Finding Peace in Turbulent Waters

When my sister suggested we travel to India to go white water rafting with our oldest friend, I think I made my decision in less than ten seconds. That said, it is fair to say that I started the trip to India with no expectations. In fact, I had barely read the itinerary aside from rafting down some river in Northern India! What transcended was a fabulous trip filled with good natured, wonderful people, spectacular scenery, and a discovery of serenity and peacefulness.

Roland, who my sister and I have known for nearly thirteen years, started his own company organizing river rafting trips down some rarely-rafted rivers in Northeastern India. The company is River India and for anyone interested in exploring the beauty of remote India, or looking for a trip of a lifetime, I recommend you check it out. For the inaugural public trip of River India, total of 7 rafters and 6 guides joined Roland rafting down the Siang River in the corner of NE India near the Tibetan border.

Prior to the actual river rafting, we spent two hectic days in the hustle-and-bustle of New Dehli. I had been to Dehli back in the early nineties as a kid toted around by my parents, but Dehli as an adult on your own budget was quite a different experience The familiarity of Dehli was gone, and now I found myself away from 5-star row and without the driving escort that our family was provided on our first visit. Instead, my sister and I stayed at a quaint little guest house off a main drag (or at least it seemed like a main road considering it was 3 lanes turned into 5, plus rickshaws and tuk-tuks). We spent our first afternoon exploring bazaars, immersing ourselves in the culture, and walking seemingly familiar streets. However, stepping out in Dehli was completely exhausting for our overnight-traveling bodies, so we quickly returned and opted to sit in the courtyard of our guesthouse and read books.

Day two in Dehli proved to be more successful, and this time we were prepared for the constant rush and noise of the fighting traffic, as well as the mobs of people, cars, and cows. Armed with a hired car and driver and another fellow rafter that we picked up at the guest house, we spent the day calming our minds amidst the rush of Dehli and visited Hindu temples, a world peace temple (Aksharamdam), and a Ba’ahi temple.

So, Dehli aside, let’s get to the heart of the trip: We met our group of rafters at the Dehli airport, and after introductions and a cooperative group search for coffee, it was apparent that this was going to be a great mesh of people to spend 10 remote days with.