Luxurious Trips are boring, Adventurous Trips are trending.

"Bhaiya, tickets dikhaiye!"

"Ye bus Kalpana travels ki nahi hai. City Heart Travel ki hai."

"Utariye aap log, yaha sirf City Heart Travels vale jaege! Aap log kaha jaaege kaise jaayege, hume matlab nahi hai!"

When you are all excited and your journey begins like this, how would you react? 

Well, don't know about the rest, I was all excited and laughing over the situation when replies like these came.

"Suno, City Heart Travel ke office se yaha bheja hai Kalpana Travel ki booking walo ko."

"Utarege humare dushman."

"Police bulao, pakadvaao in s**l* fraud logo ko."

Okay, fine! Shit happens. And, complaining about shit is never a solution. But, facing it head-on is.

This is how I embarked upon my weekend trip to Rishikesh and Haridwar with my friends. The excitement of a 'Volvo se jaege" turned into "Oye idhar se paani beh raha hai, seat adjust nahi ho rahi" but the fun remained intact. And, all I realised was that a luxury trip might be exactly how you plan it to be, but the fun of an adventurous trip is something more exciting.

Rishikesh:

The Yoga capital of the country, this city has two entirely different sides of it. While the first one is the spiritual side, the other face of this city is a bit adventurous. Known for the best Yoga retreats to one of the best spots for Rafting and Bungee Jumping, the place has a lot to offer to its travelers. This is one of the reasons, everyone should visit this place atleast twice or for an extended time to experience both the sides. The 1st time I visited this place 2-years back, it was more of a spiritual journey with my family where we stayed at Parmarth Niketan, attended Ganga Aarti, visited most of the temples and Yoga centres in the city. This time, it was time to look at the other side of the city.

So, here it begins, my awesome journey to Rishikesh.

That bus, autorichshaw, 5 kilometers of trek and finally we reached our camp site. Camp Hill Brook it was.

And then you have days like that when you meet the biggest fears of your life. So yes, I am hydrophobic and I did rafting on 5th May. It was difficult for me to cope up with that fear because water water everywhere frightens me more than anything in this world (after lizards). But, not just good, it went great and I am glad I tried it. Vapas chale? *Sunglasses and swag on* ❤️

Rafting ready. Never miss it, I pardon, never!

Could you find any better snacks than Pakodas and Tea when it is raining heavily in hills. 

You will be missed forever Peelu <3

Look at the tired peeps!

Rest everything was fine. Haridwar went well and it was time for ua to come back when another mishap occured. 

Early morning expedition to find waterfalls and natural ponds.

Just look at all the tanned faces at Haridwar.

Oh no! This bus was fine!

No, no! We didn't miss it either.

This time, around 1.5 hours away from Ghaziabad, somewhere before Meerut, our bus brokedown and the driver ran away along with the conductor. At 2 in the night when I was sleeping peacefully on my seat, my friends out there were struggling to find another rescue bus for us to come back. 

They did it. We completed the rest of the journey sitting on the uneven floor of that rescue AC-Volvo, smelling the refreshing smell of people's feet who were sleeping on their seats repeating Jab We Met's dialogue 'Boring bana do ji ab is journey ko' but still smiling hard on the awesome weekend that we had. 

You know what, complaining is easy but embracing the loopholes, misfortunes and hurdles that come your way is tough and I have learnt to embrace it all. While I was having a bad time with life, this weekend trip (even if how mishappening the to and fro journey may sound) gave me the ultimate peace that was desired out of it from a long time. 

But most of all, I found myself there. I figured out my heart. Or atleast, I am hoping that I did. I've learnt to be kind to myself, to embrace the journey I am on. I am learning to be proud of the person I am and the one that I am becoming even if it isn't what I actually wanted to be. I learnt to fall in love with the process, with the messiness of life and the confusion of it all.

Check out the entire Vlog of this trip here:

And, at the end of this trip, I've actually found what I was looking out there. Peace out! ❤️

About the trip:

Expenses involved-

-Travelling: 1500 INR

-Camp-stay, rafting, bornfire party and 3 time meal: 1500 INR (package per head)

Things to keep in mind:

• Never book KALPANA TRAVELS buses. No matter how cheap packages they offer.

• Appreciate the ordinary over luxuries.

•  Yes, you can wear specs during rafting and you won't drown. The life jacket rocks. 

• ‎Do not carry more than one footwear. Comfortable chappals are all you need for everything. 

• Must try 'Rajisthani' restaurant in Rishikesh. 

• Camp-life is something one must try. It is a combination of beauty, peace and fun. 

• ‎Planning for a girls trip or a solo trip, you can still stay at the camp. It is all safe. Trust me. 

• Don't forget to write your name on the sand and click pictures. (I missed that! *sobs*)

• Don't spend on sunscreens, you're gonna get tanned anyway. Lol!

• And, keep smiling. :-)

I booked my travel package from http://yatrarishikesh.com/ and the experience was awesome. Check out their website if you are planning to visit Rishikesh anytime soon.