“Bungee jumping” The two words together are enough to get
the blood pumping in your dormant veins and you instinctively say “YES” when a
friend invites you for a trip to experience the highest bungee jump in India.
This was a trip with extreme adventure in a relatively short span of two days
in the month of May 2015. These two days lead me to my first ever bungee jump
and an extreme river rafting session in the lap of Mother Nature. It was a trip of ups and downs in the holy land of Rishikesh but now I can unwind and
write about the experience.
The trip began with a
pre-booked flight from Mumbai to Delhi on the evening of May 01, 2015 with my
colleague Viren and his friend Pratik. We had pre-booked the tickets for an
overnight luxury bus service from Delhi to Rishikesh at 11 pm. The bus took off
at midnight from Anand Vihar (Opposite Pacific Mall) and we made it to
Rishikesh bus station at around 6.30 am. Rishikesh bus station is nearly 3-4
kms away from the main Rishikesh tourist area but it’s fairly easy to hire a
rickshaw (three wheeler public vehicle) to take you to the hub/town near Laxman
Jhula.
We reached our pre-booked hotel by 7.00 am and were refused
early check-in so our dreams of getting a peaceful few hours of sleep were
shattered. Nevertheless, the excitement of a long river rafting session in a
few hours was overwhelming. We dumped our bags in the hotel & took off for
a morning walk along the banks of river Ganga (Ganges).
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| The Beautiful first view of Holy Maa Ganga |
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| Ram Jhula |
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| Ram Jhula - from the other end |
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| We ended up at Sita Ghat which is on other side of Ram Jhula |
It was a beautiful view all around and it was a special
moment when I first felt the cold water of River Ganga (considered to be the
holiest of the rivers in India). I quickly made a few calls back home to inform my
whereabouts and also pass on the blessings from Maa Ganaga to my loved ones. We
were enjoying the early morning breeze & sound of peaceful Ganges in front
of us while people were enjoying their early morning dip in the holy
river or a jog on the banks as well. I decided that next time, I’ll
definitely indulge in a long walk followed by a fresh dip in the water.
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| The beach - riverside |
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| Holy water - cant get any purer than this |
We lost track of time and we had to rush back to our hotel
as we were scheduled for a 24 km long river rafting session at 9 am. We were allotted
a room where we quickly freshened up, changed and got in a cab waiting for us
to take us to the rafting start point. We made a brief halt at the rafting main
office near Laxman Jhula to quickly sign off the mandatory waiver forms and we
were hurried off to the rafting start location in another vehicle with our raft
mounted on its rooftop.
Some information on Rafting at Rishikesh.
There are numerous rafting service operators/agents in
Rishikesh who will help you enroll in one of the rafting options in Rishikesh.
To simplify the rafting options, one
can simply differentiate them by the distance or duration of
time you will spend in the water.
Each rafting option begins at a distance from Rishikesh and
ends at Rishikesh. There are four well known rafting options summarized in
table below:
Start Point
|
Distance in Kms (Approx.)
|
Approx Time in Hours
|
Grades
|
Suitable for
|
Brahmapuri
|
8 - 10
|
1.5 – 2.5
|
II, III
|
Children
|
Shivpuri
|
16 - 17
|
3 - 4
|
II, III, III plus
|
Beginners
|
Marine Drive
|
25 - 27
|
4 – 5
|
II, III, IV
|
Experienced
|
Kaudaliya
|
35 - 36
|
7 – 8
|
II, III, IV, IV plus
|
Expert
|
The water rapids are classified in different grades as
follows by Rishikesh Tourism website: Rishikeshtourism.in
River Water Grade
Grade I : Easy, small waves. No obstacles.
Grade II : Moderate difficulty with clear passages.
Grade III : Difficult, high irregular waves, narrow passages require precise maneuvering.
Grade IV : Difficult, powerful waves. Very precise maneuvering required.
