Feel the adrenaline rush

Author: Shashank Shekhar
Gaadi bula rahi haiA ten-hour drive from Delhi and we reached a place that forced us to push our limits. I started my journey along with a few journo friends at around 11 pm from Delhi in a 25-seater bus. However, I would advise you to hire a SUV like Innova or Scorpio because a bus is certainly not the perfect idea of a long and comfortable trip. First gearOnce we reached Vikasnagar, the feel of the hill permeated my instincts as the road alongside the river became narrower amidst clouds making their way through towering pine and deodar trees. Not to mention, the steepturns on the not-so-smooth roads left us scared out of our wits. Final destinationThe Room - that's the stopover we were supposed to stay. It's a part of the Roof camp at Virat Khai, which is 25 kms from Chakarta. The camp is operated by highly qualified professionals of Great Indian Outdoors (GIO), a Gurgaon-based adventure operators. At first, my fellow travellers did feel that we should have rather stayed at a hotel. But we didn't regret the stay since the camp treated us with the warm chirping of birds and the rush of valley winds. The view of Virat Khai was nothing less than 'heavenly'.. Add-ventureWhen our instructors Shubham and Bala started with the introduction session, I felt as if I was back to school. Like everyone else in my group, I was also wearing my usual sports shoes, completely unaware that they're not meant for adventure sports. But thanks to the camp-organisers who had a stock of Merrell shoes that work exceptionally well on difficult terrain for such outdoor activities. Like a pucca scribe, I wanted to know everything about the perfect pair, which is being brought to India by M&B footwear. Vikas Bagga, vice-president, marketing and corporate affairs, M& B Footwear said, "These premium shoes have many patent technologies which give an edge over other pairs used for adventure sports." After the chitchat, we were all set to test the shoes on the 50 feet high mountain rappelling. Darr ke aage... darr haiComing down from a cliff with the help of a rope sounds quite easy and I have seen action here Akshay Kumar doing this stunt. But once you are standing at the edge of the cliff, you are convinced that it's better to be a witness of daredevil stunts on screen, than to be a part of them. But if you know the technique well, things could be very simple. It was a long day since everyone tried rappelling more than once. Finally, we reached our camp in the evening, where we had a bonfire over light music.Day 2The national treasureOur second day started with a treasure hunt where we had to walk on a five-kilometre steep trail to reach a destination based on various clues. We were divided in two teams and were supposed to reach the place in the shortest possible time. My team took five hours to cover the difficult trails, walking on the cliff and avoiding the leeches. Unfortunately, I was the first one to be caught by the leech. Sob...Sob...Off-road bikingAfter the treasure hunt, we were all set for some thrilling mountain biking. We were all geared up in our kit with swanky bikes to come down hill on the stony trail. It was very steep, full of stone and rock. Mountain biking was the scariest adventure of our tour but the most exciting one, too. Many of our team members got bruised while biking.Yo! YamunaIt was the last day of my trip and we were taken to the bank of Yamuna to try out river sports. Unfortunately, due to the rains, we could not try out white river rafting but we had a lifetime's experience indulging in bridge slithering. But before we took a plunge into the icy cold water, we had to put on the safety equipment that included a life jacket, a safety helmet and the harness. After a little rest we started with the last lap to Delhi. Whatta trip, that!