New Trips 2010
Kayak Trips in India - Ganges
On this incredible journey we will explore the headwaters of the Ganges in northern India. The Hindus call it the Ganga Mata or the Great Mother, the holiest of all rivers in the world. We will start our adventure in the foothills of the Himalayas where the mountain waters tumble down into the valley below. We will paddle inflatable kayaks and will have two rafts along to carry the camping and cooking gear.
Nights will be divided between camping on white sandy beaches and staying at base camps along the river. We will visit remote villages, Hindu shrines and jungle temples. We will day-hike the Pilgrim's Trail and take a jeep ride into Rajaji National Wildlife Park, home to 500 Asian elephants, 200 snow leopards, monitor lizards, barking deer and many macaque and langur monkeys. As we paddle through this ancient land, we will stop at Rishikesh, the town the Beatles made famous in the 1970's. This is where they spent three months with their guru Maharishi.
We will visit Hardwar, one of the Hindu's most sacred cities. Here we will go to Har-Ki-Pauri, the sacred bathing ghat and attend an Aarti, the evening blessing of this holy river. Sadhus and pilgrims come here from all over the world to bathe in the holy Ganges. They believe that to bathe in the Ganges washes away the sins of a lifetime. We start and finish this trip in Delhi, India's vibrantly complex capital of all things ancient and modern, where visitors may run into saffron-turbaned mystics, bearded Sufis, and trendy Bollywood stars on the same block.
