RSS FeedDesktop Calendar: July 2011
Jun 30, 2011 Binsar, Calendar, Uttarakhand
Background image: Kumaon mountains soaking in the winter sun, captured during my trip to Binsar, Uttarakhand.
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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
I Was Here: Jageshwar
May 2, 2009 I Was Here, North India, Pilgrimage, Uttarakhand
And I know that I, I will do more than just pass through this life
I’ll leave nothin less that something that says
I was here, I was here, I was here, I was hereby Lady Antebellum
Here I start – ‘I Was Here’ – a photo series with a photo or two from the places I’ve visited so far, along with a line or two about the place & may be on photo. I will be posting under this title randomly, without any specific frequency.
I saw these two camera-shy girls playing in the temple premises of Jageshwar. They were enjoying their time to the fullest – full of energey, running around, chasing one another and at the same time shying from the cameras. Captured in October 2008.
A dip in River Kosi & short visit to Nainital
Dec 9, 2008 Binsar, Mountains, North India, Uttarakhand
It’s not easy to attain or reach good things in life. And so is to reach Binsar. As I’ve said before to reach Binsar one has to travel six to seven hours by road from Kathgodam. Between the two towns – Almora and Bhawali flows two rivers Kosi & Ramgarh parallel to the road. Down the line river Ramgarh joins Kosi & the bigger Kosi in south forms the eastern boundary of Corbett National Park. The water level was low, shallow & inviting. On our return journey we stopped for lunch at a hotel where river Kosi flows just behind. It wasn’t easy to sit by rverside ordering for lunch & not taking a dip. We had plenty of time to reach Kathgodam to catch the train back to Delhi. And we jumped into the river. It was sheer fun swimming after a long time. Swimming in a river is more fun than in still water. Unfortunately I haven’t done this many times.
The signboard at Bhawali which said “Nainital – 10KMs” made us take an impromptu decision & we decided to pay a short visit. At the very first sight itself, Nainital, the place of Goddess Nainadevi didn’t impress me. My first impression and thoughts were not to visit the place again. With lakebed completely crowded and polluted with concrete buildings and no question of scenic beauty in the tourist town. We stood there on the edge of the lake looking at the sorry state.
Light was diminishing, so were my chances of visiting Nainital in future and our journey home resumed. An overnight journey, delay of four hours in Delhi airport and usual traffic jams in Bangalore, I was back to the routine after an wonderful vacation at the Kumaon mountains.
Other published articles on Binsar:
