Rafting – Indian style

Written by Pete on July 24th, 2009

Summary:

6 Indians, one Nepalese oarsman and two foreigners makes for a lively crew rafting the Beas River.

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We joined a group of Indian guys who were all coworkers on holiday from their jobs in Delhi. The river was only class 2-3 rapids but our new Indian friends made sure it was a wild ride. The outfitter was a little short on rafting helmets so we substituted some construction helmets. All we needed was a cowboy and a sailor and we could have been the Village People.

Patrick and I were paddling and steering in front while the center oarsman shouted out directions. Our new Indian friends soon found it more fun to just shout out their own directions and Patrick and I soon found ourselves at the mercy of any directions shouted from the back of the boat. “Paddle left”. “Now paddle right”. “Reverse”. “Forward hard”. A true Indian excursion, the chaos added to the fun and half the time we found ourselves laughing so hard paddling was all but impossible. Not quite content with the challenges of the waves Hitesh the manager of Delhi office crew decided it would be fun to wedge themselves up front between Patrick and I and hang himself out over the front of the boat. Hitesh would lean out over the front of the raft and charge each set of new waves with his head. I suppose that’s one way to add a few difficulty points to some class 3 rapids. A fun day.