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My Travel Stories - Dandeli!


This was around two years ago, we were a group of 12 girls who went on a trip to Dandeli, in Karnataka, India. We were a gang of friends, friend's gang of friends and so on. It was a very short trip but was the most thrilling trip of my life so far!! We did a lot of activities like kayaking, nature walk and so on  but the most dangerous and adventurous one was river rafting in the river Kali. We were all set with life guards and paddles. Till the last moment I was convinced that I am not doing it, and if I do, I will not finish it alive. The River Kali looked so full of force and vigor. My friends convinced me to go for it, and I could not believe how I ended up in the line. That line - waiting for my turn to put a signature on a sheet of paper that said they are not responsible if anything happens to me, including death. Wow. We started off, and the guide was a bold and young guy who took the responsibility of twelve young ladies in their early twenties. LOL. I'm saying this because I thought anything could have happened that day! He gave introduction about himself, his past work and about this river and how dangerous and exciting it is. I was like yeah right. Then, he told us to jump into the water to get the feeling. And suddenly few of my friends jumped into the water. I was like Whattttt!!! Then he told us how to row the boat and made us sit accordingly to balance the weight of the boat and told us how to bend down and look up in an instant every time he shouted out instructions. We did some mockups too. Then we started going into the river. The water seemed like flowing into something, from something and without any destination, like a snake moving. OMG! I was freaking out!!! I did not even know swimming!!! Then came the first spot - and he instructed us to BEND!! And there came a splash of water above me and on me and onto the boat. OMG!!!! This was not an amusement park, it was a LIVE flowing RIVER full of LIFE!!! I was breathless!!! I almost started crying. My friend hugged my and said 'Nothing will happen, we are all with you!'. Then came another one, and another one. With every 'spot' in the river that could be cherished by the people who are insane (adventurous) my heartbeat doubled and my prayers too. And for one of the spot, two of the girls toppled out of the boat and the guide got them onto the boat somehow. I was terrified. We reached the end alive. To someone who loves this kind of adventure, river rafting in Dandeli is an amazing experience. To someone like me who do not know swimming and find rafting in such a river harrowing, it is a nightmare. It was one hell of an experience, in every true sense!!!

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