PAYANIGA

Rafting 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

A day @ Bheemeshwari

Sep 11, 2006 Karnataka, One day outing, Rafting, Travel, Trek

Imagine 26 software engineers waking up as early as 5 in the morning on a Saturday and be at the pick-up point in time. And yes, all 26 of us were present in our respective pickup points in-time and were heading towards Bheemeshwari for a day outing sponsered (partially :p) from our office. Our plan for the day was Rafting, Jummering, Trekking and few team building activities. To make our life easy, we outsourced the responsibility to Capture team.
Journey and Breakfast:
I was the last but one picked-up and was greeted by loud shout by the backbenchers. First few kilometers were bumpy because of the road and most of us were silent because of the empty stomach. We stopped few kilometers before Kanakapura for the breakfast. Fun began after we started. Dancing, singing, pulling one other’s leg, sleeping continued till we reached Bheemeshwari.

Jummering:
The intial plan was to complete rafting first and then other activities. But by the time we reached our base camp, rafts were out in the river with some other group. Within no time all the cameras came out, shutterbugs got busy clickin away, rest posing for the snaps. After the photo session, started few team building activities suggested by Capture team. And also we spent some time playing – cricket, frisbee, badminton. Few just sat on the river bank enjoying the nature.

Krishna, Tarun and Sripad gave a demo on how to use Jummers and it was great experience learning and put to use of those devices.

Rafting:
By noon, rafts were free and they were inviting us. From base camp, we were ferried to the starting point of rafting – Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary. We dressed up with life jackets, helmets and pads, looking like soldiers ready for the warfield. We were divided in to five groups. Each group carried their rafts to the waterfront. Guess God wanted to add more fun and it started raining cats and dogs. After one and half hours, covering a distance of 8.5 KMs on rafts, we were totally drenched and hungry. We were taken back to the base camp by a jeep. Hot, sumptous lunch was waiting for as soon as we reached the place.

Trekking:
After the heavy lunch, most of us lazed around, talking anything and everything otherthan office work. Few who didn’t do jummering resumed. Then it was time for a short trek. Krishna led the way for an hours trek. After few falls on the slippary track, we were back to start our return journey.

All in all it was a great day spent in nature’s lap, away from the concrete jungle and the routine life.

If you are planning for a rafting activities you can get details from Jungle Lodges and Resorts or you can also contact CAPTURE
PS: Watch out for few candid snaps in my blog

Update: Photos uploaded