River Rafting in Ganges

 

Rishikesh at Night

It became sort of an addiction. This was around 25 years ago when I was introduced to 'Snow Leopards Camp' at Rishikesh. Rishikesh is a religious town at the foothills of the Himalayas on the banks of river Ganga. The river comes down from the mountains, crosses Rishikesh, flows under the legendary Laxman jhoola and then reaches the holy city of  Haridwar. The climb of a few hundred km from Rishikesh can take you the famous Badrinath. 

Just above Rishikesh at a village called Shivpuri, the government had given a few companies to set up seasonal camps on the beach. These were adventure sports companies and specialised in river rafting, rock climbing and Kayaking. Snow Leopard was run by Ajeet Bajaj (popularly known as Baggage) though there were several other camps, I heard mostly about Snow Leopard and another one nearby run by a gentleman called Yusuf. 

The Snow Leopard Camp

Ideal weekend rafting trip consisted of leaving Delhi at 6 AM on a Friday and reaching the camp at Lunch time. The same afternoon you were initiated into river rafting with a detailed briefing, some practical training and a short rafting trip in some small rapids. Saturday morning after breakfast you were taken upstream on cars and did some really breathtaking stuff which included a grade 5 rapid called 'The Wall.' Wall was not for the faint hearted and many a times the raft would flip over though luckily it didn't happen with us. After afternoon rest you could Kayak, go swimming or just laze around. Each evening there was a bonfire where snacks were served and you had to carry your own booze. Food was fabulous and the cooks were great. Bonfire time was fun time with singing, dancing and and some talented guys from the camp played guitar and other instruments. Baggage himself was quite good at all this and was a perfect host. he had recently got married and on our next trip he gave us the news of his daughter being born. Then in 2018 I read that Ajeet and his daughter Deeya became the first father-daughter combo to climb Mt Everest together. Before that Ajeet had become first Indian to Ski to North Pole and complete the polar triology (skiing to North pole, South pole and Greenland Ice cap). As Deeya and my children were studying in same school in Gurgaon, I saw him often during school functions. 

The Snow Leopard Camp at Shivpuri around 20 years ago. 

The camps were not tiny. They had many tents and once we had a full Danish embassy crowd sharing the beach with us and at another time it was the crowd of a famous PR agency. Everything was kept very clean and they had started installing those modern toilets with incinerators. Safety while in raft was of paramount importance so they had trained professionals. Each time we met someone from abroad also who specialised in adventure sports and had come to experience rapids of Ganges. At one of the trips we met Strangway Orridge (Strang) who flirted shamelessly with my cousins and their friends. Well, they flirted with equal tenacity so me as a 'big brother' had no option but to keep out of it. Later I got to know that Strang was in DU hostel at same time as me and we had many common friends. We still meet occasionally whenever there is a get together of common friends. 

The last day(Sunday) we started from the camp on a raft and did many rapids like 'tee off', 'golf course', 'club house' , 'return to the sender' and 'roller coaster.' Not only did you get drenched during these rafting trips but many of us were allowed to jump in at certain places and body surf in the river along with the raft. It was exhilarating and exciting. You could see tall mountains and greenery on all sides as you floated on your back in cold water. Talking of cold water, I got a bit excited seeing two lovely looking Danish ladies in their Bikinis diving into the river at 7 AM. Not to be left behind - I tried emulating them not realising that the water consisted of melted snow and the Danes were accustomed to such cold. It took me an hour in front of coal fire and several cups of tea to thaw after that ! 

It used to be fun lying on cool sand at night along with friends or cousins and watching the sky full of stars. Once we were taken to a haunted house nearby and it was fun to watch girls scream and shout as the staff of the camp made haunted house come alive. 

For some reason the rafting trips stopped. I really don't know the reason. We must have gone last 20-22 years back. All this changed a few days back. 

Rishikesh 2022

It was a holi weekend and I thought of going out of NCR. Talked to a few friends about a visit to Rishikesh and they seemed excited. I had booked a couple of apartments at 'Aloha Apartments' on instinct a month or so back so we needed one more apartment and luckily we got one. I called them up before our visit and took their recommendation for a river rafting operator. So river rafting was also fixed before we got there. Aloha hotel is bang in the middle of Rishikesh on the banks of Ganga and attached to it are apartments which are rented out. The hotel is strategically located as all rafting ends at the beach next to the hotel and even though it is bang in the middle of the town, it is a quiet place as a lane takes it away from the crowds of Rishikesh. 