Grade V : Extremely difficult, violent, highly congested.
Note:
i. The “Approx. Time” includes travelling time from Rishikesh to Rafting point by vehicle and back to Rishikesh.
ii. The suitability of different rafting options is purely dependent on one’s physical condition and appetite for adventure. In my opinion, most people with decent physical condition can manage upto grade IV.
iii. As on May 2015, the cost of rafting varies from INR 400 – 1000 (including rafting vehicle drop charges to rafting point) for different rafting routes.
iv. Though it is not advisable, but you can carry essential stuff like mobile phones, cameras, loose cash etc with you and keep it in a “DRY bag” which is available in all the rafts and get it back at the end of rafting.
Getting back to our rafting experience, we introduced
ourselves to 5 young lads who were gonna be our rafting partners for today as
we were driven through curvy mountain roads for nearly an hour to reach the
start point. The SUV carrying 10 of us ( 8 rafters & 2 rafting guides) was
driven swiftly towards our destination and we could see the white water of
river Ganges on our right side throughout the drive. We passed by the river
rafting start points of Brahmapuri & Shivpuri and made it to Marine Drive
by 10.00 am. We were given life vests, helmets and rafting paddles while the
raft was lowered from vehicle to the banks of river.
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| Viren & Pratik - Aside our Raft on the SUV carrying us till marine drive |
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| & we suited up |
After a quick safety check by rafting instructors for all
the participants, it was time for a quick 5-10 minutes instruction session by
the lead rafting guide. He explained to us in brief the common instructions he
was going to shout out aloud and what we were supposed to do against each of
those instructions which were fairly simple to understand and implement. We
were asked to keep our valuables in the “Dry bag” as we got inside the raft and
explained the basics of proper seating positions and paddling techniques.
Once everyone was settled in their positions, the rafting
instructors asked us to seek blessings of River Ganges and we all shouted out
aloud together “Ganga mayya ki jai”
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| Thats the rest of our crew - funny guys they were |
Now this was the first ever rafting experience for me while almost all of participants in the raft had some prior experience with rafting.
Considering this, I should have been sitting at a comparatively safe position
in middle or the end of raft. However, when the rafting instructor asked who
wants to lead the raft, I instinctively seized the opportunity and found myself
right in front seat of a mighty adventure. Thankfully, Viren who had some good
prior rafting experience was also in the front seat and he assured me that this
is the best position to enjoy the rafting.
The rafting began at around 10:30 am and it was a
breath-taking experience when the raft collided with some small rapids. I
adjusted and re-adjusted my sitting position until I was comfortable enough and
by then we started getting some fantastic grade II & III rapids. All of us
were drenched in cold water and we loved it. The lead instructor sat at the end
of raft and navigated wonderfully while giving us instructions and variety of
information such as number of rapids we are going to encounter, grade of rapids
and the interesting names of the rapids.
Soon enough, there was a wonderful grade I rapid (Body
surfing) and the instructor asked us to jump in the river and hold the raft
while half submerged in the river. This was a wonderful experience we
thoroughly enjoyed for a few minutes before getting back in the rafts.
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| Viren was quickly off the raft |
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| Pratik followed next - in a much holier form (We call this pic as Babaji walking on water) |
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| I jumped too - slipped on take off though |
Rapids after rapids were crossed and we were covering good
distance in no time. People in the back of raft were not enjoying as much as in
the front so the rafting positions were changed every now & then so that
all of us get equal chance to face the rapids from the front. It was a tiring
experience for sure as paddling swiftly in the forceful water was not an easy
task but the instructor did a wonderful job with regular breaks to regain the
energy and allowing us to take a dip in the freezing river wherever it was
safe.
