What in incredible day! Rafting in the Himalayas is an experience I don’t think I’ll ever have the chance to relive; I spent the whole thing in utter disbelief that I was actually there.
We met the guys at their office, outside of which was parked a bus. We got on, drove through Leh, picking up various other participants from their guesthouses along the way and got on a road deep into the Himalayas. As we were driving out of Leh, we noticed an army base on the way out – there were lots of houses and soldiers about, who seem to have their own airstrip and plenty of land to work with. It just struck me as odd because Leh is tiny. It’s a town rather than a city – I think the only reason it gets as much recognition as it does is because it’s the biggest settlement for a very long way in any direction, and also because it’s the capital city of the state of Ladakh. Compared to Delhi, it’s a village.
It’s pretty easy to spot any kind of settlements out here – we saw a couple as we drove to the Splash Ladakh base at the confluence of the Zanskar and Indus rivers. They’re the only places where anything grows – the green is in stark contrast to the uniform brown of the mountains. It’s such a hostile environment; I’ve never been anywhere like it before. It’s ironic that for once the plants here need people to survive – rain is scarce, the temperature difference between night and day is quite large – even by the rivers, nothing grows except maybe a hardy patch of grass or two.
The roads out to the confluence are pretty new. A lot of stuff here is pretty new; the buildings seem to be under constant construction and there are always builders about. The roads are smooth and unworn and have signs all along them warning about the dangers of drinking and driving, speed, etc.. It seems to be a pretty good set-up. We drove away from Leh and ventured further and further into the Himalayas. You could never get tired of the view. It’s amazing. It kept me entertained the whole way to the confluence.
Once we got there, we saw they had a building set up, wetsuits hanging up outside, and the rafts, which are those blown-up plastic boats with a capacity for around six to ten people depending on the type, and vans to transport them all the where we were to begin our voyage. They had a pet monkey tied up outside who was so friendly he jumped on James when he got to close. I’m always intrigued whenever we see monkeys; they’re so human. This little guy lived in an upward-turned kayak where he could enjoy the shade.
We were given out wetsuits, helmets and booties and then we got back into the bus to get to the starting point, a journey which took about another hour. It was on the edge of the mountains this time as we’d left all Leh’s flat land behind. I was sitting by the window close the the river. There were times when I looked out the window and there was nothing but the river below me; it was a bit scary! The roads twisted and turned beyond comfort.
When we got to our destination, we were given safety instructions and tutorials and then we were off! My rowing girls, if you’re reading, you might be amused to know I was back in stroke for this one, at the front of the boat to take the brunt of the rapids. It’s not quite as smooth as Islandbridge, as you might’ve guessed! We all had paddles, and there were three to each side of the boat. The Zanskar had a bit of a slope to it which kept us moving along nicely. Our guide had several easy instructions for us to follow – it was either “paddle forward”, “paddle backward”, “stop”, or “get down!”. The last one was an emergency one where we were all supposed to crouch down into the middle of the raft. We hit our first rapids after a few short minutes of getting to grips with the run of things, and poor Lucy was the first to fall out. It was scary how quickly she was swept away, but she coped well and was picked up by one of the kayaks who were paddling along beside us.
Rapids are scary things. It’s not just that you’re going fast; it’s also the fact that there are so many ups and downs – I was certain with every one that our raft was going to capsize.You get an enormous high off them; it’s pretty exciting stuff! Often you don’t even see the places that are going to be the most difficult – you’re just swept along the river as usual and then suddenly there’s a massive dip and you’re almost thrown out. The dip is the easy part, though – when you get back up to the top, there’s always a massive wave waiting for you and the front of the raft takes the hit, sending water spraying back over everyone. We were soaked within seconds of our first encounter with the rapids, though not quite as much as Lucy. There are also these pockets of water where we got trapped for a while – it’s a bit like a waterfall; the water just drops suddenly and we got caught in the water that swirls back underneath the dip for ages. It was terrifying because we were stuck there for so long, and all the while, the water was gushing in in us and twirling the boat around like Mrs God’s soup pot. I don’t know how we got out of them – I guess our guide was able to swing us around to a good angle and then told us to paddle like there was no tomorrow.
It was a long, rough ride – twenty-eight kilometres of the furious Zanskar. We burst two of our boats on rocks – the first was just before the halfway point, where we took a rest, and they gave us a new one, which we burst about three-quarters the way through the second half. It’s fine if it happens because there are eight inflatable sections to every boat, and if one bursts, you’re still able to cope. The first time we burst the back of the raft on one of the plunge pools that had a rock under it. The second time, we were flying through the rapids and we crashed straight into a wall of jagged rock, which made a straight, neat tear in the section I was sitting on. It was a bit of a close call! We transferred some people over to another raft, and we took ours down the rest of the way with one side missing. Thank God there weren’t any rapids left! We wouldn’t have managed. We heard the command “get down!” a lot during our expedition.
The view while we rafted along was, and I mean this as genuinely as anyone’s every used the phrase, like something from another world. I felt like we were on a different planet – it’s just so hard to believe that there’s something like the Himalayas on Earth. They are utterly unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. They look like they’re from a Martian landscape – it’s rocky and dusty and has a reddish-brown tinge3 in some places, and a subtle purple shade in others. They rose high all around us while we drifted on. The air is so clear up there that the sunlight is absolutely pure and the shadows are as black as night, but it was high enough in the sky that we were never cast into the shade. The water was surprisingly opaque – it’s not the clear mountain water you’d envision. There’s glittering sediment in the brown water, and where the Zanskar meets the Indus, you can see the stark difference in colour where the two bodies meet – the Indus is much darker, and there’s a straight line between them like a wall that refuses to let them intermingle.
We were freezing by the time we drifted back to the confluence – the water is bone-chilling; my hands and feet looked like they belonged to a cadaver by the time we got out. We were all surprised at how tight our calves were – you feel like your arms are doing all the work from the paddling, but I guess your legs are constantly tense from simply trying to stay in the raft. I managed not to fall out, one of three lucky members of our group who weren’t plunged into the freezing water, but there were times when I was sure I’d be thrown out – it’s quite a rodeo!
We were fed a lunch of dal and boiled rice back at the base, when all our clothes were back on and our suncream reapplied; it was most welcome! After three hard hours of rafting we were frozen and starving, but still in utter awe of what we’d just done. It was hard; it would be difficult facing back into it knowing what it was going to be like, but I’m so glad we did it.
We returned to the offices and walked home then, before venturing back out to get dinner. Rather unfortunately I’m now suffering from a hefty dose of food poisoning after a pasta dish at Il Fiorno’s. We’ve got a rest day tomorrow, so hopefully that’ll give my stomach time to unknot itself and decide exactly what it wants to do with the food I’m giving it, and then we’re trekking for three days through the Himalayas. I don’t feel in any way up for it right now but I really hope I am by the time Thursday morning comes around. It’s going to be amazing.
Talk soon!
The Sisterhood of the Travelling Bantz 