Any long weekend works as an easy excuse to slip away from the city and sink into a new land and gather new experiences. An early start at 5:00 a.m. on Friday morning saved us a lot of traffic (considering the excuse works well for the entire city too), a lot of trouble and definitely a lot of time. We touched the holy land at about 10 in the morning, having stopped for an OK breakfast at Moolchand Resorts somewhere on the way. Atali was another 30 kms from Rishikesh, the city.
The drive uphill to Atali Ganga was a breath of fresh air (quite literally) and further invited us to the kind of property which flushed out the tiredness of the drive just at the sight of it. Last minute reservation got us the last cottage, atop the resort. The steep walk and numerous stairs till our cottage gave us a reality check of how unfit our lives had become in the city web. Having slept cozily in our super comfortable beds, we marched straight to the restaurant for an early lunch. The sumptuous food had us eating from our fingers, which was soon followed up by a quiet evening tea by the beach, a km away from the property. Some wine, and some more wine, along with the delicious dinner, got us set in the right frame for the next adventure-packed day ahead. After about 3-4 hours and 24 kms long rafting ride, we were all in one - enthralled, yet tired, hungry yet full with an awesome experience. Having reached Rishikesh by the end of the rafting ride, we decided to chill the rest of the day at a corner cafe. The only good thing about the cafe was the awesome view of the Ganges, which had us lost in its majesty for hours altogether. The food and the service were pretty disappointing and the view was the sole catch to the place. The night got us back to the property, and we immediately dived into some more sumptuous food and wine. The two day quick getaway saw its end the third morning and we hit the road back home (through Rajaji National Park and alongside a canal) packed with the memories of starry nights, the air of serene and the calm, and some warm conversations with the ultra hospitable manager of the property and his beautiful wife.