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| Adventure 1 - Done |
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| And we Float |
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| Smiles all around |
We were almost at the end of our rafting stretch when we saw
herds of and people and various rafts gathered at the right hand side corner of
the river. We were explained that this was a cliff jumping point where anyone
who wishes to can climb on a decent cliff and jump in the flowing river. Looked
pretty fun & simple from afar as people jumped happily one after another
and we all rushed to do the same. Carrying some money with you is important at this
juncture since there are a variety of small vendors on the bank of river
serving all kinds of mouth watering snacks ( Maggie noodles, corn, bhajiyas,
pakodas etc) and something to quench the thirst (water, tea, coffee, lime juice
etc) as well after a rigorous rafting
session so far. This is where you need the cash, so better carry some.
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| There were small waterfalls as well |
There was a huge unregulated queue leading up to the biggest
of the cliff. It took me 10 minutes but finally it was my turn to jump and
that’s when most of the people (including me) skip a heartbeat. The seemingly
simple and not so large cliff jump suddenly turns into a intimidating jump when
you see the huge river from atleast 20 feet above. Anyway, I didn’t have much
time to react as there was herd of crowd waiting behind me so I had to back off
or jump on. And jump on I did, and what a jump it was. The life jacket gets you
to the surface in no time but still you are left well out of breath, although with a
huge grin on your face. All of us repeated the cliff jump again in order to get
the moments captured on video as well.
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| Scared - before the jump |
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| that's how high it was (Random pic -That's not me) |
We got back to our raft by 12.30 pm and made it to the end
of rafting session after crossing some small rapids by 1.00 pm. The instructors
asked us to help carry the raft uphill from the river banks to the road and we
did so. The raft was loaded in another vehicle and we were driven for 10
minutes to the reach the rafting office near Laxman Jhula (Rishikesh).
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| The entire team - at the rafting end point |
We slowly walked towards our hotel which was another 1-2 kms
away and stopped for a quick lunch session on the way to have some delicious
much needed food.
The afternoon was reserved for a well-deserved sleep after a
sleepless last night. We had planned to visit one of the evening aartis’s
(prayers) at a temple on the banks of river but we could get out of the hotel
only after sunset and missed the chance of attending the holy ceremony.
Nevertheless, we decided to visit Laxma Jhula and surrounding areas and enjoy a
cup of coffee at one of the beautiful cafe at the edge of the hill overlooking
the river.
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| Temple on the way to Laxman Jhula |
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|
The rigorous amount of energy you need to put in for a long
river rafting session was pretty evident with paining muscles all around the
body and it was a tiring affair to get back to the hotel after a long walk. We
were supposed to be in good shape for another exhilarating session of adventure
tomorrow so we decided to get some rest and call it a day.
Next morning was just another day but one of the most
meaningful days of my life. I was about to embark upon a uncharted journey and
encounter variety of emotions previously unknown to me. It was a day when there
will be certain moments when I was most alive and felt every breath was worth
enjoying and making the most of. Today, I jump form 272 feet in the air with
nothing but a giant rubber band tied on my legs and a sense of faith in my
heart.
Something about bungee jumping and other much coveted
activities at Rishikesh apart from river rafting
A quick search on Rishikesh tourism website reveals the
following:
Bungee jumping in Rishikesh is the highest bungee jumping
facility in India at 83 meters (272 feet) which is designed and operated on a
daily basis by professionals from New Zealand and ex-Indian army officers.
Apart from Bungee jumping, there are a couple of other milder activities like
Giant swing from 83 meters and flying fox. These doses of extreme adventure are
provided under a banner of “Jumping heights” which is the only one of its kind
in Rishikesh. The booking process is fairly simple as you have a online advance
payment options and booking a jump slot in advance. We had numerous
conversations & email exchanges with the Jumping Heights personnel who were
courteous & thoroughly helpful throughout the process. A noteworthy thing
is that these guys have had thousands of jumps with zero accidents so far and
that’s all because of their intense care for safety and zero tolerance for
errors. I’ve been through a decent share of adventurous activities in India but
the safety checks at this place were top notch in comparison with any other
places in India. The rates for different
activities as on May 2015 were as follows:
Bunjee jump – INR 3000
Giant Swing – INR 2500
Flying fox – INR 1500 (if done with two other people) or INR
2500 (solo)
All three – INR 6500
Note: there are also combo discounts for any two activities
Video & certificate charges – INR 750 per activity and
further discounts for 2/3 activities DVD
Back to our Bunjee experience
We got ready quickly by 8 am and set out of the hotel for
the adventure. We reached the bunjee jumping office by 8.15 am only to be
disappointed. We had pre-booked our adventure package session but we were not
informed about pre-booking the transportation from Rishikesh to the Bunjee
station which is approx. 25 kms in a small village known as Mohan Chatti.
