Balaknath Road: My Four-Year Walk

It’s been four years since I moved to Rishikesh, and in those years, nearly 90% of my life has played out on one stretch of road: Balaknath. First at Devi Music Ashram, now at Aavya — this road has been my daily walk, my workplace, my social club, and occasionally my gym (those hills count).

It runs from Gangaji at Sai Ghat all the way up to the “Secret Waterfall.” Some argue that last bit isn’t Balaknath Road at all, but anyone who’s lived here knows — it’s one long journey, from river to forest, from Aarti to plunge pools.

From three cafés to forty

When I arrived, there were three cafés. Today? Forty. Maybe fifty. Who’s counting? Rice fields have turned into eclectic shops, rustic joints, and shiny new “boho white” cafés. And somehow, amidst the change, the road still feels like itself — just busier, caffeinated, and armed with ten times more coffee machines than four years ago.

The two-hour, twenty-minute walk

Balaknath Road has a trick: you can never walk it quickly. What should take 20 minutes will take two hours. You’ll bump into someone you know, then someone you used to know, then someone you thought had left Rishikesh years ago… only to discover they never really left. Conversations unfold, chai appears, and your plans dissolve. That’s how community works here — in detours and reunions.

Evenings that glow

As season stirs, the evenings hum. Music drifts from every corner, people spill into cafés, and long-term travellers return like migrating birds. Soon the hippies will arrive again, bringing their colours and stories, and Balaknath will glow with its offbeat orchestra of laughter, music, and chance meetings.

Why I love it

Balaknath Road is not just a road. It’s the rhythm of Tapovan life. It teaches you that schedules are overrated, that cafés come and go but friendships linger, and that community is often just a chai stop away.

Four years, countless conversations, and still I know — this road will keep surprising me. And I wouldn’t want it any other way.