Zanskar in a raft - Part 5 - The River
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This is the final part of my 'Zanskar in a raft' series, its odd to try and cram 6 days of rafting into one blog entry, especially since i wrote 4 post on just getting to the River. But i figured if i don't try and condense it, it probably will never get written. My work front has started to get busier, as a result i find myself having less time to update my blog.
The Zanskar
After 2 flights and 4 days by road we were finally at the 'Put In' point of the river. Before we could hit the water we had to get all our gear sorted out.
One of the biggest tasks when dealing with the gear was to choose a good wet suite. Owing to the frigid waters that we were going to brave for the next 6 days we needed to wear the suit at all times that we were on the river. Now picking a good wet suit was crucial. This was going to our primary article of clothing for the majority of the expedition. Picking a suit that was too loose meant freezing cold water could leak in and a suit too tight meant constricting your blood vessels at various parts of your body.
For the trip there were a total of 3 rafts, 2 for us and one for the crew, as well as a couple of safety kayakers. The role of the safety kayaker was to run point on the river, to scope out routes that we could use on the rapids as well and pick up anyone that possibly fell out of the raft.
Having done a couple of rafting expeditions before, i was feeling fairly confident about my paddling skills as well as my ability to stay anchored in the raft through some of the worst rapids.
Dave our safety kayaker
The next 6 days were probably the most physically gruelling days i have ever spent. We were paddling for 4-5 hours a day starting from 8am until 2pm, with a short break (if possible) for a snack. Even with all the aching muscles and freezing cold water is was not hard to see why all that effort was totally worth it.
The scenery provided by this remote part of country was breathtaking. It was humbling to realise that we were cut off from the rest of civilisation, battling a raging river while being shown some of the most amazing landscape and remote little villages in the country.
Over the course of the river, we were treated to views of flat river basins that seemed to stretch for miles. Mountain ranges and gorges that rose near vertically from the river. A village along the way that is cut off from the rest of civilization due to snow, for a better part of a year. These areas that we were travelling through were completely inaccessible, as there were no roads or any forms of communication so the only real way to experience this part of the country was by the river.
The excitement of the rapids came to a crescendo when we hit the one rapid called 'Constriction'. There was a good reason this rapid was named so. At this part the river became very narrow and mountain on either side rose vertical from the water. This rapid was particularly dangerous as it caused the river to get very deep and the under currents very strong. The currents under the water were also swirling like whirlpools, which meant that if we fell off the raft we would be sucked deep under water. Rafters known to have fallen out on earlier trips have had their ear drums shattered by the pressure of the water when they are pulled underneath.
Approaching this rapid we were already tired and running on fumes. For a raft to successfully move and navigate the water, it requires every paddler in the raft to paddle in sync. One missed time stroke could cause the raft to stall or turn in the wrong direction. At the same time we have the river guide yelling out various commands that we need to follow in order to ensure we move the raft in the right direction. Unfortunately for us one of the paddlers on our raft, out of sheer exhaustion missed a stroke which caused our raft to get lodged in the rapid against a side of the mountain. At this point we were very close to tipping the raft over, possibly leading to all of us being thrown into the water. After some carefully timed moves by our river guide and the rest of us jumping to one side of the raft, we were able to bounce off the side of a rock to emerge from the rapid safe and ear drums intact.
That was probably the scariest and the most fun portion of the trip. As we progressed and gained more confidence, the river got more exciting.
Every evening after setting up our tents, we would cart out our little stash of Rum, Whiskey and any other alcohol that we could carry. We would drink and watch the stars come out. This was one of the best expeditions i have ever been on and i cant recommend this enough to anyone who has a love for adventure and the outdoors.
My writing does not do justice to how amazing this trip was, hopefully some of the images below can give you a better sense of what it was like.
Credits to Aquaterra - the company that runs these waters.
