White water Rafting: Rishikesh
This adventure trip was last part of our out-bound training programme at my previous organisation. The base camp was Shivpuri, a place 15-20 kms upstream of Rishikesh. A bus dropped all of us and we kept our entire luggage inside bus only. We had our lunch and enjoyed bathing in shallow water which was also necessary to acclimate body to local water temperature. Although the water level was shallow and it was a side stream, flow rate was very high and slippery rocks were making it difficult to balance bodyweight.
After this we prepared ourselves for rafting which included wearing helmet, life jackets and one paddle. We were divided in 3 groups on 3 different rafts. Initial instructions and basic training were given by trainers who were also the person guiding raft. Some basic actions were taught like how to move paddle in sync, where to stuck leg and how to get inside when situation demands. Under normal scenario all have to sit on the periphery in the balanced position. At start it was looking very easy as the stream was quite stable. But as we went downstream, we started encountering rapids. One of the rapid pushed us towards one of bank which was solid rock walls 30-40 ft high. The water became very unstable and we started feeling it as our last journey. The highest grade rapid which we went through was grade 5. Stretch of rapids was about 5-6 kms. Because of instability we were not able to take snaps of those and had to manage with stable water snaps only. At one of the place where water was stable we stopped for cliff jumping from a rock 20-25 ft high. After finishing it we started our onward journey and after some time reached to final destination near Laxmanjhula in Rishikesh.
This adventure trip was last part of our out-bound training programme at my previous organisation. The base camp was Shivpuri, a place 15-20 kms upstream of Rishikesh. A bus dropped all of us and we kept our entire luggage inside bus only. We had our lunch and enjoyed bathing in shallow water which was also necessary to acclimate body to local water temperature. Although the water level was shallow and it was a side stream, flow rate was very high and slippery rocks were making it difficult to balance bodyweight. 
After this we prepared ourselves for rafting which included wearing helmet, life jackets and one paddle. We were divided in 3 groups on 3 different rafts. Initial instructions and basic training were given by trainers who were also the person guiding raft. Some basic actions were taught like how to move paddle in sync, where to stuck leg and how to get inside when situation demands. Under normal scenario all have to sit on the periphery in the balanced position. At start it was looking very easy as the stream was quite stable. But as we went downstream, we started encountering rapids. One of the rapid pushed us towards one of bank which was solid rock walls 30-40 ft high. The water became very unstable and we started feeling it as our last journey. The highest grade rapid which we went through was grade 5. Stretch of rapids was about 5-6 kms. Because of instability we were not able to take snaps of those and had to manage with stable water snaps only. At one of the place where water was stable we stopped for cliff jumping from a rock 20-25 ft high. After finishing it we started our onward journey and after some time reached to final destination near Laxmanjhula in Rishikesh. 
1 comment:
hey piyush...it was very nice to know about your journey. Thanks for writing this blog.... will expect more to guide us... keep enjoyin.
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