Rafting Expedition

On our way to the start point of the 2 day expedition, driving in convoy, the loading truck with all the kit in ahead of us. Out flies my paddle, brought the day before (it would only be mine) onto the road, quick pit stop to safely secure the paddles and were off again. The drive was a little bumpy, some sheer cliff edges and massive land slides from the rainy season, didn't seem to slow the crazy Indian driving.

The put on (Sadhu temple)

Confluence rapid on the Bhagirathi this is at low water apparently

We paddled 20km of the Alakananda which was pretty easy grade 2-3 stuff, the occasional fun surf wave. After 90 minutes we arrived at Devaprayag where the two points of the river joined. (Shown in the above photo) we climbed onto a guys roof to get a good view of the rapid, this was low water as the damn was soon to release, making the water 90% higher! Therefore we decided to avoid what would've most likely ended with us all drinking a lot of Bhagrathi water. Just before lunch we paddled past the locals who had come to the river to bathe in Ganga's holy water.

Just before arriving at camp

The camp set up was simple; fire for food, and camp fire for drying clothes, toilet off in the bushes in a hole preferably. We buried Nathan in the sand so built the fire next to him so he could share the warmth and still chat to us all.

Nathan keeping warm

I had my second wild poo which went surprisingly well, leaves were to hand and Nathan's tips about using water to create a steady flow were very useful. The evening was spent with whiskey in hand around the camp fire. (To get the food and supplies the team rafted to the other side where the road was to retrieve from the car, they rafted back in the dark).

JP, Gabbar, Fil, Me, Nathan, Deepak

Arjun preparing dinner

After a night under the stars we woke up and had homemade chi which was delicious! I dried off my bikini the same way I cook my mellows. Putting on a warm bikini was heavenly, even though the cold wasn't an issue at all. Breakfast was the most enjoyable meal I have had so far, risotto with onion, pepper and tomato, for an expedition trip I seriously was expecting the food to not be up to much but we appeared to be living in luxury. I am also really getting the hang of eating with my hands now, cutlery is so over rated.

Undecided about my temperature

I then went for ANOTHER poo, I don't know what was going on with my bowels, maybe the excitement of an outdoor poo went to my head. But anyway this time I perfected it, doing it in daylight did make the whole process a lot easier.

Looking out to the river this morning I saw what I thought was a monkey, then as he came closer I realised it was a man, In a loin cloth ferry gliding across the river with a bag on his head, it was rather a lot to take in at 6 in the morning. He was a fisherman who set his net up on our side of the river which could only be accessed by swimming, I don't know what was wrong with his side of the river. But he had at least 7 big fish in his net. When I went for a wander towards the jungle which we have been told are home to tigers, leopards and snakes, I bumped into the wild fisherman who said he had just seen a tiger. Naturally I kept exploring, a little more excited now, clambering along the rocks I heard a rustling in the jungle, then a large rock fell next to me, this was enough, I ran back to camp with my tail between my legs. I envisioned shere Kahn leaping from the trees.

Selfie with Sheila

Sheila investigating JP's BA

The day was spent on the river, traveling 28km, it was mostly grade 2-3 similar to the day before. However we ended with the Wall rapid, highly spoken about by all the staff here, the big grade 4. It was big, the huge waves were great fun, it was the ferocious boiling water that caught us off guard, I had to put in a roll as my boat was sucked under in a big ugly boil.

Found some rose's floating in the river