Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Whitewater rafting: do it at least once in this lifetime

A moment in your life when you experience the true joy of being, Not a single strand of stess, strain or sorrow in your body. A mind clear, free and in the moment.

That, in a nutshell, was my experience of white water rafting. Not my first ever experience - I'd tried it years ago at Kullu. But this time was different. Maybe I am different. I know this is something I want to do again, and again, and again.

We start from a point called 'Marine Drive'. It's a glorious Sunday morning. Groups of college kids, yuppies and techies (their buses labelled 'Nucleus software') are putting on lifejackets, posing for pics. Eight at a time, they tumble onto their rafts, dip in the bright yellow oirs, and heave off.

My 'group' is the scantiest. There are just 3 of us - besides the guide and a Garwhali who's been drafted on board to provide 'balance'. He's a rock climbing expert - this is his first time on a raft and he is scared as hell.

Oskari and Marja are from Finland. That explains the thin tshirt and shorts Oskari is wearing with a smile. There's a chill in the air as we drive down from Rishikesh to the rafting site. Light jacket definitely required for a tropical type like myself.

We don our yellow helmets, tighten the life jacket until we can just about breathe ('loose is dangerous,' grins Hukumchand - our guide) and push off. There are three basic instructions:

'Forward paddle' - meaning you push the oar back to move the boat forward
'Back paddle' - meaning you push the oar forward to move the boat back.
'Relax' - stop paddling, hold on to the oar with one hand and the lifeline with the other.

Most of the time you simply forward paddle - in between you relax. And oh, you stick in your front foot firmly under the 'air cylinders' which crisscross the boat. That can get uncomfortable at times but a good grip is your only defence from falling off the boat - so I dig in deep and hold it there.

The first splash of water is bloody cold! The subsequent ones are no better. We approach the first rapid 'Good Morning Black Money'. A relatively easy one but we emerge from it completely soaking wet.

More follow. A 'grade 3' rapid - Three Blind Mice - tosses and turns the raft into the air. "Forward paddle - hard!" yells the guide. The oar occassionally hits water -mostly just air. At one point I think I might fall off but it doesn't actually happen.

Completely exhilarating and we're raring for more.

When we reach 'Bodysurf' the guide says, "You can jump in!" Oskari is the first to take the offer, Marja quickly follows. I am not too keen but the guide insists. "Aap adventure karne aaye hain na... Lifeline pakad ke kar lijiye".

I jump in. The water reminds me of the 'Titanic'. It is soooooo cold! In a bit, the body adjusts. I splash around a bit and float for a while. Only my hands aren't adjusting - they are shrivelling up and turning pink.

We swim to 'shore' - a clump of white sand with a row of canvas tents. This is one of the many camps where enthusiasts stay for 2-3 days - sometimes more - in pursuit of riverine happyness. We are merely having lunch.

Facilities at the camp are basic - each tent has two beds, blankets provided. Toilets are the 'dry variety' - Indian and Western style commodes over a pit. After every use, you're expected to shovel a mix of sand and lime on top - a kind of 'natural flushing system' which eventually decomposes all that human waste into manure (I'm guessing).

In any case, the food is outstanding. Ghar ke jaisa jhana. Dal, aloo-gobhi, paneer, rice, salad. The Finns exclaim it's the 'best meal we've had in India so far'. Maybe we're all just really hungry!

There are some really beautiful butterflies flitting on the 'beach'. Oskari observes them closely as Marja and I concentrate on 'drying'.

We're back in the boat now. And oh boy, the water is once again, just as cold! We've got the hang of paddling now. The trick is holding the oar correctly and moving in tandem. A raft nearby with 8 on board is doing a poor job of it. They're all over the place. But then there is only one direction you can go - with the current.

The main attraction on this stretch is a grade 4 rapid. Yes, grade 4! We're not afraid anymore - just excited. Just before 'Golf' is a smaller rapid called 'Tee off'. Clever, huh? Apparently some English lady who pioneered rafting in this area years ago kept all these interesting names - and they stuck.

'Golf' is every bit as up, down, round and about, splish-splash-SPLAT as it gets!

We hit the water once more up ahead. As I semi-swim/ float in the glorious, green and gurgling Ganga, it strikes me that this is the first time I have really taken a 'dip' in its holy waters.

Finally, we float to dry land. A wet n wild journey has ended. I have made two new friends and a sackful of memories to draw on in dull and dry times.

The next morning, my muscles ache. But it's a pleasant kind of ache. I am already plotting when, where and how to do this again.

