A Spring Poem

With a spring in my step, I walk out the front door;

To smell the blossoming flowers and lose some of those kilos;

It is time to plan a trip, a getaway to the mountains;

Climb up a hill or to sit still in nature?

With adventure instilled, a trek it is;

Amongst Pine and Rhododendron forests, gushing streams;

A place where I am the happiest, my soul at ease;

Cool breeze & Dhauladhars, to make me go weak in my knees;

With less than a week to go,

My face aglow;

Thoughts swarming like bees, travel light please.

- Saachi Dhillon

A Weekend in Rishikesh

On the banks of the holy river - Ganga

Known to many as the Yoga capital of the world and India’s spiritual hub – Rishikesh is a popular getaway from Delhi. A lot of us go there for rafting on the Ganges, for others, it is a spiritual sojourn. I went there earlier this month for some quiet time after an extremely hectic period at work. Although I had booked an ashram, we were later upgraded to their yoga retreat centre and resort due to some urgent renovation work at the ashram.

Amidst nature at Tapovan Vatika Resort

Situated a few metres from the tempo stand and the main road, Tapovan Vatika Resort is a great place to get in touch with your inner self. It has three large gardens, blooming flowers and is surrounded by fields and mountains. With regular yoga and meditation classes, it can be a great getaway for anyone looking to get in touch with their spiritual side.

My friend and I had taken a book each to read on our trip. In between reading, we went to different eating joints across town in search of good food. Being a religious place, Rishikesh is largely vegetarian and alcohol free (unless you are carrying your own). Here is my list of where to eat while you are there.

Ayur Pak

1.       Ayur Pak – This is a quiet, green homestay away from the city’s hustle and bustle. We had vegan dosas with sambhar and imli chutney, grilled vegetable sandwiches and a chocolate pancake. It was the most fulfilling breakfast I had on my entire trip. Although the flavors were different from what I am used to, it felt wholesome and filling.

Meat Lovers pizza

2.       Bistro Nirvana – Probably the only non vegetarian bistro in Rishikesh, it was a welcome break from all the vegetarian fare. After a long hike to the Beatles ashram on an unusually warm day in March, a cold soft drink and a meat lovers’ pizza was the perfect comfort food.  Surrounded by trees, Bistro Nirvana is a welcome escape from the heat.

3.       Himalayan Kitchen - Rooftop Cafe & Restaurant – We had dinner here on two consecutive nights as the ambience and views were great. The food was not that bad either; do try their ginger tea, tomato soup and pancakes.

4.       Tulsi Café – Located on the main road in Tapovan, it is a cosy café. Food is great but their service was incredibly slow when we were there. A Hawaiian pizza and fresh lime soda took about an hour to arrive. They were quick with the hummus and pita after which we along with other diners had to wait a lot. It is worth a visit but go there if you have a lot of time to kill.

Gulmarg

Views from the Gondola

It took us roughly two and a half hours to reach Gulmarg. We stopped on the way to buy some dry fruit at wholesale prices. I spotted some saffron face cream on one of the shelves and could not resist buying some, knowing my penchant for body care.

After renting rubber boots for Rs. 100 per day at Tungnath, we started our incline towards the snowy mountains. It was a sunny day and the snow shone bright as we followed the meandering road amidst mountains draped in white. As soon as we reached Gulmarg, we were greeted by a lovely, white landscape. A lot of tourists were trying their hand at skiing and the even more adventurous were sleighing through the snow. I could not wait to unload the luggage, freshen up and go for a walk in the snow. A short distance from our hotel, our taxi skidded on some ice and got stuck. The driver decided not to proceed further without snow chains. I put on my rubber boots and made my way up, slipping from time to time on the icy road.

We went for a short walk after relishing some mutton rogan josh and naan. Playing around, my friend slipped and fell into fresh snow, two - three feet deep. We had a good laugh. In order to warm ourselves up, we went to a closeby café called Raja Hut for some Kahwa. It was a cosy place and reminded me of the cafés in Manali; maybe because the owner was playing trance music. We met some fellow travellers there and got talking about things to do in Gulmarg. As it was about to get dark, we decided to head back to the hotel, before the temperature would start plummeting drastically.

View from the room

Hotel Lounge

Hotel Rosewood is a delightful, boutique hotel with comfortable rooms, lounge and hookah bar.  I enjoyed their food as well, especially their grilled cheese sandwiches and lamb bolognaise. The next morning, we enjoyed a sleigh ride to the gondola entrance. We had bought our tickets online so it was fairly easy getting in. The gondola ride was a lot of fun as well, offering panoramic views. I even spotted some paw marks on the snow below. Our guide told us that there were many snow leopards and deer in the area.

View From Top

We rode straight to Phase two of the gondola - Apharwat Peak, at a height of 14,500 ft. Our guide took us for a short hike through 2 ft deep snow. I was amazed by the stunning, birds-eye view of Gulmarg and the surrounding valley including Nanga Parbat (26,660 ft). There were clouds below and it seemed like we were in heaven. We saw Pakistan occupied Kashmir in the distance and learnt that that it is more beautiful than what we have.

At Apharwat Peak

After spending an hour in the freezing cold, we headed down to Phase 1 for lunch. We had some delicious Kashmiri pulao along with Kahwa. As the snow mobile ride was expensive, starting at Rs. 1500 per person for a short ride, we decided against it. We continued our sleigh tour for the rest of the afternoon. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

On a sleigh

Once back at our snug hotel, we savoured the Old Monk that we had bought from Srinagar. It was the perfect way to end a great day.