A Personal Essay

Written by Karma Negi

I can’t pinpoint the source of wanderlust within me, but that desire to travel and see new places has never disappointed me. To continue this streak, my recent trip to Uttarakhand is yet another memory to cherish for a lifetime. This trip was exceptionally fulfilling and left me with the motivation to travel more often. 

After all, I wish to experience many more of these purely blissful moments in life. It taught me that no matter how hard life gets, there will always be times and places that will make you feel beautiful and you’ll be in the happiest mental states 🙂

So let’s just get through our travel story and I’ll try my best to recount the various incredible emotions I experienced during this trip.

During one of our usual phone calls, my friends and I decided to make a trip to a “Pahadi” destination for the 4 day long Diwali break. Our prime purpose was to break the monotonous cycle of city life and to calm the mess in our lives. So we decided to visit the mountains and booked a bus to Dehradun. We started at 5 in the evening and by 11 we reached Dehradun. It was quite chilly there. We went straight to our friend Jigmet’s house and spent the night there. The aura of the place was calm and we could already feel the taste of peace.

The next day, right after waking up, we headed straight to the monastery at Clement Town and had a very holy start to our trip. We made a few koras (circumambulations) around the monastery and had a tasty Tibetan breakfast at one of the restaurants in the compound.

After that we headed to FRI, Dehradun to visit a friend’s relative and also to pick up the car for further travels to higher mountains.

We then made a plan to visit Mussoorie. While heading there, we took a detour from a secret route that wasn’t crowded and it was a peaceful climb up the hill. On the way up, we stopped at many points, waterfalls and at some curves to see the view below and the setting sun. The sky started to turn orangish and it was getting colder. So we decided to take a night halt at Mussoorie and with that our pace slowed down a bit. We went to see the Dalai Hills. The path was very narrow through the dense forest. We kept going and thought that we had lost our way. After some time we reached a view point illuminated with fairy lights and Tibetan prayer flags. We enjoyed the beautiful orange sunset and relaxed in that calm moment.

Next we ordered some maggie and chai to savour more touristy feels. Then it started to get dark, so we headed straight to Mussoorie and booked a room. We freshened up quickly and went for a walk to Mussoorie mall road. It was a beautiful place; the chill in the air was giving Shimla vibes. We walked for an hour on that beautiful road and went for dinner at a cozy wooden mountain restaurant.

The food there was really delicious; probably the best meal of this trip. It was a beautifully designed punjabi style restaurant with wooden interiors. After this we again took a stroll on the Mall road and headed back to our room. After a long time we watched TV together and then ended up dancing happily to Kinnauri and Ladakhi songs. Then we went to sleep.

The next morning was like a dream. It  was utterly calm and the sunrays peeped right through the window. After a long time, we had the opportunity of enjoying “bed tea”. Then we quickly got ready and left the room for our next destination.

We walked through the Mussoorie mall road and headed upward towards Landour, the old British Cantonment. The roads were very congested through the narrow market and we had a tough time driving there. We reached Landour after passing through the market and dense Deodar trees. There we visited the famous bake house and the market.

The locale was scenic with beautiful snow capped mountains at a distance along with the view of dense forests. We walked for few a kilometres and reached the over crowded bakery. After that we walked on calm roads and then reached a place from where we could see Mussoorie down below. There basically isn’t much to see in Landour, this place is meant for experiencing the peace in the mountains and to have some time with your own soul while strolling through the woods. We saw some beautiful mountain homes from outside; they enjoyed the best views.

Thereafter we visited the “Lal Tibba” view point and then left for Dehradun.

The downward drive was scenic, with a bird’s eye view of Dehradun on one side. We headed to FRI and had our lunch there. Then by 4 pm we started for Rishikesh. We took a local bus from ISBT; from there to Rishikesh the distance was some 40 kms. The journey took longer than expected as the bus stopped at many places. We were all in a hurry for we wanted to reach in time for the grand Ganga Aarti. Somehow we reached the Rishikesh bus stop at 5:55 pm and rushed straight to get an auto for Triveni Ghat. The Aarti (prayer session) there occurs at 6pm. Luckily we made it right before the Aaarti began, and incidentally it was Diwali that day. The atmosphere was filled with positive energy. It took us some time to get used to this atmosphere after coming from the calm and cold mountainous zone. We saw the Aarti there and it was definitely grand, with a few priests performing Aarti in the first row, and people standing behind them.

After the Aarti concluded, we sat by the Ghat. There was something different about this place, there was a different kind of peace. We were all sitting together, but no one spoke a word. We sat staring at the Ganga, and we kind of zoned out in that moment. It was magical. For a moment, I forgot everything, my life, my problems, my existence and everything, there was this one moment of tranquility. I felt like I was almost free.

