An A-typical Wednesday!!! - Kolad, India
Kolad, India
Where I stayed
ZBAC
What I did
River Rafting
An A-typical Wednesday!!!
A typical Wednesday, would normally see me grumbling out of bed at 6am, get ready and head for work by 7am, to commute for 1-1.5hrs through the ever-clogged Mumbai roads to office. Then stare at my office PC screen till 6pm, more often than not wondering "what the hell am I doing with life" before heading back home through another 1.5-2hr of traffic jams. Reach home famished, exhausted by 7.30-8pm ready to eat and jump into bed only to start another day of monotony.
But todays a different Wednesday….well its my Wife's birthday and more importantly I actually remember its her birthday (Thank God for small mercies!!!).
Now actually remembering is only the first part …what now? how do you make it special for her...especially given the fact that she always takes extra efforts to make my B'days special….well the bar already been set quite high.
So this time I had made up my mind to do something different and a well planned blackberry calendar reminder had been warning me of the D-day, good 2 weeks in advance.
Numerous discussions with friends and office colleagues threw up a myriad of options starting from usual candle lights dinners at a swanky eat-out….to gifting her jewelry or a day of nonstop shopping…. to a day of beautification at a spa etc etc and of course many of these were from my female colleagues.
But some how none of these gave me a kick….they all sounded the same to me…However I was quite enthused with the idea of gifting an experience rather just a thing. Time whizzed by and I had just 2 days to go with nothing finalized. I literally went nuts figuring out this one …when one of my tangential Google searches threw up the option of "river rafting only 3 hours from Mumbai"….knowing my lady love is the outdoors type, this hit the bulls eye.
So Tuesday night taking her in my arms, with that far away romantic look, I said to her, "Honey, as I have decided to make your birthday special, we will be going out somewhere….a surprise….so you have to be up at 5am."
As you can well imagine it wasn’t 'very romantic’ after the 5am announcement ….she cursed…she cribbed…and finally gave-up on me. It as then I announced also pack in a change of clothes and floaters since we may get wet. That’s when she looked up at me with a not so comforting look and said I hope for your sake that isn’t some crazy idea of a trip to a water-park or some such silly place. With that she grumbled into bed….but at the same time I could still see the tinge of excitement in her eyes…what if its was something very different and out of ordinary.
So, this not a typical Wednesday, we’ve been out since 6am and the destination is Kolad (details of Kolad at the bottom of this page). Once you reach the outskirts of Mumbai, the passing scenery changes drastically. About 30-45 min of driving on the highway and you are in lush green surrounding of the Konkan region with hazy blue hills in the horizon, fresh almost fluorescent green pastures, wet from June showers.
Oh what a contrast to the usual sight of dreary concrete, glass, asphalt in various shades of grey, brown and dust we are all used to. Just the thought of being in the nature again, made me smile and stealing a glance at my wife I could see the thrill on her face lighted by the just rising sun... With our favorite music playing and long winding road ahead (hardly any traffic), all at once life felt so different …no more monotony…but just a sense of freedom, of well being…in fact a sense of life thriving within us and all around. As we kept getting closer to our destination the roads got narrower, but the air amazingly clearer (zero pollution) and the sky pure blue rather than Mumbai’s smoggy gray.
After a 3 hour rejuvenating drive we reached Kolad by 8.30am and our destination – Zbac Adventures a resort specializing in water sports, outdoors and corporate training/team building exercises. The facilities at the resort were quite basic, yet comfortably adequate - in sync with the outdoors theme. The proximity and harmony with nature only added to its charm. We were served breakfast immediately. Now despite being a pure non-vegetarian, (while my wife’s a Pure veg… we are one of those weird couples), even my taste buds were salivating in the aroma of steaming fresh poha, omlette sandwiches and toast with butter-jam, served with piping hot tea. The guide recommended us to go easy on breakfast and not stuff ourselves, lest we turn nauseous during river rafting. By now my wife had figured the agenda for the day and was quite looking forward to it with child like excitement…especially given that we hadn’t ever done river rafting before.
After a sumptuous breakfast, we were escorted to a rickshaw, which was to take us to the river rafting spot. And what a ride its was on uneven muddy village tracks jolting and jingling to the bone which aided in quick digestion of our breakfast. We reached the boarding point, which was near the banks of a local river fed by dam water of a nearby Hydel power station. We were next handed over the gear (life jackets, oars and helmets) with some basic instructions on how to row, emergency measures etc. As few of our guides prepared the raft, and instructed us, several others were finishing a game of volleyball. Witnessing their way of life and the almost innocent games, laughter and fun I wondered philosophically… its 10am and look at these guys chilling, enjoying a game in their shorts and T-shirts. Whereas in my world by now I would be all dressed up in formals, amidst the daily chaos of emails, con-calls and meetings …debating, discussing and even arguing with colleagues/clients all in the quest to make more money…more profits. Well these volleyball guys may have a lot less money than I do but in many ways they seemed to have more.
