The Himalayas, the mind-blowing marvel …!

The color of the Ganges water keeps changing according to the force of its flow …

Our guide Ayyavu told us that we had to start at 7 a. m. if we are to reach Rampur before dark, stay there overnight and leave for Kedarnath the next day morning. The cooks who accompanied us readied our breakfast at 5. 30 a.m. itself and had packed our lunch also. Many of the members of our group had gone for bath in Ganges River. We had brought more than ten dresses for each due to our doubts whether we would be able to wash our clothes while touring. But after reaching there, we realized that bus travel would not be comfortable with such heavy luggage. So, we decided to leave some of our luggage at the hotel itself.

We require proper guidance during this kind of tours. It is more important that we follow the instructions of our guide to the letter. We left Haridwar at 8 .30 a.m. after breakfast and reached Rishikesh, which lies at a distance of 30 kms from Haridwar at 9.30 a.m. It is in Rishikesh that we see Himalayas for the first time during this pilgrimage. Some formalities had to be gone through in Rishikesh. Tourists going to Gangothri, Yamunothri, Kedarnath, Badrinath etc. have to get permission, submitting details about their name, age and address. Efficient travels agencies take care of these formalities. Our program was to visit sites in Rishikesh on our return journey. During our journey, we enjoyed the beautiful sight of the flowing Ganges River and the tourists engaged in White water rafting.

There are no words of description that can do justice to the bewitching beauty of the Ganges River. The color of the Ganges water keeps changing according to the force with which it flows. At some stretches, we feel like talking to her! At some other stretches, we are afraid even! Sometimes we even sympathize with her for her incessant running! As and when we proceed, we see the Ganges on one side and the Himalayas on the other. We couldn’t even think of closing our eyes for a minute due to the fear that we might miss some beautiful sight! We reached Devaprayag after an exciting and enjoyable travel.