The highway upto Meerut was a dream and crossing Delhi was also very smooth early in the morning due to the fact that it was Holi. What we didn't realise that all restaurants and dhabas would also be shut throughout the way. But we were carrying enough sandwiches & food  and did manage to find a place for some paranthas and tea. It was the last 4 km's to the hotel that were a nightmare and took more than 2 hours. 

The cops had shut the route from the side of Laxman Jhoola probably due to festival so only one road was available and that was fully clogged. Indiscipline of several drivers ensured that we remained stuck for couple of hours. 

I remembered the time when we could not leave Rishikesh as agitation for creation of state of 'Uttranchal/Uttarakhand' was in full flow and on one particular day of the month the agitators used to block traffic as it was a monthly anniversary of the day when police had brutally assaulted the agitators. Sensing trouble Ajeet stopped us from going back to Delhi and looked after us that day and allowed us to leave only at 2 AM when the roads looked trouble free. The agitation finally paid off as Uttarkhand comprising of hilly areas of UP became 27th state of India in the year 2000. 

There was not much to do as we reached the hotel. It was time for some late lunch and a nap before we went to the lawns to witness the 'Ganga Aarti' conducted in hotel's premises. 

View from Aloha

The view was gorgeous as we could see the Ganga flowing downstream and the last of rafts ending their journey at the beach nearby. The lofty mountains enveloped us from all sides and it was a good change from the flat topography of Delhi. While the afternoon had been hot even in March, the weather changed dramatically after sunset and the cool breeze floated around. The evening Aarti in the backdrop of Laxman Jhoola was soothing and added spirituality to the trip as most people from our group attended along with several hotel guests. It also added colour to the dusk. 

From the hotel itself we could see unrelenting traffic on the winding roads of the mountains. The long queues remained long till late at night. We were told that each weekend it was like this and this weekend it was even more due to long Holi weekend. This is happening at all hills now due to narrow roads and ever increasing vehicles. Local tourism has also seen a steep climb last decade or so. We got the message to stay where we were and have dinner at either our own hotel or somewhere around. 

River Rafting in the Ganga rapids

Our river rafting group with our instructor and guide Anil

Devicka and Renu chickened out ! So it was 7 of us who finally ventured along with our guide/instructor Anil. We drove in a vehicle along with our raft upstream towards Shivpuri village. Shivpuri is where 'Snow leopard camp' used to be situated. NGT has removed all camps from the beach and this has deprived the rafters of the great experience of living in the tents on the beach and rafting twice a day and doing all sorts of things like Kayaking, jungle hikes, bonfires etc. 

Not only the camps were great fun and living on water a great experience- they were manned by some good caretakers and chefs. The guides/instructors were experts and sometimes many would come from abroad and learn about Ganga rapids while giving us a good time by maneuvering the rafts expertly through rapids. It was fascinating to see the experts coming expertly on Kayaks upstream through rapids. The first thing that I did at that time after going back to Delhi after our first trip was to watch 'River wild' starring Meryl Streep as it was all about rafting. 

Amongst the rafters in our group I was perhaps the most experienced having done this 8 times over 3 trips. Our instructor Anil was good. The first rapid is a gentle rapid called the 'Shivpuri rapid.' It basically acclimatizes you to the water and raft before the more serious rapids come along. So we go over this rapid and I tell everyone not to worry. And then guess what happens ? The most experienced rafter out of the lot gets hit by a wave and he goes toppling into 'Ganga Ma !' 

(I tried uploading that video here which shows how I went toppling into the river and how I was brought back on the raft. Special mention due for Nandita Kochhar who held me tight by the life jacket so that I stayed near the raft and did not drift off ! ) Unfortunately am unable to upload due to some technical funda.) 

Rest of the rapids were exciting and exhilarating. 'Return to the sender ' and ' The Golf Course' being most challenging and most fun. We were all drenched but that didn't matter as at some point we did jump into the freezing water and surfed along the raft. Sanya (my daughter) felt that it was the most exciting thing she had ever done. Each one of us loved being on the raft and in the water. And when Renu and Devicka saw the videos - they felt relieved that they had chickened out. 

I think we will have to this again sooner this time as at my age I don't think waiting 20 years would be wise !

Sanya and me getting ready to raft

Our rafting Group - Madhave, Rohin, Bobby, Sunil, Isha and Nandita. Sanya the photographer is missing