My recent Travel to Haridwar Har Ki Pauri, Uttarakhand, India

I’ve been planning to visit Haridwar for a long time, as I’ve only been there once in my childhood and haven’t returned since. For the past two years, I’ve been thinking I’ll visit this year or next, but for some reason, I haven’t been able to make it to Haridwar.

I’ve read many stories of people visiting Haridwar and other sacred places, filled with joy and enthusiasm. Inspired by these stories and with a warm heart, I decided to visit Haridwar this year. For the past few years, I’ve had many thoughts I couldn’t share with anyone, so I chose to visit Maa Ganga and express everything in my heart.

On Tuesday evening, I decided to visit Haridwar this week. I booked a ticket on the FlixBus, a new bus service in India, thinking it would be a great opportunity to experience both Haridwar and this new mode of travel.

My bus was delayed due to a match in Gwalior that night, so although we reached the place on time, the bus was three hours late. Initially, we considered canceling the trip because no one wanted to continue to Haridwar, but deep in my heart, I felt strongly that I had to visit Haridwar now or never.

I called the bus conductor to discuss the trip, and he said we would reach the stop at 5 AM. I asked him to call me half an hour before the bus arrives at the pickup point, and he agreed.

I took a short nap, woke up at 4 AM, completed my basic chores, and got ready for the trip. The conductor called to say the bus would reach the stop in 30 minutes. I replied that we were ready and heading to the pickup point.

We reached the pickup point and our bus journey started.

My mind was filled with questions.

When I decided to visit Haridwar, hardly anyone in my life showed enthusiasm. Most people wanted me to cancel the trip due to their personal instincts. This is common in almost everyone’s life, where others discourage travel, and it happens to me often.

I was deeply determined this time because I had decided that I must visit Haridwar, as it felt like a now-or-never moment for me.

On the bus, I tried to think, but due to a sleepless night, I mostly wanted to sleep. The bus was clean and comfortable, and the staff was supportive.

This was my first experience with FlixBus, and I took both sleeper and sitting buses for this journey. The sleeper bus was clean and suitable for night travel, as I mentioned.

After traveling for four hours, we reached Delhi, our first stop, where we switched from a sleeper to a sitting bus operated by the same company.

When the bus arrived, I noticed that FlixBus had partnered with local private vendors who previously operated in our country, as indicated on the bus. Compared to the government-run Volvo buses, this bus was lighter, but it was clean, and the staff were courteous.

Now, finally, we moved towards Haridwar.

The bus journey was boring, as it usually is for me. I prefer traveling by personal vehicle; other modes feel dull, so I mostly sleep during the journey. I glanced at the views, but when you're tired, you can only look so much, so I just enjoyed sleeping.

After a few hours, we stopped at a restaurant for a 30-minute break. I ate a sandwich, relaxed, and took some photos of flowers.

This journey wasn’t preplanned, so most of the things we did were spontaneous, and it was an amazing experience for me.

Around 4:30 PM, we reached Haridwar, and I interacted with some locals before taking a rickshaw to find a hotel. Since I hadn’t booked a hotel in advance, I visited a few to inquire about rooms and prices.

After checking two or three hotels, I found a room in one where we bargained on the price. The hotel initially quoted 3,500 per night, but I negotiated, and we settled on 2,500.

After reaching the room, we completed our basic chores, took photos, which you can see on my Instagram account, and then decided to bathe in the holy River Maa Ganga.

I will continue the story in Part 2.

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