Travelogue of Uttarakhand, 30th May 2103



30th May 2013
Our flight was at 7am, so we reached airport at 5.30am. Flight was on time and we were to reach Delhi Airport by 9am, and we did reach Delhi on time. Our next flight was from Delhi to Dehradun, and the scheduled departure was 11am. This flight was a little delayed and it took of at 12.15pm. We reached dehradun at around 1pm. The flight was smooth with nothing to write about much, except the services offered by Air India was good.
After getting down from the airport, we inquired about the tours conducted by GMVN, at the office in the airport itself. We inquired if it was feasible to travel to Dehradun or Rishikesh, as the airport is midway between the both. Most of the replies were we should proceed to Rishikesh as we might have more options from there. Our Plan was to start on the road to Yamunotri today itself, so was trying all options. Finally we took a cab to Rishikesh and got down at the bus stand at Rishikesh. We unloaded our bags there, and enquired if there was any mode of travel to Yamunotri or Barkot. It was almost 2pm, and nothing was available. The taxi stand is next door and there too I enquired if I can get some transport and nobody was ready. Finally we decided to hire a taxi for 3 day in which we would do Yamunotri and he should drop us at Gangotri. After much bargaining Rs 9000 was fixed for 3 days but again the person was not ready to start today, but was insistent on starting tomorrow. After much deliberation we decided to start our journey tomorrow at 5am. Now the next question was what to do, as we had half a day with us. I was constantly in contact with my friend in Rishikesh and he suggested to come and stay at his place. So we had food at Rajasthan Restaurant(Not really good food, but manageable), and went to his house. Since he stays alone we did not want to bother him to cook food for us. We reached his place at 3pm. We were delighted to meet him and so was he. We joked and chatted for some time, rested for some time, and then decided to go for sight seeing. It was almost 5pm now, and we took a autorichshaw to Triveni Ghat(Rs 5 each), and thereafter to Laxman Jhoola (Rs 5 each). We spent some time at Laxman jhoola and the surrounding temples. On enquiring people told us that Ganga Arti is performed near Ram Jhoola. So we started walking towards Ram Jhoola as the autorikshaw were demanding exorbitant rates. We reached Ram Jhula in 20 mins. There we enquired where is the Ganga Arti performed. We were shown the place. So we walked and reached there. Ganga Arti had just started. It was a beautiful spectacle  and there was lot of rush to watch it. Once Ganga Arti was over we sat at the banks of Sacred river Ganga for another half an hour. We picked some Bhagwat Geeta books from the Gita Press office nearby and then took an auto to my friends place. He had cooked some food, my wife cooked some more and we had a sumptuous dinner. After the dinner he took me to the barrage. It was a wonderful sight to watch the thundering Ganga. It is at this place that we come to know why it is called mighty Ganga, and with what force its water flows with! After talking and confirming with the driver, we went to sleep

In the plane

Our plane from Delhi to Dahradun

At Laxman Jhula

My two little angles on At Laxman Jhula

A view of river Ganga fromAt Laxman Jhula

At Laxman Jhula

Ram Jhula

Ganga Arti Being performed

Ganga Arti Being performed

On the banks of sacred river Ganga

On the banks of sacred river Ganga

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