on a roll

And this is the Rishikesh trip blogpost.

(Okay it's the school magazine article too. Shut up. Atleast I'm telling everybody about how AWESOME that trip was :D)

Trip to Rishikesh

Camp Rapid Fire

28th October to 31st October were some of the most memorable days of my life. Why? Read on.

It all started innocently enough.

Like any other trip, this one too started with a crazy bus journey involving lots of chips, coke, scary stories and uncomfortable seats. After a long and treacherous journey, we finally reached a resort close to our camp for breakfast and lunch.

It was gorgeous! The cold mountain breeze felt incredible against our faces, the entire place was like paradise. So after hogging on breakfast, we decided to explore the area. There was a river, and eventually, a lot of us landed into it and decided that it was the aim of our lives to make the other person wet and click a million pictures while we're at it. (because that's what we kids do). And then we climbed out of the water, shivering and slipping on the rocks, settled down on the grass to dry ourselves under the sun. Then we had lunch, and went for a small hot air ballooning experience (it was tied to a rope though. We tried to get them to set the air balloon free, but some teacher overheard us in the process and effectively ruined all plans of us soaring free. Oh well.)

By early evening, we all piled up into our buses and proceeded towards the main camp site. Reaching there was rather tiring though, considering how a) It was a downhill trek of about a kilometer, and b) a lot of our enlightened peers were carrying scarily heavy suitcases. 

Our tents were pitched on the banks of the Ganges, and after an lecture of dos and don'ts, we all ran towards our choice of tents (everybody obviously running for the ones farthest from the teacher's tent. But point being, we didn't know which one was the teachers tent. Sigh.)

So after settling down in our tents, we all headed towards the dining tent for some food. There was a cosy bonfire, and if you looked up, you could see a a million stars winking back at you. It was like seeing another galaxy up in the sky, it was beautiful!

We all tried staying up that night, but were shooed into our tents, and eventually fell asleep, owing to our tiredness.

And then the fun began.

First day was epic! After an amazing breakfast, half the people went rafting and the rest of us went rock climbing. They also made us sign a contract saying that our death was not their responsibility (Hahahaha). I was more excited about the rafting, but rock climbing was fun too. (A few of us, ahem, had already been yelled at by the camp instructors by then.)

THEN WE WENT RAFTING! (Told you I was excited.) We went over rapids and jumped into the freezing cold water and were warned of dead bodies in the river (not that it killed our spirits in any way whatsoever. No pun intended.) We came back tired, had a bonfire with lots of songs, followed by dinner. Today, we were definitely going to stay up! But within five minutes of that resolve, we fell asleep.

The next day started out very similarly. Trekking was on today's agenda. To say that it was a long trek would be an understatement! But it was actually fun talking to all the 10th and 9th graders along the way. And the path was stunning, we walked along a stream which had the clearest water imaginable! Then we all went to a small village to tell them a little about literacy and hygeine. We returned at around 4, and got the chance to jump into the river (finally), splash around and basically have a good time.

Tonight was the last night. Tonight, we were definitely going to stay up.

Easier said than done. After trying valiantly to stay up in our tents till 12, we fell asleep, promising to ourselves that we're just resting our eyes and will be up within half an hour. (I woke up at 5 am after that promise)

Next morning, we all packed up, had a quick breakfast, and started the tough journey upwards. After a lot of huffing and puffing, we finally reached the buses, loaded our luggage, climbed into the buses, and sadly, came back home.

This trip was a small one, but meant a lot. From crazy inside jokes to horrible singing, toilet tent woes to sand being everywhere, it was a wonderful experience. Our teachers were amazing, the 9th and 10th graders were extremely entertaining (I'm sure they can say the same about us 11th graders), and it definitely left a longing in our hearts, a wish that the trip had lasted just a little more longer.

But then, all good things come to an end.

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Lalalalalalala! Yes I loved that goddamn trip to bits and pieces. 

Drushti was stuck on a rock lol :P
AWW MAAN.