Rafting xPedition...A trip to God's country - 2

After getting fresh… (Well no details about how's and where's)…we left for our base camp. I was again the nap-deprived driver as Kunal was in no condition to drive. But he was kind enough to be in the co-pilot zone. The journey began on a hilly track. I had no experience of driving on hills but after 15-20 mins of driving, it becomes usual. So by this time I was driving in my usual self, fast and maverick, but not reckless. Kunal was already dozing while me raghav and aparna were enjoying the picturesque surroundings. Aparna requested to be the co-pilot and kunal agreed instantly. The reason, well he would be in a better position to sleep sitting in the back seat with raghav. The route was dangerous and whatever traffic existed was weighing more than 5 times the weight of the car. Aparna was performing the duties of the co-pilot very well, by reading almost every road signs and safety warnings as they appeared on every turn loud and clear. Also she insisted that I follow these. Don't know if three of these were scared by my driving but I was enjoying the ride passionately. We drove and drove as per the instructions given by Garry on phone @ Triveni. After driving for an hour or so we reached the camp. The time was 7:30 am. There was a guy (don't know his name) and a doggie to welcome us. He showed us the way to the tents and it was down-the-hill. We parked the car, carried our luggage and started descending down on a stony pass way through the jungle. Soon we were able to see our tents. It was an amazing view from the top. Big mountain ranges, a river flowing making great sound, rocks and white sand on the beach and around 10 camps. Pappu and Garry came to greet us as we reached in there. They took our luggage to our tents. We chose the one's which were just 3 meters from the bank of the river. The bedding was nice although there was sand all over. Me and kunal were sharing one tent while the other two siblings were in the adjacent tent. We all just gazed at the marvelous beauty there. Calm and serene. The river was flowing contributing to the only sound which existed there. We roamed around the white sand, throwing rocks in the river, getting a feel of the entire area. On one corner there were our camps, a few meter apart was the breakfast tent and pantry. The loo's were quite innovative although we had a terrible experience every time we had to reply to nature's calls. We rested there for 1 hr or so, had a great breakfast which we never expected in such an isolated region. Played volleyball for a while and by this time, the other group arrived. Very jovious guys n gals. Mostly newly married couples. Seeing the fair ones, Raghav had the sudden and desperate urge to get clean shaven ;).

They took some time getting fresh and having breakfast. And when everyone was ready, we could see Pappu and Garry inflating the Rafts. We were given life jackets, helmets and the paddles. There was a small debriefing session where we were told about rafting, the river, the raft, paddles and the life jackets. We were also ensured safety provided we stick to the instructions and carry the life jacket. Garry was the faculty and he explained the commands and the a's b's and c's of everything in a very humorous and entertaining way. We were divided into two groups as there were two rafts. After been familiarized with the river and the equipment, we were as'd to practice the paddling commands in the shallow waters near the banks. Did fairly well there to respond to the commands of the river guide sitting at the back of the raft. I was sitting at the front side with raghav at the other corner. Aparna was the "<>". So rafting began. Everyone in our raft were following the instructions and responding unlike the other raft. Everyone seemed to be the river guide in the other raft. The assigned river guide must be having a terrible time with 11 undisciplined rovers.