Jumping Heights also provide the transportation in form of their private AC
buses from Rishikesh to Bunjee station and back for a nominal sum of INR 250.
The problem is that all these buses were to be pre-booked as well, especially if
you are travelling on a weekend. We were told to reach bunjee station by 9 am
but we had no transportation. So I set out on the streets to negotiate a deal
with local cabs/rickshaws while my friends continued requesting the guys at
jumping heights office to help us.
The local cabs were quoting outrageous amount so we decided
to rent bikes and ride there ourselves. After a reasonable search, I located a
dealer and struck a deal for two scooters (a nominal price of INR 700 for both)
and we were all set to roll by 9.00 am after completing the rental formalities.
The guys at Jumping heights office were kind enough to provide us a quick
direction instruction and a location map for our convenience.
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| And we Ride the mountains.. Thats Adventure in itself |
After a quick and wonderful ride through the narrow mountain
roads of Rishikesh, we made it to Jumping Heights office at Mohan Chatti.
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| That exhilarating first view - See the yellow thingy on the left side just below the board |
The
nerves were taking over and the heart was beating faster with excitement. I
knew we were late so I rushed straight to the booking office and I was turned
away in a second by the staff. They said that bungee jumping slots for the day
were all booked and no more slots available. I explained our situation & a fact that we had made advance reservations with partial advance payment as
well. We were promptly introduced to the operations manager Mr. Dev who was
co-operative enough to let us complete the activities since we had pre-booked
but the problem was that we were told that it will take atleast 3-4 pm for our
turn for the jump. It was a devastating news and I explained him that I have a
flight to catch at 4.00 pm from Dehradun but he expressed his inability to help.
However,
as a consolation, he offered us to complete Giant Swing and Flying Fox
immediately and maybe give up on Bunjee jumping since we were short on time. The formalities were done and
balance money was paid for all three activities. While we were waiting our
turn, I received an SMS which was third and biggest shock of the day. My 4.00
pm flight from Dehradun to Delhi was re-scheduled to 7.00 pm. I was furious at
the last minute re-scheduling as I also had a connecting 8.00 pm flight from
Delhi to Mumbai. While I was pondering over options & recovering from the
situation, it was time for Giant Swing so we had to rush to the bunjee station
leaving all our stuff (mobiles, wallets etc) back in the bunjee office. By 11
pm, we were at the actuall bunjee jump station queued up behind 10 other
seemingly nervous people awaiting their turn to jump.
The Jumping experience.
The jumping bridge is approximately half a kilometre away
from the jumping office (where you book a jump slot, pay the cash, get some
light food and wait your turn) Each participant is weighed & the weights
are noted on their hands with markers before you walk to the jump bridge. A
group of approximately 10-15 people is present at any period of time at the
other end of jump bridge who are sent one after another based on their weight
categories. The concept is simple as they have three different categories of
bunjee ropes for three categories of weights and they try to clear all people
of same weight category before changing the ropes.
