In March 2005 four Russian kayakers made a trip to the Alaknanda, Bhagirati and its tributaries.
Article by Konstantin "Doctor" Vasin
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Up go steep walls with prickly bushes, the
exit nowhere in sight.
Rain, cold wind, twilight. Nikolay Timonin and myself deep
down in a canyon. Up go steep walls with prickly bushes, the
exit nowhere in sight.... depressive and not really inspiring
to stay for a cold night out in a canyon.
Many rivers to cross
In the Indian district Uttaranchal Pradesh there are many
very interesting rivers for kayakers. First of all these are
the Bhagirati and Alaknanda rivers that become the Ganges
after the confluence. These are big volume, powerful rivers.
The paddling on their uppermost sections can be interesting
for very strong kayakers, but it is very tiresome due to a lot
of portages. The difficulty is class 4-6. One would have to
carry the boat over huge chunks of rocks which takes away
forces and time. The paddling on lower sections is much more
interesting. It is necessary to get out of the boat too for
scouting, but there are significantly less portages. Besides
the valleys widen and the odds to have to spend a cold night
out there get much lower.
The Alaknanda tributaries are quite interesting too. They
can be estimated as class 3 rivers. The water is lower and it
is possible to use them for warm-up. With higher levels they
can become class 4 - 4+. They are very good, since the most
part boat-scoutable.
Perhaps we were not very lucky because the weather in the
Alaknanda valley was cold and rainy, whereas at the Bhagirati
and other Ganges tributaries it was warm and sunny. Bhagirati
is very pleasant due to the hot springs in the upper part.
There are some hotels, and it is very pleasant to get up in
the chilly morning air and get into the hot pool, and only
then have breakfast, wash yourself and paddle cold glacial
water.
The Yamuna and Tons valleys differ strongly from each other
and from Bhagirati. When we arrived to Yamuna, the spring had
already come into full force. While before the mountains were
gray and faded, in the Yamuna valley the trees were blossoming
and terraced fields were covered by multi-colored spots of new
crops. And the paddling was also cheerful, joyful and sunny.
Yamuna - is a typical kayaking river. We paddled the middle
section that has very few portages, but the river is very
intense. As a whole the middle section is class 4.
Tons is a wide and powerful rafting river (class 3-4). It
is interesting to run it in a raft as well as in a kayak. It
is difficult and fascinating to read the water. There are very
big waves and holes.
The Pabar river is worth a special notice. It is class 4-5.
We paddled only the last three kilometers, but were very
impressed. It is the river with big water and high gradient.
The river is about 50 kms long. About 20-30 kms in the middle
is flat water, the remaining 20 km present some very demanding
paddling.
India and the Indians
The general impressions from a trip to India can be
overwhelming. The country is rather dirty and fully
unsanitary, but by observing the basic precautions (drinking
bottled water, washing hands before meal and using bottled
water for teeth cleaning) you can avoid the stomach troubles.
The Indians are smiling and lovely people.
The Indians are smiling and lovely people. It can be
irritating when they gather into a crowd around your car and
stare as "the white" change clothes, but it has never been
threatening for us. They showed extreme curiosity, but not the
aggression.
It was warm in India, many tangerines, bananas, other
fruits and vegetables, and it was possible to have a diet
without huge quantities of spices. But if you like it spicy,
you'll love the local food.
On the whole, despite of all the negatives and bad weather
sometimes, our trip to the Indian Himalayas has shown that it
is a very interesting area for kayaking and also rafting,
mountain biking and other outdoor activities.
Konstantin "Doctor" Vasin
April 2005, Moscow, Russia
