The landscape around Rishikesh is stunning. Rolling hills, green valleys, white waters. But sometimes seeing it the right side up can be boring especially when you can see it upside-down, hurtling at a million miles an hour.
Not 13km from Laxman Jhula, at Mohan Chatti on the Neelkanth Road, adventure sports outfit Jumpin Heights is hitting new highs (and &lsquolows&rsquo) with bungee jumping, tandem flying fox on a kilometre-long zip line and, more recently, a giant heart-stopping swing (Rs 2,500 for bungee or giant swing and Rs 1,500 for flying fox jumpinheights.com). And I am here to brave India&rsquos highest bungee jump.
Yet as my harnesses are fastened, I can&rsquot help but wonder what I&rsquove got myself into. Any thoughts of feigning a sudden injury or illness are quickly dismissed though, when, right in front of me, three teenage girls decked in their blingiest clothes dive off the 83-metre-high platform with hardly a whimper and only a giant rubber band tied around their ankles to break the fall. To save face, I waddle to the edge too. And take the plunge. A few life-flashing-before-your-eyes moments later, my feet are back on solid ground and, eventually, so is the rest of me.
When you&rsquore in the area next, skip the rafting and jump off a cliff instead. It&rsquoll probably be the most simultaneously terrifying and exhilarating thing you&rsquoll do for a while.
