RSS FeedRafting at Kaudiyala, Uttarakhand
Apr 28, 2011 Adventure, Guest Post, Rafting, Uttarakhand
Last one in the guest posts series – by Mridula Dwivedi. Mridula, a professor based out of Delhi is an avid traveler. She shares her rafting experiences in this last of the guest post series.
In the last two months I visited the Rishikesh region twice. The first time I went with family and as our daughter is small we could not do rafting. The second time I was part of a large group and we were staying at Rimo Expedition’s campsite just opposite the KMVN Kaudiyala. The campsite has tent style accommodations and rafting was the main activity.
We did rafting on two days of our 3 day stay. On day 1 we took it easy as we had arrived in the morning itself. On day 2 we rafted from Devprayag to Kaudiyala and on day 3 we rafted from Kaudiyala to Shivpuri. I sincerely wish we could have completed the entire trail till Rishikesh on day 3 but we were short of time as we were taking the Shatabdi Express in the evening from Haridwar.
This was my first try at rafting and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed my experience. The good folks at Rimo took us on a mild stretch on the second day. The stretch from Devprayag to Kaudiyala is calm and ideal for getting introduced to rafting. So what do you have to do when you go rafting? Basically we were given a life jacket, a helmet and a paddle each. You put on the life jacket and the helmet and assemble to listen to the instructions by the experts who are going to be present in each raft. Usually 6 people plus an expert go in a raft but I guess they can take 8 plus the expert as well. I liked the instruction given by Gunpalji a lot. His first few lines were, “agar instructions nahin follow karoge tou bahut paani pilaunge” (If you do not follow my instructions I will make you drink a lot of water).
Soon we were in the rafts and on our way to Kaudiyala. While we were going to Devprayag by bus I was clicking pictures of the Ganges from the moving bus. It was quite an amazing experience to go back all those 30 kilometers sitting in a raft right in the middle of the same river. Also rafts have a safe bag in which you can keep your camera. They let you take it out in calm waters and click pictures.
On the Devprayag – Kaudiyala leg the highlight was being able to get into the river in the placid waters. What happens is that when the rafts enter calm water they let you hold the rope attached to the perimeter of the raft and get into the cold water. It is great fun. We did it many times. But as the water was calm we had to paddle a lot. We started rafting at 11.00 am and we reached Kaudiala at 4.00 pm and literally wolfed down our late lunch!
On day 3 we were rafting from Kaudiyala to Shivpuri. This stretch involves going over a few rapids. The most interesting one we faced is called the Wall. Here the water rises quite high like a wall in front of you and at that point you feel you are paddling for your life! Getting wet is a certainty and being thrown out into the water a high probability. After the wall every other rapid feels easy.
Part of the instructions is also about how to indulge in a water fight with other rafts. If you lift your paddle in a particular way while crossing another raft at a close distance, you can drench them thoroughly and the experts are quite good at it. Be it the water fights, going through the calm waters or crossing a rapid, rafting is a smashing experience.
Photos by Mridula Dwivedi
On Clay: Wayanad & Elephants
Apr 20, 2009 Adventure, Kerala, Publish, Wayanad, Wildlife
We had completed almost three fourth of the safari and had to stop because of a traffic jam. It took us few seconds to understand what was happening. There was a herd of wild elephants which were crossing our path. Or to put it in a correct way, we were crossing their path and had to wait for our turn.
Read the full story on Clay – A Tryst with the Pachyderms.
A small write-up on my experience with the wild elephants in Wayanad is published on Clay (an acronym for Club Mahindra And You!).
Thanks Lakshmi for publishing the write-up.
Travelling on the bus top #2
Dec 14, 2008 Adventure, Karnataka, Shivamogga
I had posted couple of photos taken from the bus top – journey between Hosagadde and Kargal in Shimogga district.
During my last visit to Sharavathi valley (in Feb’08, we trekked from Kanoor to Nagavalli) we did that again. Same bus, same driver-conductor duo, but for a longer distance. We travelled on the bus top from Nagavalli to Kargal this time.
Mridula’s post reminded me of these photos taken in Feb. And that means, it’s time complete that long pending trek log. And also it’s time to go on a trek :)
Binsar: Rock Climbing & A Morning Walk
Nov 10, 2008 Adventure, Binsar, Mountains, North India, Uttarakhand
By the time we reached the resort in Binsar it was post noon. Only negative point about Binsar is the amount of time needed to reach the place. It took 20 hours to reach the place which included 6 hours journey by taxi. We were warned before about the journey time & I thought day one at the resort would be spent getting some rest from the journey. On the contrary, there was no sign of tiredness at all (blame the mountain air ;)
Hours after we reached our destination, we were out on the mountain roads for rock climbing in the evening. Though so many events happen around Bangalore on rock climbing, I never got a chance before to try my hand. It looked so-damn-easy when we saw the demo by the experts. With Sun setting down behind mountain ridge, one by one went up & came down, sweating out. And we had spectators too.
The mountain weather during day time at Binsar reminded me of our good old Bangalore in winter mornings. A pinch of chilly when in shadow & a soothing prickle by the Sun when in open, with nights being much colder.
Next morning we decided to go on a morning walk/trek to catch the glimpse of first rays & view of Trishul parvat (a Himalayan peak visible at certain places in Binsar valley). We went on an adventurous trek/walk before returning to the resorts. We took our own route through the pine trees to reach Manipur villa where a second Club Mahindra resort is coming up. While returning we reached the resorts as if like an arrow is shot, in straight line, crossing all the hurdles which came in between which made the trek back more adventurous.
Other published articles on Binsar:
