13th October – Reaching Rishikesh

Unlike several earlier travels, where we had to reach the airport for an early morning flight, this time we were not required to get up early in the morning for catching the flight as our flight to Dehradun was in the afternoon. However, the dismantling of golu padi and repacking of the golu dolls gave us little time to enjoy the additional time. After a heavy breakfast, Vaidy and I left for the airport by 11:45 AM.

Uploading our travel credentials and ID in the Digiyatra app ensured that we were able to get into the airport with minimum fuss. Luggage check-in at the Indigo counter was also easy, except for an additional check through a separate counter for our trek poles, which we decided to check in. Apart from our trek bags, one each, the trek pole formed the third item of our checked-in luggage, for which the airline staff gave a sticker receipt affixed to the boarding pass.

Another cousin, Karthik, who had just returned to India after a trip to Iceland (to see the Northern Lights, among others) suggested that we wrap our luggage in plastic cling film. He offered a big bundle of this raw material to ensure we wrapped up our luggage at least for the onward journey.

With lots of time to spare, we settled down at one of the counters in the food plaza and opened the chapati avial which was our packed lunch for the day, probably the last of homemade food for the next two weeks. Ramesh joined us in some time. We had the mandatory coffee and spent our time roaming around in the airport and taking photos.

 

The flight was delayed slightly, probably the incoming flight got delayed. Boarding started at 2:40 PM, and the flight that was to take off at 3:25 PM finally took off at 4:00 PM. A few minutes before takeoff, an airline ground staff approached us at our seats to confirm how many luggages we had checked in. After confirming that we had checked in two bags and trek poles totaling three, she was satisfied and left.

After landing at the Jolly Grant airport in Dehradun, when we went to pick up our luggage, we met Vishagan at the airport, who had landed just 15 minutes back from a Pune flight, who was also waiting to pick up his luggage. This was my first visit to this part of the country, and I was soaking in the atmosphere.

Near the taxi pickup center at the airport, I could see several decorated pillars with Shlokas like the Gayatri mantra printed on them. Seeing this, I felt Uttarakhand is truly a Divine land. (Later I realized it is called Dev Bhoomi – land of Gods.)

 

We took a cab to Hotel Shiv Vilas, in which Ramesh had arranged overnight stay for the four of us. After checking in, we demolished the packed idlis which came with us from Mumbai. Vishagan opened a container containing coconut barfi. We immediately understood that this was made out of the coconut kept in the Navratri Golu Kumbam. When I saw Vishagan's barfi, I reminded my fellow trek mates about the similar item prepared by my wife, Geetha, and sent with us. We mentally planned to savor this treat within the next 24 hours, perhaps sharing it when the entire group convened

Swamy & Sumathi had already checked into the same hotel and had gone out for local sight seeing.

After this delicious snack, we went for an outing to get a feel of the holy Rishikesh town. Ramesh and Vishagan were familiar with this place as they had visited this place earlier. As suggested by them, we walked over to the other side of the Ganga by taking the Ram Jhula. Strolled in the local market on the other side, and reached Parmarth Niketan for dinner. Ramesh informed that the food served in the Hridayam Restaurant inside the premises of Parmarth Niketan was purely Satvik, namely without onion and garlic.

 

After a sumptuous Satvik dinner (the menu read like that of a five-star hotel), we went to the banks of the Ganga river which was just opposite the main gate of Parmarth Niketan. We also visited a hall where we could hear some spiritual discourse coming to an end. The hall, it seems, was rented out to GRD Iyer's Gurucool, who had used it to display Golu during the Navratri period which culminated just yesterday with Dussehra/Vijaya Dashami.

 

We ended the day with a brisk one kilometer uphill walk from Parmarth Niketan to Hotel Shiv Vilas at Tapovan. The reporting time at 6 AM tomorrow morning was less than 12 hours away. All the group members were eagerly looking forward to the same. We set the alarm for 5 AM and went off to a well-deserved sleep.

Click here to continue