IntoIndia

Posted: Thursday 01st January 1970

Tags: india, school, travel, group, kayaking, charity, work

Categories: All Categories, Trip Report

We arrived at Kathgodam station at 4.20am and decanted onto two small coaches with our luggage stacked on top. The coaches set off with Indian music blaring and flashing lights dancing around a religious statue above the drivers head. Everyone managed to get some more sleep as the coaches wound their way up the narrow mountain roads. After a stop for breakfast, we were soon getting glimpses of the Himalayas through the morning mist. We travelled most of the day with stops for food and “sou-sou” (or a wee in English). By this point Delhi belly was starting to take hold of most people and some urgent calls of nature were then classified into different categories – Freestyle Poo (out in the open air), Extreme Poo (squatting with high element of personal danger such as a cliff face), Privacy poo (In a toilet tent or proper WC – but usually in the squat position). Having a wee quickly became un-classified. Most people had the presence of mind to purlointhe toilet rolls from their hotel rooms as we went along and these became hard currency. Sorry to let you in on this sordid little world but bowel movements were an everyday topic of conversation and Immodium were eaten like sweets.

On the bus heading towards the Kali River.

We arrived at the Zara Residency and were issued a 100 litre dry bag between two people and set about packing our gear for the river. 50 litres is not much space and it took a bit of experimentation and a few omissions to get everything to fit. After dinner and a few drinks, we got to bed ready for another early start at 5.30am Back onto the coaches (new toilet rolls stuffed in pockets and bags) for a two hour journey that lasted closer to five. The road continued on it’s upwards journey and the higher it got the poorer the surface became.

First view of the Greater Himalayas.

Soon we were edging along a gravel track inches from a vertical drop of several hundred feet. There was an army of manual workers patching up the road where it had slipped down the mountain and at one point we had to wait for half an hour whilst a bulldozer cleared a landslide off the road. On the way down the mountain we got glimpses of the river that was to transport us for the next 130km and finally arrived at the put-in and set about un-loading our boats and packs and getting them down a steep narrow path to the beach. We were introduced to all the raft guides, safety kayakers and cooks and loaded the gear up onto the rafts.

Words from expedition leader Phil Atkinson.