We waited with bated breath as the water came gushing down the rocks...it had been about 45 minutes since we had entered the water...we were drenched to the bone...and yet terribly excited...it had been an amazingly adventurous 3-quarters of an hour...and even me, someone who rarely lets excitement get to his head, had to admit tht my adrenaline was flowing at a pace several notches higher than normal :)
8 of us were new to this game...or adventure sport really...1 was a veteran...he had to be...he had done this for years,probably decades....it wasnt new for him...and yet in a way, every day, every time was a new experience even for him- someone who could genuinely claim to have seen it all...15 hours ago, if some1 had told me that the next day, i would be floating in the turbulent waters of Kali river-a name i had never heard in my life before-on a rubber boat,with 3 of my best frnds and 4 guys i hd never met in my life, guided by a Nepalese guy of unidentifiable age and unfathomable accent, i would have asked him to get his nuts and bolts checked! and yet, here i was, headgear and all, paddling away happily, happy to be back in familiar terrain, excited to be doing somethng completely new for a change...
We had spent a good part of the last 45 min trying to mitigate the obstacles, go around them, and all the while not forgetting to absorb each and every iota of the fun...the rapids were just awesome,unlike anythin i hd previously experienced...its one thng to go down along spiral rides perfectly engineered for safety in water parks with lots of ppl around u and a completely different one to sign a disclaimer where u own all the responsibilty of ur death, any injury or any trauma...the first one is just fun....the second one, a riot! :) without a care in the world, we 'rapid'ly crossed numerous rapids and now stood on the brink of wat was supposed to be the pinnacle of the adventure...the capping glory....the real thing...white-water surfing! :)
we had been instructed to paddle very very hard against the flow of the river and try to overcome the strong current to cross the rocks along which the water was gushing down...and the moment our force matched the river's, the moment the balance was at its tantalising best, we had to duck inside the boat and take the river head-on in a collision of sorts! Let me tell you the text feels nothing like the real thing! its gotta be one of the best experiences man can ever have...right up thr with...ummm ....well forget it :) The feeling when u are swaying on the beats of swirling water caught between a natural and a man-made force, with the natural force slowly but surely gaining an upper hand and swamping everythng coming in its way, is somethng tht cannot be described...
10 minutes later, after 3 'collisions', as we made our way to the othr end of the ride, we were feeling on top of the world...the outward calm was clashing with, and yet, somehow, in a strange way, complementing, the inward torrent of pleasure,happiness,adventure,pure adrenaline and above all, the wonderful feeling of being in the vicinity of such a powerful yet serene force....nature! :)
One for all and all for one! After conquering the tides...
The fab four: Andy, Me, Ravs and Jammy...clicked by none othr than dude Dhav :)
You can find more pics from the trip here
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