Day 68 - Leh - Floating through Garden of Eden

I was up and out by 7.45am. The boys were of course not ready when i arrived at the hotel. The bus driver seemed a little infuriated as he beeped the horn anxiously. Ian was first and Aidan was last to board the bus. He was struck with the all too familiar altitude headache so many people suffer from at that height. The journey to our rafting location was spectacular and took only 40 minutes or so. The bus driver raced along some pretty treacherous roads. We were dropped at the top of a hill over looking a large group of other rafters that appeared to be awaiting our arrival. The group was very friendly and there was an Irish lady from Ringsend that you could tell was a lot fun. The rest of the group was a collection of Italians and English mainly. We were suited up with wet suits, life jackets and helmets within a matter of minutes. Three large colourful rafts sat on the side of the bristling riverside. Our guide began his safety run through. This was no time to be distracted as he didn't repeat anything and the information he was giving out could save your life. Ten mintues later, the group was split up and we were all jumping into our own rafts.

The views truly are something else. It really is hard to put into words the surrounding landscape as we paddled down stream. All I can say is, I was lost for words. Except for the occasional, “Wow, wow, wow”. I really think India is such an undiscovered, Garden of Eden. Its so, so, so beautiful. I could have paddled down the river for a week just staring at the amazing rock formations, mountains and hills that passed by on my left, my right, behind and infront of me. It was kind of like floating through the biggest movie set you can imagine. The rapids were good fun also, although as you can tell from above, it was the views that did it for me. I think also because I was only going to be doing this for a few hours I absorbed every inch of the beauty and it will remain deep inside me for many decades to come. We joined up with the other rafts a number of times along our journey and proceed to have splashing wars using our oars. The guide on each raft is totally in control of where you end up heading and when he wants everyone in the boat to get wet he bloody god damn makes sure of it as he turns you into an oncoming waves or big rapids. It takes a good bit of physical energy to go white water rafting as there is a good bit of paddling involved.

The three hours I spent rafting were some of the most peaceful ones in my life. Our guide was a lot of fun and allowed the other rafts to head off in front. We all ended up jumping in to the river for a quick swim. The water was bloody freezing. As everyone got back into the raft their eyes were the brightest I have ever seen. Rafting is truly a fantastic experience in Lahdakh. Well worth the 1300rps for the morning rafting. I think because I was only there for the morning I didn't take a moment of it for granted. Two kilometers more and we pulled into the base. We all lifted our dingy over our heads and dropped it onto the grass. Splash tours had done a very good job on the camp. It was laid out with a buffet of food and large tables covered by small marquees. We delved into the delicious selection of foods. I decided to give it a go. My first solid meal in three days. While munching through our lunch I got chatting to some Italian guys that had only arrived on the road from Manali. My next destination. Their driver had fallen asleep while driving over the mountain roads. The car ended up jammed between a crevice overlooking a deadly drop. Nice. Just what I needed to hear just before I was about to take the journey. I finished up lunch and took my leave. Wishing the lads farewell as they were about to embark on the three day rafting experience. Not quite sure when I was going to see them again although in some way it was really okay. Exactly what I needed. Some Sam time.

The bus ride home was as expected beyond spectacular. The distant views of the snow capped Himalayas was so beautiful. The bus raced along blaring out some funky Indian music. I headed back to the guest house to pick up the Asus to try and Skype again. Of course once again broadband was down. I was also informed that there were no buses leaving for Manali until the 28th. This was not an option. The guy that ran the internet cafe told me that I could go in a shared taxi. I headed to my new favourite restaurant, the pizzeria with the cosy coaches. I lounged there for the rest of the afternoon devouring a book and some rather tasty chicken with mashed potato. After paying up I headed back into town to see if the internet was working. As I arrived tutting and complaining about whether 'this bloody internet ever worked' the nice Nepalese guy realised my despair and suddenly he had it working. It was so good to chat to my babe after three days of no contact. Skype is such a dream when it works. After catching up on all that time, I went outside and grabbed a taxi to the local bus stand as advised to try and organise this shared taxi. I was dropped to a darkened and dingy looking bus stand. The taxi office was closed. My taxi driver helped me out and asked around about the government buses leaving that night. None seemed to be available. I got him to drop me back to town and I headed back the guest house to get some sleep.