How to: Ideally, you should stay in one of the many camps to get the full 'experience' but even a day trip is good enough, and it's cheaper.

The 18 km stretch from Shivpuri to Rishikesh costs Rs 400 while the 26 km stretch from Marine Drive is Rs 600 wonly. Both options include to and fro transport from Rishikesh, the second option also throws in a hearty lunch.

Money well spent! We rafted with Vagabond Adventures - and were quite satisfied.

Credits: All pics except the first one taken by me. That one's from www.lasource.f9.co.uk

21 comments:

  1. u missed the cliff point to jump, check the pic here
    http://flickr.com/photos/prashantbhardwaj_ut/303642518/in/set-72157594387412551/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rishikesh is just amazing. been there like two weeks back or so.

    have blogged a few pics here
    Rishikesh Pics

    and yeah deeps
    the cliff point jump is pretty scary as well

    ReplyDelete
  3. No grade 5 - like "The wall"? that's the one where rafts capsize :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Brought back nice memories. Notice how every 'comment'has been there, done it? Shows you just how much good pricing can help:)

    I think the most amazing part about the rafting is the fact that complete non swimmers like yours truly happily took a dip in the water, thanks to the dependable life jackets.

    The guides can also be a hotbed of gossipy tales, as they point out caves where 'english' couple have been staying together for 3 months now, or the temple where construction was stopped due to a fallout, or the spot where Mumbai guys who thought the ganga was like the sea dived in, and never came back up. And all this to impress 'foreigners' sunbathing on the beach!

    Incidentally, if you happen to see them fishing for drowned bodies, you will be moved enough to write a post on that too. Basically the police and a searcher move around in a boat on the affected area, with a really long spear, hoping to hook the body in their random attempts. An obvious waste of time it seems, though for onlookers like me, the thought of being fished out like that after drowning was enough to make me remove all thoughts of removing the tight life jacket...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Reminded me of my rafting at Rishi some 6 years back.. was the best thing I have ever done..

    Something you need to do atleast once in your life.. I absolutley agree..

    ReplyDelete
  6. Rashmi,

    In the white water rafting lingo, rapids are classified as 'class 3/4/5' as opposed to grade 3/4/5.

    Any case, this reminds me about my near death experience at West Virginia - the mecca of WWR in eastern US. They have mainly class 4 and class 5 rapids..Boy, if you topple over in a class 5, you're just hapless. I remember just getting sucked in by the rapids. No matter how good a swimmer you are, you can do nothing. I blacked out for a few seconds. the next thing i remember is popping up somewhere downstream.

    Luckily no injuries and so we can reflect back and say it was very memorable.

    Next goal is to go on the colorado river - they say its one of the toughest ones in the US.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Damn ..

    That reminded me of our time at Marine Drive and the Ganges ..

    How did u miss out on " ROW BABY ROW BABY ROW ... "

    And did anyone of u get to do the 'high tide ' ... or was it 'high ride' ?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Damn ..

    That reminded me of our time at Marine Drive and the Ganges ..

    How did u miss out on " ROW BABY ROW BABY ROW ... "

    And did anyone of u get to do the 'high tide ' ... or was it 'high ride' ?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Damn ..

    That reminded me of our time at Marine Drive and the Ganges ..

    How did u miss out on " ROW BABY ROW BABY ROW ... "

    And did anyone of u get to do the 'high tide ' ... or was it 'high ride' ?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Damn ..

    That reminded me of our time at Marine Drive and the Ganges ..

    How cud u forget to mention about " ROW BABY ROW BABY ROW ... " !!

    And did anyone of u get to do the 'high tide ' ... or was it 'high ride' ?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Damn ..

    That reminded me of our time at Marine Drive and the Ganges ..

    How cud u forget to mention about " ROW BABY ROW BABY ROW ... " !!

    And did anyone of u get to do the 'high tide ' ... or was it 'high ride' ?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Damn ..

    That reminded me of our time at Marine Drive and the Ganges ..

    How cud u forget to mention about " ROW BABY ROW BABY ROW ... " !!

    And did anyone of u get to do the 'high tide ' ... or was it 'high ride' ?

    ReplyDelete
  13. YES, THE ADVENTURE IS THE REAL LIFE AND RAFTING IN RISHIKESH IS AMAZING EVERY PERSON IN LIFE SHOULD ENJOY IT ONCE, ITS NATURAL ENJOYMENT ONE CAN FEEL ITSELF

    ReplyDelete
  14. Rafting in Rishikesh is one of the most interesting activity. Your blog is excellent.We have provided a link to this blog from our siteTravel Paisa

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