The drudgeries of life
Saturday, August 29, 2009
The Dream Trip: Day 8 - Conquering the Mighty Zanskar!
Probably the most adventurous day of the entire dream trip... etched in our memories as Day 8.
Everyone was up and ready to go by 8 AM.
Had omelettes and paranthas at Bon Appetit, our last meal in Leh :'(
Wrapped up the packing bit, thanked our landlady (her husband, Mr. Lobzing was not around) for all her help and hospitality, and checked out of our Guest House.
Last meal at Bon Appetit :'(
As decided, we followed the rafting organizing party's jeep to Chilling, the point by the Zanskar from where the rafting commenced.
While driving along the hilly roads with the Zanskar river flowing in the opposite direction by the roads, the view was spectacular. That said, 3 of us, Randy, Sid, and I, scoffed at the steady flow and lack of rapids in the river... we started comparing it with the sexy rafting experience in the Ganges at Hrishikesh!
What an experience that had been... clean water, strong currents and lots of rapids. The Zanskar in contrast seemed to have muddy water, weak currents and just a couple of rapids!
Zanskar!!
A seemingly innocuous rapid in the Zanskar
We witnessed a raft with lots of occupants navigating a turn in the river so efficiently that we were convinced that this rafting experience was going to merely a formality :(
It'll be child's play, we assured the others! What a let down!
Ahem! Little did we know what awaited us!
We had heard that these little guys would oversee the security issues...
For us, none of them remained :P
Once we reached Chilling, it took the organizers a lot of time to get the rafts ready. There were two rafts: we were supposed to occupy one of them, and the other one was for a group of foreigners.
Now that we were standing on the banks of the Zanskar, the feeling of confidence that arose after seeing not many rapids quickly dissipated on witnessing the river up close! The Zanskar looked menacing, and it's current strength was increasing by the minute (due to the melting snow up in the mountains, one organizer confidently asserted)!
Holy smokes! This is so not going to be easy!!
Six warriors, all set to take the plunge :P
The foreigners pumping air into their raft
While we rested, our guides took care of our raft :P
B1 Bros. :)
Our grey beauty! 
Rafters Ahoy!Turn by turn, we helped pump air into the rafts, got into the rafting gear (life jackets, helmets et al) and had a photography session!
It wasn't until 12:40 PM that we set off on our rafts! Rafters ahoy!!
Let me make it clear at this point that the water was icccy colddd... you can't dip your feet for more than 20-30 seconds, that cold!
The seating arrangement of us rowers in the raft was as follows:
____________
| | __________ | |
Me ----------Chandu
| |___________| |
| | __________ | |
Zulfi ------------ Sid
| | __________ | |
Randy ---------- Rusti
|__________|
Guide
Chandu and I being seated up front, on the right and left sides of the raft respectively, the onus of taking the waves head on (literally!) and matching our rowing rhythms under all circumstances was on us!
After a little trial run in a calm portion of the river, we were ready to go... well, not really but that's what our guide told us :P
For the next 90 minutes, Zanskar punished us like hell for underestimating her prowess! Oh, there were crazy rapids alright... just that you have to be there amidst them to realize that!
Till 2:15 PM, we braved rapids, rowed like madmen (and it would be the understatement of the decade to state that it was tiring!), heard and obeyed the commands from our guide like "all forward", "left back, right front", "right back, left front", "stop", "relax" (our favorite command :P), "row faster" et al!
When I say it was tough, really really tough, you've got to trust me :)
Initially there was no synchronization at all, everyone was irritated, and the our guide kept praising the foreigners in the adjacent raft who actually seemed to be professionals!
It was then that we started counting... and rowing with the count was like singing with a sexy background music! Sure enough we discovered the missing synchronization! We started rowing pretty well, and soon, it was the turn of the guide in the adjacent raft to compliment us B)
My back was paining like hell, as were the shoulders... others surely must've experienced similar pain! But we kept rowing like champs!
After a grueling 1.5 hours, we got a 30 minutes long break! Ahhhh I couldn't feel my feet once I stepped off the raft onto land! Everyone was wet and shivering in the cold breeze! Brrrr
I unabashedly had a few puffs of a cigarette, the only thing available to provide respite from the cold! Took off the wet shirt that had till now been adding to the shivering, and sat in the sun! Also clicked a few pics there...
Ever ready to go... even during a break!
Chandu, Sid, Randy and I with the guides during the mid-break
All set to take off for round 2!!
Thanks to the splashes of salty water on my face, I couldn't pronounce words properly... it was totally funny! LoL! The guys had a ball pulling my leg!
In the second leg of the journey, I initially switched places with Randy so that he managed the right front now, while Chandu handled the left front. Even the back portion, I figured, was tough... the rowing after plunging the oar deep into the river before pushing it back was very tiring.