The actual jump bridge is same for bunjee jump as well as
giant swing so these jumps are performed alternatively one after another. I was
the first one from our group to walk down from the holding area to the jumping
point and the feeling was nothing but exhilarating. I was greeted by one of the
operators at the jumping end of the bridge who explained me about the safety
features, how will be the experience of jump, where I will feel the strains
during by jump, how to relax and take the leap etc. All the while I was being
explained and harnessed up, my focus was on the guy who was just about to do
the bungee jump before by turn for giant swing. It was scary to see someone
jump off the bridge merely a few feet away from me. My body harness and weight
was reconfirmed by a senior operator before I was slowly escorted to the end of
bridge where I was given some final words of advice and asked to pose for the
camera while I was seated on a small podium just at the end of the bridge. The
moment is always etched in your memory when you first see the vastness of open
space and nothing between you and the grandeur of nature
apart from a petty rope tied to your chest. From heron, there is no turning
back and you just wait for the countdown from the instructors. Three.. Two..
One. Go…
Well in my case, I never got to hear One.. and Go.. as I was
already off the bridge by the time instructor shouted Two.. The jump itself was
literally a leap of faith in all its sense for the fact that there is
definitely a free-fall of few seconds, when you skip a heartbeat or two and just
hang on to the dear rope wishing for the free fall to stop. Although it’s just a matter of few seconds before the free fall is
broken, and then you are hanging on a rope swinging at good speed from one end of the
valley to the other. You get your breath back and suddenly you are shouting out
aloud on top of your voice declaring the successful completion of jump to no
one but yourself and probably your nervous friends at the other end of the
bridge awaiting their turn next. After a few swings, the pace of the swing
cools off and you are lowered to the rocky dry river bed, where there are official people
ready to guide you down to the safety. The process takes just over a minute but
that’s one of the most lively minutes of your life for sure. When on ground,
you are helped to quickly get out of the harness and provided a bottle of
mineral water and a neat small badge stating “I’ve got guts”.
Enough words, lets watch the jump video..
Enough words, lets watch the jump video..
Then begins the heartbeat recovery process while you wait
for your friends and once we all were re-grouped, there were nothing but
smiling faces all around. We were informed by the operators on the ground to
trek uphill through a specific path which leads directly to the bungee office.
It was a tiring climb of over 20 minutes and we were back in bungee office by 11.30
am.
Next, we were greeted again by the operations manager and
the staff who asked us to be seated and wait for our next turn for flying fox.
I was troubled with the thoughts of my cancelled flight and I was wondering
about the various options. After waiting for half an hour, a slot opened up for
bunjee jump and luckily I was sitting right in front of the reception so when I
was asked if I would like to jump well before the expected time, it was the
only unexpected miracle I needed for the day.
I passed on the good news to my friends and we were quickly
on our way to the jump bridge again, this time for the bungee jump. We went
through the same process yet again of waiting and watching people before us
jumping off one by one until it was our turn. When my call for jump arrived, I
was more happy then nervous as I had lost hopes for the bunjee jump due to the
my flight issues but here I was actually on the brink of my jump. The main
harness was tied to the legs this time with a secondary body harness while I
was greeted by the jump operators and given a separate set of instructions.
All the while, a funny yet scary incident was going on in
the background and I can’t help but mention it here. Well the jump operators
have a nice little music setup at the end of jump bridge where they prepare the
people for jump. Usually the songs that were played were all fast paced popular Hindi/English songs to keep everyone up there in high spirits and pumped up, but
just when it was our turn to do the freaking bungee jump, the song that was
being played was a popular hindi song titled “Ibn-e-batuta” from movie “Ishqiya”.
Usually the song is a charming and a fantastic mood setting song but it
contains a line which says the following:
Agle mod pe, maut khadi hai (Death is standing on the next
turn)
Arey marne ki bhi, kya jaldi hai (what’s the hurry to die ?)
Well, that’s the last thing you would like to listen just
before an upside down jump from 272 feet in the air, with your fate hanging in
the quality of an elastic rope. Fortunately, for us we were an optimistic
bunch of idiots and there was no turning back now.
