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The Ganga offers a perfect rafting experience with plenty of action to suit first-timers as well as experienced adventure seekers, writes
Gyan Marwah THERE cannot be a more exhilarating excitement. The thrill of an unridden rapid lurking in the gurgling waters just waiting to be tamed. And as you ride the wave it first hoists you up and then down the steep descent, raft and all, till you come hurtling down in a haze of a white curtain of water. The Ganga offers a perfect rafting experience with plenty of action. Here you will encounter exciting rapids that are graphically termed as ‘The Wall’ and ‘Marine Drive’. There are ‘Baby Patches’ for the fainthearted and ‘Roller Coaster’, ‘Double Trouble’ and ‘Crossfire’ for the ‘River Rats’ as the thrill seekers are called. "The Himalayan rivers are some of the best in the world for rafting," says Sajiv Mishra, who’s had an ongoing infatuation with rivers. For over a decade now his love for rafting has taken him on a number of exploratory river expeditions stretching from the Ganga to the Brahmaputra. We opt for semi-permanent tented camps situated on an idyllic beach of silver white sand on the forested banks of River Ganga, 23 km upriver of Rishikesh. Often, December and January trips can be very chilly, especially in stretches where prolonged periods of rafting in the shadows, combined with the soaking that rafters receive, can lead to chills and colds. The Ganga is deceptively gentle, which allows you to perfect your paddling technique just in time to address the churning rapids that make this stretch one of the most challenging in the world. The river is a thriller and continues to attract both the intermediate and the advanced river runners. Our camp guides drive us to Shivpuri after breakfast. Once there we embark on the thrills of white water rafting. The rapids are peppered with calm stretches where one sees nature at its best. Driven down from their nesting areas by winter snows and the hunger for spawning salmon, eagles perch on the trees along the riverbank. We bundle up against the chill and enjoy the uniqueness of floating in water viewing these birds in their natural environment. The next day turns out to be the most exciting. After breakfast, we drive upstream around 9 km to a place called Kaudiyala. The rafts are put here and we embark on another exhilarating white water morning with thrilling rapids called the Curler Wave. The first of this rapid begins in Shivpuri and flows down to Brahmpuri on to Rishikesh. This is followed by The Wall which is the nemesis of any a river rafter. It is a 10-foot wave that comes hurtling at you. The calmer parts of the river ride give us plenty of time to take in the spectacular scenery. The isolated forest makes it a special trip for those who want their whitewater with a littler less splash. We twist through plush cool passages of unique flora and pleasant forests only to be popped back into the warming sun of the Indo-Gangetic plains. We revel in the crystal clear and cool waters and one of our more intrepid fellow adventurers even jumps in for a quick swim — climbing aboard just in time for another exhilarating run of the rapids. This time it’s Marine Drive, a curved wave like the Queen’s necklace in Mumbai. Whitewater rafting, like any other sport, requires physical exertion. Because of this it is important to have guidelines to insure the full enjoyment. All rafters must wear a life jacket, as the force of the rapids to turn your boat turtle should never be underestimated. If you are overweight or in poor physical condition or have a history of allergic reactions to bee stings, asthma, epilepsy, heart trouble or any medical condition that would endanger or diminish the enjoyment on the trip, you should first consult your physician before going river rafting. But apart from that both young and young at heart can have the time of their lives. Those on the younger side and first-timers might want to first try rafting in the calmer waters, then work up the difficulty ladder from there. Those adventurous first-timers that are in good physical condition may want more of a challenge and go for faster currents. But once you have
experienced it, river rafting will never get out of your blood. We are
hardly back before we are yearning and ready to go back again. As a
rafter once said, "River time is real time. River life is real
life. The rest of this is a life that you lead working hard and saving
up for the next time you can get back on the river." — NF
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