Ever drowned in a rollercoaster??

I almost forgot about the Travelogue, until Chhotu reminded me the other day. I apologize for the inconvenience, and without delay let me continue.

So we were in Haridwar last time, after which the cars went straight to Rishikesh. Meandering terrain, oily food and sensitive tummies made the trip not so worthy of remembrance. Once we reached there, we took some time to inquire about rafting. After a lot of bargaining, we finally settled for the 26 km rafting, with night stay at their camp, with dinner, breakfast and lunch, all for Rs.1250 per head. I guess it was all more than worth it.

Now the problem with trips involving so much travelling are Nature's calls. Nature has such uncany timing, that its almost like a test, a punishment for our sins. Nature must be saying, "Hmm, so it was you who threw that biscuit wrapper ehh?? Take this!!" And no amount of medicinal, mental and gastromic precautions can prepare you for Nature's missed calls. Ignore them and you're in for it. Fortunately we had just been to Haridwar and all our sins were washed away, and the ones we commited after that weren't so bad. So the network was down mostly, but when the call did come through, there was always a place of worship nearby. :)

A long bumpy ride later, we were there. While the guy was giving us instructions, we were all joking around, he told us what to do in case this happenned or that. We listened half-heartedly. 'He's just telling us as a formality, like when a doctor tells you how much can go wrong in a procedure. It's definitely not gonna happen'. How very wrong we were then!!

After the initial few paces, when I was demoted due to my bad paddling(I have no qualms it, though I still feel he was a !@#$%). Good Afternoon, Rollercoaster, topsy turvy.. these aren't names of cocktails we had, but some rapids that we encountered. Rapids are classified into classes depending on how much you regret having gotten into the raft in the first place.

My raft toppled over the rollercoaster. Though most of you who've been to Rishkesh and didn't topple, will probably be giggling and ridiculing us, it was a brilliant experience. If you ask me, agar tu gira nahin, to tune asli mazaa nahin liya. And this isn't sour grapes, I am being very honest.

We were trapped under the raft and were only midway into the rapid. So when I did somehow get away from the raft to breathe all I got was half a mouthful. All my senses were heightened enormously. And my stomach was filled with Gangajal(guess the ones one my raft I needed cleansing from the inside too). In an attempt to save my life I grappled for anything I could latch onto. I think I got someones index finger, Think God, it didn't come off. Else there would be bigger problems. Finally when we got to the end of the rapid, I had a paddle in my right hand with someone on the other end and the index finger was replaced by a palm to my left. Though it was scary, when I close my eyes and relive that experience, in retrospect I wouldn't have changed it one bit.

The !@#$% then came to out rescue, and he seemed very less of a !@#$% then. :). Some had to be saved by the other raft. There were a few more rapids, but this time with our heightened sense of self, we were paddling better and no incidents followed. We did go overboard to float around, and jumped off an 18 foot cliff(weightlessness is thrilling), but those seem secondary now.

When we weren't paddling for our lives, we took time to take in God's creation at its very best.
Blinking as be an insult to all that we witnessed. No wonder sanyasis of yore came to these places, never to leave. The serenity and calm is endearing.

Much more to come. But later.