THE RETREAT FROM MOSCOW

Team Tourist in India, April 2006

First published in CKUK magazine

Chris

December 1995

As the river slowly widened into a lake, we came to the end of our epic journey down the Sutlej, one of Indias big 5 rivers that all originate high on the Tibetan plateau, a journey that had begun 4 days earlier at Rampur, where the river emerges from an impenetrable gorge. Our journey, believed to have been the first descent by kayak, had been an alternately mellow and exciting experience as wed negotiated our way through pour over infested big volume rapids and taken in the scenery in the calmer waters between them. We had paddled through gorges and been sheltered by villagers when our support teams jeeps had been delayed by land slides. It had been a whole new experience for me as one of the teams young guns.

March 1999

News filtered through that the White Water Warriors had successfully paddled the Sutlej upstream of Rampur, through those impenetrable gorges, all the way from close to the border with Tibet down to the town (a feat that has still not been repeated since).

April 2006

Fast forward to the Spring of 2006 and this time I am the old man in an entirely different team. We are crammed into a minibus, with Tourist rather comically plastered across the windscreen and our 7 kayaks are precariously perched sideways on our hopelessly inadequate roof rack as we overtake on blinds bends, squeezing our way under overhanging cliffs where the road has been hacked out of vertical cliffs. Swaying back and forth, ignoring the precariousness of the situation, we strain for a glance at the river deep below. We stare in fascination, bordering on horror, at what we see below us. Even with the benefit of Shrinkavision from several hundred feet above the river, the walled in river wide stoppers, pour overs and boil lines look awful and draw pained oohs and aahs from the hardened team.

The situation went from the sublime to the ridiculous as we passed a power station and the river ran dry! For the next few miles we stared down at a bare river bed and sadly emaciated flow, as the water was diverted underground by pipe to the power station turbines. Upstream of the diversion the water had to re-appear. The volume would be less and the gorge walls lower- maybe we could paddle further upstream.

It was not to be. As we drove along down close to the river without the benefit of Shrinkavision, the harsh reality became all too clear. The river was simply too high and we were a month too late. Every time the river eased and started to look tempting, it would steepen and boulders would create terminal pour overs. There were lines, but as the water surged back and forth it was clear that down on the water, the line would become invisible and wed be little more than driftwood.

We checked into a hotel at a small town called Rekong Peo. We awoke the next day to discover that the town, high up the valley, was surrounded by snow capped peaks, so we relaxed in the morning sun and took stock. Indian bureaucracy intervened, as we discovered that the Inner Line permits we needed to progress all the way upstream to the border with Tibet wouldnt be available for two days (after a holiday and Sunday). So we upped camp and went off to explore a tributary, the Baspa. The river itself was disappointing, but the valley was absolutely stunning and it took our minds off the task in hand.

The next day we returned to do battle with the Sutlej but it didnt get any better. The pour overs still looked terminal and the dry section of river looked even drier, which finally dispelled any thoughts we had of paddling it, which would have been a dreadful cheat!

Driving back into Rampur with our tails between our little paddling legs, worse was to come. We were astonished to see a vehicle drive past with kayaks on the roof- we were not the only kayaking group in India after all- the Russians were coming! So, we had to explain to this hardened group of Russians that wed wussed out and suffered our own little Retreat from Moscow. One of the Russians had the sort of piercing stare that you might get after paddling and surviving a thousand terminal pour overs. As they continued their drive upstream, we resigned ourselves to the prospect of the Russians shaming us by styling the entire river and returning for vodka and medals, the first team to do so since Ellard and his fellow boating demi-Gods.

We experienced a certain shadenfraude later on as news filtered through that the Russians had been spotted in Rishikesh, four days later. They couldnt possibly have achieved their mission of paddling the entire river from close to the Tibetan border down to Rampurcould they? After returning home, we learned that they had been forced to leave the river after 500 metres; a shame for them, but the news did our dented egos no harm at all.

Our Sutlej mission had ended in inglorious failure, but despite this, our trip to India was a great success and hugely enjoyable. Why? Primarily because the quantity and quality of the paddling elsewhere surprised us and exceeded our wildest expectations. I wont bore you with the details because detailed trips reports and photographs of all the rivers are, as always, available on www.ukriversguidebook.co.uk. I will, however, bore you with some of the highs and lows (which you have to expect in India).

Sutlej River disappointment

The lows

Virgin Airlines. Paddling in the less developed World can be challenging, but this time we were faced with our biggest challenge before even leaving the UK, as Virgin Airlines gave us an emotional roller coaster ride to remember. The check in supervisor from hell was immune to our dubious charms and fleeced us for 408 each one way, the first time I personally had ever been charged extra. On the way home, we were put through the mangle again at Delhi airport, hastily stripping our beloved boats and dumping them with our Indian friend Shalabh (in return for 200 each) after Virgin demanded 300 each. Realising that we meant business, the colour drained from the cheeks of the check in chappy, who ran off to see the rather attractive female supervisor, who relented. Rather embarrassingly, we then had to run back to Shalabh and snatch the boats back off him.

Industrialisation. As we drove up each valley, we gradually began to realise that the region is turning into one big building site as seemingly every river is being dammed. The growing Indian middle class and the Wests insatiable demand for cheap goods is fuelling industrialisation, which, along with jet travel, is fuelling demand for power. So, we are complicit in all of this.

Squalor and poverty. The Indians may be launching nuclear missiles and satellites and the growing middle classes may all be buying cars and mobile phones, but basic hygiene and facilities still seem to elude most of the population. For most villages, the riverbank is still the communal latrine, the river flushing it all away every time it rains and the river rises- not the time to go paddling.