We took a short walk on the river bank, and slowly got into the water. We were asked to dunk ourselves in to the water and get up to neck deep so as to acclimatize our bodies to the cold fresh wetness. The Mulshi dam water had been released into the river, courtesy the heavy rains of the past few days, raising water levels over the banks. The raft had 5 of us (all amateurs) accompanied by 2 instructors. We all got into the raft and started rowing as per instructions shouted - Left, Right, Faster and so on. Off we went in to the current suddenly like a speedboat as the tides took us with it… the roar of the river forcing us to speak only in screams and shouts.
As we started enjoying and flowing with the current, we tumbled into the first set of rapids. It almost felt like a roller coaster ride. From that point on, it was a journey full of adrenalin rush... of ups and downs…no moment the same…as we negotiated the raft through tumbling falls. Keeping your balance, rowing forth and jumping into the boat's middle whenever we fell through a rapid was a constant exercise with no moment to spare. One wrong move or imbalance and you would be in the water. Although we had life jackets and lifeguards in canoes escorting us, a tumble in the river amidst fierce rapids would not be a very welcome experience.
Just as we started feeling comfortable with rhythm of the rapids, our raft drifted too much and collided with a huge bush right in the middle of the river amidst major rapids. While the water rushed by us on both sides, the raft got pushed deeper and deeper into the bush… it had now started to get scary. Two instructors jumped into the river and used their feet to push against the bushes with their backs to the raft. After much effort we were off again and dived straight into the most devious of falls, almost toppled over, tussled and thrown into the water as we flowed with the river. This was the Johnny Walker rapid (as the locals call it) which was a continuous set of 5-6 falls. It really tested our skills to stay put on the raft without hurting ourselves.
After all this adrenalin rush, suddenly the river calmed and we settled in for a lazy steady current. Instructors told us we can now jump in the river and float around (courtesy life jackets). We immediately followed suit.
The river at this stretch was about half a km wide like a huge expanse of nothingness. Soon our raft was a speck in the distance while we were floated like ship-wrecked in infinity...enjoying it thoroughly. I have never felt so much at peace, floating weightlessly, no fear of drowning, staring up at the cloudy skies with only the sound of gurgling water and chirping birds for company. We floated to our raft slowly, occasionally swimming towards the direction of the raft. A soft drizzle of rain added pure pleasure to this mixed feeling of excitement, peace and contentment.
Being late June, there were still trees bearing mangoes and our instructors helped us climb up the trees near the riverbank and pluck fresh mangoes. The mangoes may not have been the best quality Alphansoes but they were still fresh, soft and juicy. While the novelty of climbing a tree, shaking its branches for mangoes to rain on the raft and biting into them like village kids only added to the taste.
A total of 15kms covered over 2.5 hours…what a thrilling and exhilarating experience.
We now headed back to Zbac courtesy good old jittery auto ride to be welcomed with a simple but hot and fresh meal, which satiated all our senses and appetite. We also engaged in other activities like flying fox and river crossing. The resort arrangements were also neat and tidy with well-maintained and clean cottages, which we used for changing clothes and catching a short nap.
After a day full of fun and activity, driving back to Mumbai, we reflected on how much we keep missing in our day to day lives as we get stuck in the mundane rush to work, continuously fighting for space, money, time in a constant competition to prove our worth.
This one-day break in the routine rejuvenated us sufficiently to face the grind for future weeks, but also awakened the thirst for more adventures to come. And then again, it also set the bar higher for my wife, for my next birthday gift ;)
Enjoy!!!
About Kolad: Kolad is on the countryside of Maharashtra state of India. It is a small village located on the banks of a river (River Kundalika) and is about 3 hours drive from Mumbai.
What to do in Kolad: Kolad is famous for river rafting primarily. In addition you have several adventure sports operators who help you enjoy you day / overnight trip with activities like flying fox, river crossing, aqua zorbing in addition to river rafting.
We had organized our day trip with an operator named ZBAC (since i had seen there facilities during my office off-site)
Best time to visit Kolad: It is best to visit Kolad between June and September after the first few rain showers. The journey to Kolad is picturesque at this time and the river is full with water to truly enjoy the twists and turns of rafting.
Recommended for: This is recommended for office team building off-site, couple activities or a large (4+ members) family / friends.
Trip Expenses: Adventure sports package Rs. 2000 per person (includes Flying fox, river rafting, river crossing and rappelling, vegetarian lunch, and 1 rooms for the day). Rs 800 (for 4 people) for local auto rickshaw to river rafting spot. In addition, travel expense to and from Kolad.
Other tips:
1) Wear loose clothes which allow you to do these activities at ease (may be shorts and a t-shirt or tights and t-***** for women)
2) carry a change of clothes
3) wear water proof footwear also taking precaution that they have a good grip and do not slip from your feet in the water. Floaters are most recommended.