Solo Trip for 8 days! [Article 5: Rishikesh - The place I fell in love with]

The next morning, we decided to rent two scooters to visit nearby popular tourist places. Ayush(Chandigarh) and I were driving on one whereas Sachin(Mumbai) was on another. At first, we thought of driving to Shree Neelkanth Mahadev Temple but it was too far. If we had to go there, we had to compromise on other places which were not acceptable to us.

Finally, we decided to visit Vashishta Gufa Cave which not many people know about. On the way, we stopped at several places to enjoy the spectacular view. The mountains seemed like they were painted with dark green and sun rays were drawn on them carefully. The view was simply breath-taking. I wanted to stop for more time but I had to continue. All of our excitement levels were at the peak. We were laughing, discussing, and enjoying the beautiful scenes as they appeared on the way. Sometimes, a stranger enters our lives to make us happy. We should embrace such moments. After a few minutes, we stopped at a junction where river rafting was about to begin. I saw people carrying a boat on their heads. At a distance, a few people were standing in a group with weird faces posing for a group selfie. The color of the river was simply I cannot describe. It looked different every time a viewing angle was changed. The abandoned bridge that was hanging over the river still looked beautiful.

< It was similar to this but less edited >

We couldn’t hold ourselves back. We had to take pictures. Each of us planned to take pictures sitting in a mediating posture. I wanted to experience what it feels like meditating at the river bank so I handed over the helmet (that had keys in them). Before I closed my eyes, I saw Sachin moving a little further to find the best spot and Ayush followed him. After a few minutes, I came out of the practice and joined them. We enjoyed and took some lovely pictures of each other. Everything was going great until the moment when I realized that the bike key was missing. All of us were in shock. I let out a fake laugh believing that Sachin and Ayush were pulling a prank on me. Ayush thought I was pulling a prank on both of them. We took a few minutes to convince ourselves and each other we really lost the key. GOD… THIS WAS A HELL OF AN EXPERIENCE! There were too many stones and the likelihood of finding the key was negligible. Ayush gave up. Sachin suggested we call the owner and ask for a duplicate key. For a moment, all of us were disappointed because the owner would need more than an hour to reach us even if he left immediately. I wanted to search again. I didn't want to give up that easily. We all agreed and started to recall from the moment I handed the helmet. STEP BY STEP. I thought Ayush saw me handing the helmet that had keys in them. Neither he had seen nor was I responsible enough to remind him. After a careful search, we finally FOUND it. We had a cup of tea and laughed at the moment and drove towards the planned destination.

In the cave, we meditated for a few minutes. Then, we went to see the Arundhati cave which was at a walkable distance. We took some more pictures and I took a video for my vlog(that I never posted). By then, we had exchanged our plans. We wanted to go trekking. I had already reserved a seat and I asked Ayush and Sachin to join me. They did and I am happy that they did!

Then, we drove to enjoy the amazing view from Neer Garh Waterfall. We took some more pictures and videos that I thought were fit for vlogging… you know! ;-). Anyway, we had some maggi and discussed what each of us would do the rest of the evening. Sachin had his plans. Ayush had to buy some warm-wears. After we returned, I had to visit Parmarth Niketan Ashram for the famous Ganga Arthi. I wanted to be part of it from Ram Jhula but I had less time. I couldn’t even visit The Beatles Ashram. I remembered the dialog from #YJHD “Jitna bhi try karo, kuch na kuch toh chhootega hi. Isliye yahin, isi pal ka maza lete hain.” . It made sense! I could connect to it.

I quickly adapted and drove there on time. There were too many people so I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to get a good view but I did. From where I was standing, I was able to see a 180 deg spectacular view. I video called my entire family so that they enjoy it too. When I returned back, I sat with people who had been to many treks before. Each of them had a different yet unique experience that gave me hope that I am going to have my one great experience soon. With a hopeful smile and exciting mental images, I nodded off. I had a peaceful sleep that night!