After sitting for an hour, we headed to our rooms and took some rest. We went out in search of food, but as mentioned it was Diwali, so most shops were closed. After roaming under the noise of crackers, we ended up at a beautiful rooftop restaurant. We had some great food, and can say proudly say that we “had a pawty by saving money by not buying crackers”. After that we had Ras Malai and other sweets there for Diwali and went to sleep.

Next morning, we woke up at 6am and headed straight to the ghat. Our purpose was to take the early morning holy dip in the Ganges. It was very cold outside. We reached the ghat and sat there for some time in silence. As the sun was about to rise, we got ready for the holy dip. And with the first rays of sunrise we were inside the holy Ganges, this was a moment of pure bliss, our bodies became relaxed. Initially it was hard to get in as our bodies were not acclimatised to the cold water, but once we got used to it, we were all joyous.

After some time we again sat by the river and did some introspection, the mess of thoughts in my mind was mostly calmed and that was followed by thoughts about my existence and purpose in life. 

We walked by the Ganges for a few kilometres. We sat down again in peaceful contemplation on the natural sand by the river. We were all very happy in this moment.

Then it was time for breakfast, we had chai and parathas and waited for our other friends. Now after some spiritual attainment, it was time for some adventure and thrill. And what could be a better place than Rishikesh for river rafting. So we headed straight to Shivpuri and booked a raft for our group. They took us upstream in a cab and this scenic route was giving Himachal vibes. We reached the starting point and got right by the banks of Ganga. We got geared up in safety jackets and helmets. The captain briefed us on the instructions to be followed during the course of our journey. And this particular guy was very dramatic, he literally said “if you listen to my instructions, you’ll all have fun, else your bodies will be found after weeks by the rescue team, that too if you get lucky”. This did scare us, but we were in no mood for fear, so we excitedly got on the raft and the adventure began.

The initial part of the route had calm currents so they taught us what to do on each command. They also mentioned the photo video recording facility whereby they could shoot our videos on a GoPro and provide us with the footages. It was costly, ₹3200 for 8 people. Whilst in the middle of this river, we we did not have any bargaining powers, so we had to agree on that price.

The route was very calm and we lost all fears instigated by our guide. We moved slowly with the pace of the Ganga. After some time, we encountered the first rapid. It was quite scary, the waves were high and the raft was shaking. We were supposed to stay silent in this rapid so that we didn’t miss out on the guide’s instructions. It was kind of fun, we were paddling hard and the water splashes on us felt so good. We encountered calm currents whereby we took photos and videos of ourselves. We then jumped into the river with our life jackets on. Floating in the cool waters of the Ganga was relaxing and therapeutic.

We did back flips in groups of three, wherein we experienced a momentary blackout. We encountered more rapids and slow waters and finally our expedition ended at one of the ghats. Now the plan was to relax and have a peaceful time on the banks of the Ganga. So we headed to the most recommended cafe in Rishikesh, the (Om) Freedom Cafe. We encountered  beautiful huts and markets on our way to the cafe. The cafe was aesthetically pleasing and it had the appearance of many cafés within one cafe. There were different levels and styles of seating inside, but the problem was that this place was very crowded. We had to wait for some time to get a table; nonetheless the seating arrangement was beautiful with the view of the Ganga. We had some food, discussed life and then finally by evening started towards the Parmarth Ghat Ganga Aarti of Rishikesh. There is a huge statue of Shiva at the ghat. We witnessed a comparatively larger crowd here than that at Triveni Ghat. There were many saints and disciples here, all dressed in yellow. Their leader made a grand entry accompanied by a group of yellow robed people. He interacted with the devotees seated in the first row and then they sat together and started singing Bhajans. After that the female preacher, a foreigner, gave teachings about life, happiness and purpose. Then the leader gave teachings and offered new year greetings to the Gujaratis. We then attended a grand Aarti of the Ganga and left once it got over. On our way back, we stopped by at a place where we had simple and tasty food. With full tummies, we reached our stay and went to rest, and hence concluded our second day in Rishikesh.

We had a slow start to day 3. We woke up at 8am, had breakfast and packed our stuff. We went to the ghat as a few people from our group wanted to take Ganga Jal to their homes. We crossed the Janki Setu and reached the other side of the river. We quickly reached the ghat and filled water. We had plans to go to the Beatles Aashram, but due to time constraints, we couldn’t visit it. We boarded the bus at 5, and with satisfied hearts, journeyed back to Delhi.

This was definitely one of the best trips of my life. There was utter satisfaction in whatever we did. We hadn’t made any plans, and we just went with the flow. That is why we were able to enjoy every moment more. There was no rush to see many places. There was joy, calmness, satisfaction and ‘mountainous peace’ at every point of this trip. It really was a perfect mountain escapade!