to the previous ones.. it was not as exciting... but the over experience was not any less then the ones i had before...
i managed to overcome my fear of height and water (combined) and managed to jump from a wall 22 feet high into water this time... i could feel my heart beating just before i jumped... but once i jumped.. i could do that again.... i probably would next season....

finished rafting by 1430 hours.... and were off to haridwar after having a light lunch at madhuban restaurant.... we were feeling very very sleepy... and had a good power nap... all three of us on our way to haridwar.. it was terribly hot.... and once in haridway we were only looking for a shade near the Har ki Pauri to rest... we managed to find a good place below one of the bridges.. and sat there for a good one hour.. before deciding to check out the local market and have lassi... (which was my idea) somehow i know all the good and inexpensive places to eat.. not only in delhi but outside too :)... anyway.. an hour later... me and tushar were back in water.. for a holi dip at the "har Ki pauri". the flow of water was too high.. and i could barely manage to stand even though i was holding the safty chain tightly... anyway.. managed to kill some good time there and washed away a lot of my sins... before changing to fresh clothes... looking for a good place to sit and then enjoying the Evening Aarti !!!! What a lovely exp. that was....

starting back to delhi soon after that... and was back home at 0300 hrs early sunday morning.... so much for the second rafting and a religious trip to haridwar and rishikesh !!!!
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sunday evening spent in taking care of my old 800.... it was with the mechanic for about two weeks now.. where it was being restored... new paint... new interiors... an overhauled engine.... suspension and steering overhauled... its moving as good as new now... i decided to put in new tyres as well.... total cost of 5 tyres after the wheel balancing and alignment came to 5600 bucks... and the total expenditure onthe car about 30K INR... i think its worth it... and definitely better then going for a new car...

will post some pictures of the new car too... soon....

so much for now.... will write more... waiting for the fotos to be developed soon.. lets see how soon i can get them printed and scanned !!!!