The Himalayan club of BHEL Haridwar where I am work organized a rafting trip from shivpuri to rishikesh.
Our journey started from haridwar to rishikesh a 30 Km drive to the Step Himalayan Acadamy(SHA) in Rishikesh. From there the SHA took us to shivpuri(20 Kms from rishikesh) from where our rafting will start.
On reaching shipuri our rafts were almost ready with the guys just finished pumping air into our rafts. We were all provided life jackets , head gears and a paddle. Our team had three couples 4 children of the age between 7 tp 15 and 6 of my collegues ranging
between 25 to 35. Our total count was 15 and we took two rafts one which would accomodate 9 and the other would accomodate 14. The raft for ladies and children was one in which the instructor would row and it was considered less risky. The other raft in which I was to go was to be rowed by us and the instructor sat in the rear end navigating and giving us instructions like fast forward, forward raise, easy forward etc.,
The instructor gave his introduction and then started his small speech on where and how we will be seated. how we will secure ourself to the raft , how we will react in case we happened to fall off the raft, how we should help our companion back into the raft. etc.,
This stretch we were to go had 6 rapids. There were 2 rapids which were or grade 1 it wud be a shame to call it a rapid at all.2 more were or grade 2 and 3 respectively and then there was a grade 4 in which I has thrown from the front of the raft to the back (really fortunate enough not to be thrown out).
The rafting started with us starting to row in the plain water and practising how to remain afloat in the water. The instructor spalshed water on all the participants to get them in the mood . I was seated in the front right another in the front left two more of my collegue were seated in the middle and the rest where all over in the peripheri of the raft the instructor was seated in the rear center. Our first rapid passed of as if it was nothing then there was the second rapid of grade 3 where the instructor asked the front middle guys for the high raise where in they were to lay pressing the front of the raft in the rapid and all other were to row forward fastly. That was the first experience of a rapid and was a very good one all were drenched and our raft having some water inside now. Which we were trying to remove using a small bucket . The instructor said we could jump into the water if we wished and asked us to remain near the raft as the water current may take us away and then it would be difficult to get us. By then one of the child from the other raft who had not heeded this had got away from her raft was floating towards us . We rescued her.
The third rapid was of a grade 4 and the instructor also said that it seems as if the water level had raised than his previous trip . The high raise was on and we were all fast rowing forward into the rapid this one was a superb experience as I had mentioned above . The force of the rapid was such that it threw me back into the raft and the raft was now half full of water. As we were approaching this rapid it was as if it were a whirlpool and with a wave which was so high. The front portion of the raft sunk in and then was suddenly raised by the force of the water that was reason for me being thrown back.
After this rapid all other seemed dwarf like and very easy to handle.
Cliff jumping.
One the way there was one place where we were told we could do some cliff jumping so the rafts were brought to the shores and those where daring got out. We all climbed a small cliff from where we jumped into the water slightly ahead of our rafts
The water flow was such that we could easily swim to the raft after our jump. I although was afraid jumped four times from the cliff.
Overall the experience was very good and should say that everyone who gets oppurtunity should try
You could see some of our photographs in the following link
https://worldisround.com/articles/176019/index.html
Note:
The rafting clubs in rishikesh have many different kind of packages.
Like simply rafting suitable for nearby people from 300 Rs-500 Rs Depending upon whether you are doing it from Bhrampuri, Shivpuri or byasi (Diffenrent distances from rishikesh) and For Rs.750 - more for a night stay in rishikesh, rafting and cliff climbing. These people also offer adventure sports like paragliding etc.,