At a silent stretch on the river, our guide said that we could jump into the water! So Chandu and I took the plunge! Woohoo! For a second, nothing, and then it hits you! Thousands of pointed needles pricking into all parts of the body! Freezing cold water it was! But after a minute or two, it felt awesome!
Soon after we got pulled back up, Chandu and I switched places. Randy and Sid jumped into the water too... should've seen the shock these guys got! Pulling them up in a hurry as a rapid approached was one helluva experience!
We had trusted our guide a lot, but somethings did go wrong despite his guidance! The raft hit a rock full force, and then got caught in a whirlpool! Gasp!!
Soon enough in a slow stretch of the river, our guide made a video of us rowing the raft, and clicked a few pictures of us :)
Our foreigner friends aboard their raft
After 3 long hours, we emerged from the Zanskar, fatigued but victorious! B)
After a few group photos, we threw on our clothes, applied lots of sunscreen (a little too late though! The damage had already been done :'( ). A part of the rafting combo was a complimentary lunch, so we headed for Hotel Wimbledon Continental at Nimoo.
The Zanskar Tamers B)
Given that everyone was dead tired and starving, the rice, dal, cauliflower and tea quickly vanished off the table!
Hunger didn't let us observe the beauty that time... oh well! Better late than never!
By 5:15 PM, we were on our way to Kargil. The road was pretty good for a while, but then it became bad. While the others drowsed and slept, I sat up front with Guru and kept him talking, lest he falls asleep :p
Damn! After a tiring day, this journey was uncalled for.
The road less traveled
Us, riding into the sun :)
Like a nightmare taking over from a bad dream, we were down with a flat trye 15 kms outside Kargil at 10:45 PM. The place was in the middle of a jungle, and that nagging feeling of being watched was terrible!
The place where we got stranded :D
We reached Kargil at 11:15 PM, and the town seemed to be asleep. We had searched on blogs about Hotel Siachen and PC Palace, but they turned out to be very expensive.
We bargained at Hotel Greenland and after lots of hassles (room rent related issues, room shifting) we got 2 good rooms for 900 bucks in all for the night.
Luckily for us, a Sardarji had kept his restaurant open at midnight, so Rajma, Rice and Eggs felt like a sumptuous meal.
Nothing else for the day! Jumped into bed, and blanked out the world :)
Tomorrow, we have to cross through Drass, while being observed by the enemy; witness Tiger Hill and a lot of places actually related to the Kargil War. Wow!!
Next up (Some time, next week):
The Dream Trip: Day 9 - A tryst with History at Kargil!
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Labels: Dream Trip, Kargil, Leh, Nimoo, Rafting, Whirlpool, Zanskar
2 Comments:
Tanga Langa Tanga Langa, Hu Ha Hu Ha......Tanga Langa Tanga Langa, Hu Ha Hu Ha.....LOL!!!....tht was our mantra on the raft....the foreigners on the other raft may have thought that a bunch of Red Indians have come
Hey Chandu and Steve it wasnt exactly Tanga LAnga....It was more like SangGada gada gada gadaa...Hu Ha Hu Ha.. :) And i was shouting out loud...really enjoyed it....kept the foreigners wondering wht the hell are they saying :)
My 1st river rafting experience and tht too at the 3rd most dangerous river in the world ...yes thts Zanskar for you. Truely the most adventurous day of the entire trip. There was a moment or two while crossing the tougher rapids tht i felt that the raft wud topple..and it wud been a nightmare considering the icy cold water. Must say i tried paddling the hardest due to fear during tht time coz the guide had told us tht its the only thing tht will prevent the raft from toppling. Luckily we were heavy enuf for the raft to be stable :)
Rafting in the icy cold water of the meandering Zanskar amidst rocky mountains was an experience beyond words.
On the way to kargil our driver "Guru" again did something idiotic. We gave lift to a Sardarji from the army whose truck had broken down on the way. Guru the moron started pestering him about unwanted details of the Kargil war and said " Apne ghar ki khidki khulli rakhengey to chor aayega hi" meaning it was clearly the Indian army's fault tht they had left the posts unguarded. Guru clearly didnt know anything about the understanding b/w India - Pak tht time, tht neither wud breach the security. Luckily for him the army sardarji was the calmest i have ever seen else Guru cud have been a casualty tht day for insulting the army ....Lolz. We wudnt have defended him either.
On the way to Kargil something kept happening to Sid. Whenever we stopped to ask our way ahead and he wud see locals sitting inside small shops , he wud say " Yeh log terrorist hongey" as if everyone thr was a terrorist only.... Lolzz. The most funny experience tht day.
I guess Steve shud be nominated for a bravery award for sitting on the front seat for quite some time tht day and braving Guru's nonsense ad never ending stories. So tht he doesnt doze off.
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