The stinky Tirthan River

The highs.

The local people, who were wonderfully friendly and welcoming and clearly fascinated by what we were doing. It was clear that in some of the valleys the sight of kayakers was as common as a Martian space ship and kitted up we must have looked like spacemen and scared the children. This suggests that we must have notched up some first descents. However, progress and satellite TV seems to have reached every valley- one child pointed at Andy Levicks boat and blurted out the words Discovery Channel!.

The rivers. The information that we had on the rivers was sketchy to say the least and we really didnt know what to expect, but we were pleasantly surprised again and again. The River Rupin was a highlight, a tributary of the Tons. Thanks to a new road (probably built in anticipation of an impending dam project) we were able to travel up the river. We were rewarded with miles of outstanding read and run, road side, steep boulder garden, grade 4+ and 5. One moment to remember was when Andy McDoom McMahon slipped getting out of his boat and accidentally swam through a grade 6. The paddling was intense, which may explain why Kevin Francis, after completing the paddle, capsized in a harmless boil line and failed to roll! Another star was the Parvati River, a tributary of the Beas, south of Manali, which gave us 28 miles of remarkably good grade 4 (4+) in a beautiful valley. The finale gave us one final surprise, as we took a chance on a river called the Uhl, north of Mandi. When we reached the river and set up camp, we were dismayed to discover a bone dry river. Fortunately, we discovered the cause (a dam upstream) drove upstream and discovered a grade 5 gem which had probably never been paddled before. This was just one of two forks upstream of the dam at Barot- the other one awaits a probable first descent!

The boats, which took a beating on the water on steep rocky low water runs and off the water, sliding back and forth whilst perilously perched sideways on our hopelessly inadequate narrow, sharp edged roof rack. Marks boat did die on him, but it at least held out heroically until within minutes of the final take out before doing so, unbeknown to Mark at the time.

Our stomachs, which survived. The trip was billed on UKRGB as Operation Firm Stool. Mission accomplished gentlemen! The only time our paddling was interrupted was when poor Mark had to effect two emergency break outs on the Beas and run for it.

The Himalayas- look beyond the ramshackle buildings and dam works, and the rivers, steep tree clad foothills and snow capped mountains are still as awe inspiring as ever.

Himalayas at Manikaran

Chris Wheeler walked away from the Sutlej in shame alongside Andy Levick, Andy McMahon, Jay Sigbrandt, Kevin Francis, Neil Farmer and Mark Rainsley.

Fact File:

8 reasons why should book that flight to Delhi:

1. Time is running out.
White water rivers in the Indian Himalayas can be sub divided into three main areas. To the north west, there is the state of Jammu Kashmir, which includes Ladakh. Here you will find the Tsarap, Zanskar, Indus and Chenab. To the far northeast, east of Nepal, Bhutan and Sikkim, is Arunachal Pradesh, through which flow the Lohit, Siang and Bhramaputra. Between the two, west of Nepal, there are the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal, the subject of this article. This area is crammed full of rivers and is closest to Delhi and most vulnerable to HEP projects, which now affect most of the valleys.

2. There are lots of great rivers
Within the space of two weeks we crammed in 12 days of great road side, low volume, steep boulder garden grade 4 and 5, spread over 10 different rivers. We started by driving north to Mussourie and staying the night. Within a couple of hours of leaving the town we had descended down to the Yamuna River and we spent the next 5 days paddling the Yamuna, Tons, Rupin and Pabar, before heading north to the Sutlej and Baspa. From there we headed north to the Kullu Valley and the towns of Manali, Kullu and Mandi, where we spent 6 days paddling the Tirthan, Beas, Parvati, Sainj and Uhl. There are further rivers in these regions - to the east there is the Upper Ganges/ Bhagirathi/ Alaknanda and tribs, to the northeast, the Spiti and Pin and to the northwest, the Ravi.

3. The area is accessible.
Book flights to Delhi with kayak friendly Gulf Air or BA. Pre book a driver and vehicle through a reputable operator such as www.aquaterra.com (speak to Vaibhav). Its an 8 hour drive northwards to Mussourie, the gateway to the Yamuna and Tons, and a 13 hour drive southwards back to Delhi from Mandi.

4. India is amazing.
I wont explain why- read the guidebooks.

5. Its a great Easter destination.
The rivers are low and manageable in April, before the monsoon, which enables you to push up the valleys and tackle the tight technical upper reaches. The snow line will typically be up to around 10-12,000 ft, opening up the passes that link the valleys. The weather should be comfortable, with clear skies and sunshine, hot days and cool, but not cold, nights. Good conditions for camping, especially if you take a 4 season sleeping bag and Goretex bivvy bag. The river water is cool shorts will suffice but take a dry top.

6. Its cheap.
Flights cost less than 500 return and a driver and vehicle typically works out at around 200 each for 2 weeks. Live comfortably, spending 4-5 each most nights on good hotels with en-suite showers, hot water and satellite TV, and a 2 week trip will cost round 1,000, including insurance and visas. Camp out and youll spend around 900, IF you get your boats on the plane free of charge.

7. You dont have to be a hero boater.
Most of the rivers offer steep grade 4+ and 5 in their upper reaches, and then gradually become easier and less continuous down the valley towards the plains, easily accessible as its all roadside; offering something for everyone.

8. Information is readily available.
Check out www.ukriversguidebook.co.uk for more information, including detailed river notes and links.

Chris's photos.

River notes/ trip report

Article by Mark Rainsley

Mark's photos.

Parvati River