Carnivalesque Camping by the Ganges

River Rafting Rishikesh

Finding a green, serene and exotic location near Rishikesh is not a big task since the whole region is nestled in the best of the Himalayan trail. But, it becomes difficult to choose one from the myriad of such beautiful locations strewn all over the holy city of Rishikesh. Our brains went through this painful exercise once we reached this city of senses. The purpose was to relish the great religious fervor centered on the city of Rishikesh`. God forbid us from skipping such sacred places in the beautiful stretches of the Himalaya. But, secretly, we were contemplating a great river rafting exercise in Ganges. That would have meant our sacred dip at the holy Ganges! Thus, began our search for a perfect rafting in Shivpuri and camping location and finally we zeroed on a beautiful camp site near Shivpuri with a spectacular river bank to compliment the style of the arrangements.

The white sand upon the bank resembled that of a beach and the atmosphere around was no different from a beach side carnival. The sand that shone like gold when we arrived soon changed color like a chameleon and the beach looked like a sheet of silver as soon as the moon appeared at the horizon. The green hills no longer looked green and the darkness outlining those majestic hills gradually descended upon this well maintained camp site. But, the evening was lit up with a warm bonfire and never for a second did we curse the lanterns by our bed sides. At times, the absence of electricity can be welcoming too! There was no dearth of things we required for that special night by the Ganges -food, music and warm hospitality! A bunch of friendly fellow campers to our company the camp felt like a comfortable party. This was just because, almost by 13 kilometers upstream from Rishikesh on the road to Deoprayag, there we found our route to salvation. An ideal stress busting exercise we would like to call it.

But, do we need to mention how romantic it is to stare at the sky and hear the sound of the mighty Ganges in a moonlit night? You will understand it better when we tell you how we spent the rest of the night- clean Alpine tents with roll up windows and warm blankets to beat away the river side chill.  But, we couldn’t sleep away that exciting night as a completely new experience awaited us in the violent rapids of the river nearby.  It’s not that we are born adventurers but what’s the harm in trying out a mild rapid like Sweet Sixteen (Grade-1)?

But, till we encountered the rapids, River Rafting Rishkesh and the camps offered us an ultimate opportunity to go private with nature at its best. Our best camp site treat was the beach volley ball game we that we enthusiastically took part at but saluting the game spirit we never cried on our defeat. We won in any way because nothing can go wrong at such a beautiful place. The only thing that vanquished was our tempered bodies and souls! And to a certain extent our fear of the wild, untamed rivers! Some rejuvenation amidst the Himalayas was necessary and the camping happened just in right time. Right here at Shivpuri!