Highest bungee jump in India, craziest white water rafting and much more.. Welcome to Rishikesh

“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).

The Beautiful first view of Holy Maa Ganga

Ram Jhula

Ram Jhula - from the other end

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.

The beach - riverside

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.

Viren & Pratik - Aside our Raft on the SUV carrying us till marine drive 

& 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”

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.

Viren was quickly off the raft

Pratik followed next - in a much holier form (We call this pic as Babaji walking on water)

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.

Adventure 1 - Done

And we Float

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.

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.

Scared - before the jump

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).

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.

Temple on the way to Laxman Jhula

The beautiful temple at sunset

People were still river rafting well past sunset

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.

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. 

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..

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 1/4^th 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. 

The valley

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.