Rafting the Ganges

We woke up early on Saturday morning well rested. After breakfast and chai, our caravan was waiting so we headed north up the river.

The Ganges (or Ganga) river is a holy location in India. Set in the Himilayan foothills, the scene is absolutely gorgeous. The itinerary for the day was to drive up about 30 KM upstream and take a river raft back down. The Ganges was a class 3+ rapid, but without much of a frame of reference, I didn't really know what we were in for.

The road to get to our boat was very windy and high along the cliff. We were excited that we'd get a chance to ride back down in a boat, rather than by car, to say the least.

Our safety briefing in preparation for launch included instructions on what to do when and if the raft flipped over. We made the mistake of asking how often that happens, and our guide Eddie replied nonchalantly "60/40, we usually flip".

We asked about his credentials, and when we learned he'd been rafting this stretch of river twice a week for 13 years without incident, I felt reassured. Eddie from DE N A (http://www.kayakhimalaya.com) was an incredibly friendly guy, with excellent English who'd been highly recommended by previous expats.

We pushed off into the brisk water (about 65 degrees Fahrenheit) wearing nothing but our life jackets, helmets, swim trunks (and flippy-floppies).

About 20 minutes downstream we stopped to pause just above the first major rapids, "The Wall".

Every bit as intimidating as it sounded, the Wall was a massive torrent of foaming white water. Huge boulders kicked 8 foot walls of water every which way. We stopped to plan our decent and spent about 15 minutes spotting the ideal line through the chute before climbing back into the raft. Kate and I were riding in the front of the raft, paddles in hand. "Forward all" Eddie said softly, as set the pace calmly towards the rapids ahead. "Relax" Eddie said, as we drifted towards the mouth of the rapids. "FORWARD ALL" he said, a bit louder this time, and Kate and I began to paddle hard straight into the middle of the rapids.

We headed straight down the center of the rapids and over the first "bump" as Eddie called it. It was massive! 8 feet tall, it sent our raft almost vertical before we came down the other side. We paddled again hard up the next wall of water, doing everything we could to keep the raft straight. Every time we approached another wall of water, they seemed larger than the last. Finally we all ducked and covered (as we'd practiced) for the final and largest "flipper" as Eddie termed it, but we didn't flip. The river shot us out into the calm pool below and we all cheered in accomplishment!

High fives were exchanged just in time to turn around and see another rafting group get dumped out upside-down into the Ganges just above us. We scrambled to pick up the floating bodies as they laughed hysterically. After everyone was collected and back in their respective rafts, Eddie calmly said "Forward All..."