Kolad River Rafting

Bhim, our guide commands, “Everybody fall in”. All of us instantly jumped into the inner part of the rafting boat, the turbulent water thrashed on our rafting boat and splashed, dripping us all wet…

Pankaj noticing Bhim’s scared expression asked him if everything is ok.

Bhim (thinner than the thinnest of us) replied, “Actually, this is my first day on these waters… And we just escaped a rafting accident”

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Upon my constant poking, Soumyadeep planned a quick weekend getaway for us…his wife Subhashree, Sulagna, Manabesh, Pankaj and me. On July 27^th 2018 we all assembled at Joey’s Pizza at Malad. I have to mention and congratulate Joey’s Pizza here because it beats every other Pizza in the market with respect to taste, quality, quantity and variety! They have only one outlet in India which is located in Malad, Mumbai.

Joey’s Pizza special – Half & Half Pizza- enjoy two varieties of Pizza in a Single one

 

Cost break-up of Kolad river rafting trip

1. Cab from Malad to Kolad (153km), Toyota Innova for 6 people: Rs. 8500 for two days with driver
2. Stay at Lake resort: Rs. 3000 per room (double occupancy)
3. Booking rate Kolad river rafting adventure: Rs. 1300 per person on weekends; weekdays are almost half the price. Reporting time is before 8:30am

On 28^th at 3am we started from Malad towards Kolad in a pre-booked Innova. We reached Kolad by 7:30am and settled into Lake Resort which Soumyadeep booked around 2 weeks before. It is better to plan ahead and book weeks before in order to avoid issues related to stay, because during monsoon season Kolad river rafting attracts hundreds of tourists every day, with a larger footfall, the availability of hotel/resort bookings reduces with increased rates.

Lake Resort, Kolad

Lake Resort is a property owned by Dr. Augustine. The property is around 100 meters from the main road and is situated along a lake, which is formed due to still water from river Kundalika… The lake resembles backwaters of Kerala.

The rooms were decent, the lush green scenery around added an extra charm to the rooms and we were served with great Maharashtrian food. Best part about Kolad is there are limited mobile network. Only phones with Airtel SIM were live, rest were enjoying a peaceful vacation!

At around 8:30am we reached the location where river rafting adventure was supposed to commence. On reaching there we realized we were not the only ones. There were so many people, college groups, school students, large group of corporate people, friends, etc. The river rafting guides were not Maharashtrians, but from Uttarakhand, Himanchal, Nepal. With the beginning of monsoon season in North India, all water sports and adventures are closed down there, thus these guides move to locations like Kolad where monsoons are the best seasons for river rafting and kayaking.

Kundalika river receives tonnes of water from the Bhira dam which runs the Tata Hydel Power station at Kolad. The 12km stretch is an amazing ride and is famously known as Kolad River Rafting. Reporting time for Kolad river rafting adventure is before 8:30am, as the adventure is solely dependent on the water from the dam, which releases water into Kundalika river around 8am. After checking the level and flow of water the river rafting agency takes the decision of whether to cancel or conduct rafting adventure, so it is a must to reach early.

Since we were only 6 in number with one guide to take us through, we had to wait for more people to join. 8-10 people are required for ride through waters of Kundalika river. For the controlled ride on the turbulent waters the guides expect collective team work and effort from the tourists. The tourists are briefed beforehand as they are required to follow commands and move their ores into the waters for the amazing adventure. We waited for almost 3hours before three IT professionals from Pune Akash, Vivek and Naveen joined us in the river rafting adventure.

It was an amazing display of team work, with 90% newbies in team, we still soared through the waters in a rhythmic manner. When the guide yelled ‘forward’, the ores moved from front to back, when he yelled ‘backward’, the ores move back to front. And only after we were half way through the adventure we got to know that our guide is also a newbie at Kolad river rafting.

(L to R) Manabesh, Pankaj, Me, Subhashree, Soumyadeep (PC: Sulagna…)

Being his first day on these waters Bhim was following other guides for orders and following their path. So we moved through the waters and one after other the rapids followed. Rapids are sections of river where water velocity and turbulence is extremely high, if the rafting boats are not navigated and controlled properly it can damage rafting boats, overturn them and also cause accidents. On a particular rapid, he was supposed to move closer to the shore, but since he couldn’t control the navigation we moved right in the middle of the river where the turbulence was dangerously high. Just then he yelled, “Everybody fall in”…. When we all moved to the center of the rafting boat, not only it made the boat heavier at the center causing it to withstand the thrust of the turbulent water, but also ensured nobody fell into the water from the edge of the boat. This event scared the shit out of him, had the rafting boat overturned, he wondered, ‘whom to save out of the 9!’ But his rafting experience in Rishikesh river rafting (Uttarakhand) saved us all…

With Soumyadeep, Sulagna, Manav, Pankaj and Subhashree

I think we all were lucky that no one was hurt and as it is said ignorance is bliss, not knowing about the danger allowed no one to panic! Whenever we come across problems, there are two ways to deal with it, worry and panic or stay calm, analyse and get on with it. Worrying will only make the situation worse as any decision or action taken in panic is never logical.

After this rapid, the waters were now flowing steadily. So we took this opportunity and jumped into the river. The safety suit kept inexperienced swimmers afloat, and the swimmers had a gala time taking the inexperienced ones farther from the rafting boat and seeing how much trust we have on them.

Lying flat in the waters with our heads facing the sky while holding onto each other, my mind wandered in the thoughts of friendship and trust.

Friends are like life-jackets, they will support you through thick and thin. Although it is a chance which life-jacket you end up with, the good one or the bad. Even if you land up with the good one, it can keep you safe for only 72 hours. So do not completely depend on your friends, do not burden them with your problems or issues, every individual is dealing with their own fights. Support each other, mere presence of a good friend is enough to get one going!

This friendship day week/month, all I have to say is I have got amazing friends for life. The best ones! And they have been like leeches 😛 ! Stuck with me no matter what!