Martina the jump instructor greeted me and certainly helped
a bit with her charm to divert the fear with her precise instructions and a
joyous way of conducting the operations up there. I remember her asking me to
not think much before the jump and I instinctively answered that I’ll give her
one of the best jumps of the day. She was all smiles and shook my hand saying
“that’s a deal”
After all the safety checks in place, I was escorted to the
edge with 1/4th of my shoes off the edge. Just one look down was
enough to say to myself WTF are you doing dude. But, there’s a yellow spot
right in front of your eyes at a distance and I was asked to focus on it and
jump towards it rather then looking straight down. The countdown began again,
three.. two.. one.. go
Well, I cannot describe the feeling in words. You really
need to feel it. The best of the writers cannot describe the feeling
for you, let alone a part time hobby blogger like me do it. I can only advise, no, I insist to try it once in your lifetime
(of-course if you are physical and emotionally fit, and you do the jump at a
right place like this with high regards for safety) A video will be able to describe the experience better. I hope it motivates at least a few of the readers to consider it on their bucket list.
Next, the operators at the river bed guide you down to
safety and let you rest on a flat bed while they unhook you off your safety
harnesses. As opposed to the popular notion, there are no bruises to your legs
or any sprain in your legs or spine. The only noticeable problem for most
people after the jump are red eyes and a light dizzy head which is a temporary
phenomenon due to excess of blood flow to your head. The only thing difficult
after this bungee jump is the tedious hike uphill and back to the jumping office.
We decided to skip the flying fox as we wanted to end the
adventure on a high note and not spoil the adrenaline rush that bungee jump
provided us. We met the operations manager, thanked him for his support and
decided to leave ASAP. I got busy on calls with numerous flight agents to
cancel my existing flights and re-book new flights while my buddies finished
the formalities and got our jump DVD’s and certificates. We bid goodbye to the
lovely place by 2.00 pm and as we left, I just wished there were more of these
all round India.
It was a quick ride back to rishikesh where we dropped off
our rented scooters, picked up our luggage and left for the bus stop.
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| The valley |
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| The roads |
Sadly, it
was end of wonderful 2 days of adventure for me as I shook hands and said
goodbyes to Viren and Pratik while they continued to their adventure in
Nainital (Paragliding) and Jim Corbett national park (wild life safari).
Luckily, I found a state transport bus leaving for Delhi and I took it against
all advice of fellow local travelers. It was one hell of a drive and another
adventure in itself as I could find a seat right behind the bus driver who
drove to glory at high speeds and blazing loud horns for the next 10 hours
while I rested my tired legs on the hot engine compartment of the bus.
I was told that these state buses take a long time to reach
delhi and hence I played it safe and booked a flight from Delhi to Mumbai for
10.00 am next day to leave ample margin of error this time.
Without any further incident, the bus came to a screeching
halt at the Kashmere gate ISBT delhi by 1.00 am. I had another 9 hours to kill
before my flight from delhi so I decided to avoid night travel to airport and
stay at the bus terminal which was fairly huge, crowded and perfectly safe. I
couldn’t sleep so I googled for best ways to reach airport and I found
it. There were regular airport AC buses from ISBT to airport and after a bit of
inquiry and waiting around, I was in one such airport bus on my way to airport.
It was gonna be a tough task to get inside the airport so
early before the flight and rightly so the security turned me away. I slept off
on a steel chair in the waiting area until I could get inside the airport
departure gates by 5.00 am. After some irregular sleep on separate seats all
around the airport area, I finally boarded the plane at 9.30 am and quickly
dozed off. Landed in Mumbai at 12.00 pm, made it home by 1.00 pm and got out on
the road again by 2.00 pm to catch my first ever international flight to Sri
Lanka in next few hours. Tired and exhausted as I was, this was on helluva trip
and the experience I took away from it would always stay close to my heart for
the rest of my life. On bright side, more adventure awaits, in Sri Lanka.
