Delhi - Rishikesh - Kaudyala on bike

This is an attempt to write about my journey to Kaudiyala in May 2009. I had been to Rishikesh about 8 years ago. That time I went there by bus and was alone. this time I was on my bike and was alone again.

I left home at about 7:45 am on 2nd may 2009, saturday. My plan was to reach Rishikesh by afternoon and roam around in the town.I was driving a Bajaj caliber which is not a high end bike but it never misbehaved since the day it was born ,so I was pretty confident about its performance this time too.

Just as I reached the wazirabad road, my luggage started giving some problems as it was not tied properly with the rope. Had to struggle a bit with it.After fixing it started cruising over the NH 58. The road was by and large in a good condition.

At Muzaffarnagar

A Mango Orchad

                                                            some offroad driving

Between Roorke and haridwar is the patanjali Yogpeeth, the famous ashram of Baba Ramdev. I have heard a lot about this ashram so thought of paying a visit.ashram is built at a very magnificent level.It looks nothing less than a five star hotel and it caters to rich and poor alike. There were too many visitors in the ashram.There is opd,inpatient facilities,books, dvds, medicines, yoga classes...a complete ashram for a yoga enthusiast in every repect. I had my lunch there, bought a book on pranayam and zoomed off to Rishikesh, which was still 50 kms from the ashram.

 close to patanjai Yogpeeth

At patanjali

Statue of maharishi charak (founder of Yoga)

 

somewhere between haridwar and Rishikesh

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Reached Rishikesh in about an hour, went towards the laxman jhoola and took a hotel room.Only Rs 175/- a day. Took some rest to straighten my back and then headed towards the laxman jhoola, and crossed it.The other side of the town is more colorful.attended the arti on the banks of holy Ganga and kept on roaming in the town till it was dark.Too many fakirs and foreigners in Rishikesh.this is one of the few places in the country where one can find them in plenty.An iteresting and a rare combination.

Laxman Jhoola and laxman temple (the only one dedicated to laxman)

it's the rafting season too

 

Aarti at Parmarth

Had my dinner at one of the many dhabas and came back and zzzzzz.......

end of day 1.

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Day 2 (May 3 2009)

 Slept like a log and woke up very late at around 9am.Had tea and biscuit in breakfast and managed to go out only at around 10:30 am.My plan was to visit a waterfall which was 7kms from Laxman Jhoola towards Shivpuri, and then go to Shivpuri and spend a big part of the day on the banks of Ganga. But while driving I missed the waterfall and and went ahead.I decided not to go back and visit it in the evening if time permits.

 

An ashram on the banks of river ganga

at shivpuri

 

So, I decided to go further up on highway. To my surprise the road became very good after Shivpuri and I started enjoying the drive.5 kms from Shivpuri is Byasi, a small town just like Shivpuri but with some good dhabas.I had my lunch there which was very hygenic and tasty and beyond my expectations, and that too only for Rs 30. In delhi people would gladly pay Rs 60 for such kind of a meal. From Byasi I drove upto Kaudiyala which is few kms away from Byasi

 

marine drive

near Byasi

 

Holy Ganges

At Kaudiyala, I spent about an hour at the shore of river Ganga.Very Calm and peaceful surroundings.From Kaudiyala, Devprayag is 30 kms and I thought of going there too.Devprayag is the place where Ganga comes into existence after the confluence of Alakhananda and Bhagirathi rivers.but, I decided do go back to Rishikesh as I wanted to be there by evening.while coming back I met a baba..Baba Bholagiri, a modern baba with a mobile phone.He gave me the his number and also offered me tea.babaji is a deciple of swami vivekananda and hasnt gone for a haircut for the last 22 years.

 

 

River rafting

 

looks like a forest fire

 

with baba Bhola Giri

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Just close to Rishikesh I stopped by near the waterfall which I missed earlier.it was a steep 45 minutes uphill climb.There were two waterfalls and a temple at the top.

Entrance to the water fall

The water fall

It was definetly not a very beautiful water fall but better than he the chota waterfall.stayed there for 10 minutes and took some pictures. Soon a shepherd passed by and adviced me to go and see a temple further up the waterfall, about 15 minutes of wallk.I was tired but thought of going there, too and started marching upwards. met a foreigner clad in dhoti kurta (hare rama hare krishna type,plenty of them in rishikesh)on the way. He encouraged me by saying that temple is not very far and is not very far and is beautiful. It  was a small temple but I liked it. Stayed there for a while and then started marching downwards.

 

Temple at the top

View from the temple

I got down at around 7:15pm and reached Rishikesh soon afterwards. parked my motorcycle outside the hotel and went into the town and kept roaming everywhere till it was too dark and i was to tired. Came back at hotel at around 10 and call it a day. Dozed off to sleep.

end of day 2

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day 3 (4May  2009)

Nothing great about the last day.Woke up very late.I was eager to get back as early as possible, but could start my journey only at 11:30 am. At around 1o'clock I was near patanjali. Took a break at Patanjali again for lunch.

 

 Rishikesh

 

 Towards Haridwar

 

Rajaji national park

statues of Swami vivekananda and Lord Shiva, near har-ki paudi, Haridwar

At Roorkee

a small lake near Purkazi

At around Meerut it started raining and I was forced to stop for a while. I was driving fast as  it was getting dark and I did not want to be on the highway in dark. Just about 10 kms before home it started raining like hell, but I did not stop this time and reached home safely at around 7 p.m..