A Mini Multi-day.

After the excitement of the first day on the Ganga I was expecting the work to wind down and relax a bit. Despite this the next morning I woke up and was told that I would be safety kayaking for a group of clients. 24km and 2 hours later I was well and truly sun burnt and a little worn out. However nothing really beats the feeling of just lying back and looking up at the sky whilst you float down a long wave train... That is of course until you forget where you are and what you are doing and find that a 80kg raft, plus 8 clients is baring down on you...

After an exciting morning the afternoon was left for me to unwind by watching Fil delivering a climbing session and J.P trying to facilitate a session in hindi. Soon Sam made an appearance at the campsite apparently walking all this way just to see us. According to him it had nothing to do with the fact that his center didn't have any WiFi. As the evening wore on we began to ready ourselves for the next days expedition. The plan was to drive up to Utrasu on the Alakananda river early on the monday morning and the spending the next 2 days rafting and kayaking the 70km back to camp.

Sam hitchin a ride home.

Monday morning came around far to quickly. I was once again treated to the creative ways that my new friends come up with to secure kayaks to roofs... After a quick early morning glass of Chi we hit the road around 5:30. The drive north was relatively uneventful minus a short stop to retrieve Ellie's paddle from the road it was plane sailing, if not a little bit bumpy. At around 8:00am we stopped at the side of the road for breakfast. As usual I had no idea what I was eating but it tasted pretty damn good. After another hours drive we arrived at the confluence of the Bhagirathi and the Alakananda, at the point where these two rivers meet the Ganges forms. From here it flows unrestricted east in to the Bay of Bengal some  1400 miles further down stream. At the town of Devaprayag we stopped to look at the confluence. We climbed on to some blokes roof top so we could get a view of the Bhagirathi around 50m below us. From our vantage point above we could see a huge torrent of water forming large stoppers and waves bellow. It was then that we where informed that the dam upstream has yet to be turned on and we where seeing the river at 10% of its flow rate. Eeek. We decided to save it for another day...

View from the roof.

Apparently low water...

with the Bhagirathi off the cards, it was back into the trucks to continue the drive up the valley a further 25km. The road was tough going often with large chunks missing due to landslides and perilous drops to the river below. After a lot of messing about, we where finally on the river at 11:00am, I already felt worn out. The First 20km of the Alakananda was easy bouncy grade 2 and 3. Again it was all about lying back and enjoying ourselves and trying to surf as many waves as possible. After 90 minutes or so we arrived in Devaprayag we pulled our boats up on to the temple steps and tucked into a feast of rice, roti, daal and some obscure form of curry. Initially I thought I was getting my first real Indian Korma. Not only was I disappointed to find out that it wasnt korma... I also found out that the dish is practically none existent in northern India. I have some awesome pictures of this spot, but unfortunately J.P's phone is dead so you will have to imagine for now. After such a big lunch I loosened my straps on my BA considerably and set of again on the Ganga proper.

 It wasnt long until we arrived in camp, my GPS showed that whilst moving we averaged an impressive 10km an hour. Pretty good going considering we hardly paddled. We pulled our boats up onto the beach and sat down to relax. Whilst unwinding Arjun (The head raft guide) briefed us about the campsite. Being sure to mention that it would be wise to avoid the jungle at night because it is often frequented by Jaguars and Tigers. Advice noted it was time to set up camp. This mainly revolved around collecting ample amounts of fire wood for a big bonfire. It must be said that even on Expeditions Indian people do not skimp on food! The evening meal was an impressive affair. Once again, I cant remember what I ate, but it was good. I should really start writing it down. I am also pleased to say im getting pretty damn good eating with my hands. To the point where not even a soup would survive my spoonless hands. After dinner the Whiskey came out and everything was just perfect in our little world. Before 22:00pm I had my sleeping bag liner out and settled in for a night sleeping on the beach.

Showing off our roses.

Arriving at Camp.

Arjun preparing a hearty meal.

Buried in the sand.

L to R: J.P, Gabbar, Filip, Ellie, Nathan, Deepak

Enjoying the fire.

The next morning we awoke early to the reports that a local fisherman had spotted a tiger about 250m South of our camp. Despite the news breakfast was a lazy affair. We did not get on the water until way past 10:00am.

Definitely not a tiger...

Meet Sheila.

Lashes on point.

This upper section of the Ganges down to Marine drive has only one rapid of note. "The Wall" is a big class 4 rapid that has a manky stopper in the middle and huge whirlpools to the left and right. The advice from the guides was to run it hard right. This ended with a swirl of paddles and boats heading in all directions as the whirlpools completely took over our boats. By some miracle everybody (Ellie, J.P and Myself) all came out the right way up! Im sure Ellie will put a video up soon. When she does I will makes sure I share it on here. Also, if you want a different spin on this expedition with a focus more on bowel movements, Ellie's blog can be found here: elliegoestodelhi.blogspot.com After the wall we continued down the river for a further 5km until we reached marine drive, the start of the classic white water section of the Ganga. As we where pressed for time it was decided that we would end the day here. After hitching a lift back to camp in 2 different vehicles it was time for a well deserved rest.  70km in 2 days, a perfect introduction to expedition kayaking. There will be many more to come.