Activity Week: Ganga Style

This year I had the privilege of joining the 6th grade activity week to Rishikesh. We had a great time rafting, hiking, and playing in the Ganga River.

Monday: Departure from Woodstock at 9 AM. We drove about three hours to a camp near Rishikesh for some biking. This was a big deal because several of the students had never ridden a bicycle, and the ones that had were a bit wobbly. We had a tasty lunch, and then the kids hopped on bikes. Several gave up quickly because the practice area was really just a grassy field-not ideal for biking. The brave ones headed out for about an hour ride. It was slow, but we had some fun obstacles on the way. We drove through rocky puddles and mini-streams. By the end, several were dirty, and everyone was quite sweaty. We then went to the river and threw some rocks because apparently that's what the kids are into these days.

We then got back in the bus for another hour drive to our real camp where we would be staying for the week.We got settled, played in the stream-one kid immediately lost his glasses, which would be a nice challenge for the duration of the trip.

This is what the inside of my riverside tent looked like.

 Don't be fooled by looks. On the first night, I found a crab in my room. Yes, a crab. I called someone much braver than I to remove the creature. Sick.

The front porch.

Not a bad view eh?

In case there is a fire, no worries. I have two buckets of water, and one bucket of sand to put out the fire.

The view just outside my tent. Rough life.

 Tuesday: We headed out for our first day of rafting. It was really quite fun. We were floating down the Ganga river in our lifejackets and helmets-safety first! The kids LOVED IT. We also had a chance to do some cliff jumping on the way. It was a great experience. The water wasn't too cold, and the weather was fairly warm. It was mostly overcast, luckily.

In the evening we went to a rock face and did some climbing/repelling. I tried to entertain the kids with some games while they waited their turns. We returned back to camp for some stream playing. There was a near drowning situation with two of the thinnest/shortest kids in 6th grade. They kept getting swept down stream, and I would try to grab them to pull them back. One time, two kids at the same time were drifting away, and they almost took me with them. We all lived.

We ate more delicious food and had a campfire at night. I went to sleep around 9:30 every night, and I loved it. Early bedtimes and waking up with the sun was delightful. I found a scorpion in my room and again had to call for back-up to help remove it.

Wednesday:
More rafting. A little less exciting on day two, but the cliff jumping was still fun. Then in the late afternoon we had over an hour of stream time. This time I got in all the mess with the kids, and it was so fun. I really miss being around lakes and water in general while staying in Mussoorie. We had a lot of fun splashing and getting caught in the current.

Thursday:
We went on a big hike up one of the mountains/hills? near camp. It was about 13 kilometers (about 8 miles) round trip and about a 600 meter vertical climb-if that means anything to you... The kids had the choice between a hard hike and an easier hike. There was a few that chose the harder hike, and it was a nice relaxing time. A few groans here and there, but we made it!

The brave and fearless.

At the halfway mark, Leo was not feeling so thrilled about his choice of the long hike.

We reached the top! It was too overcast for a good view.

This sweet old man made us tea and talked about things changing in the village-weather, children, crops.

Visited a school on the way. Cute kids.

Went to a waterfall^ don't mess with the "Divine order of God"

On our way back, we stopped further upstream and played in the water. It was deeper and a little more spacious than the camp stream. The kids then had the idea to float down the stream/walk along the edge back to camp. My initial reaction: no. Next thing you  know I am becoming the rapid tester. My body was hurled against rock after rock as the children came yelling after me. It was amazing, but I don't know if it was the safest or something I would willingly repeat. I kept getting pressured by the kids. A few bruises and scratches later, we were back at camp. Talk about a rush!

Ending the week with a well deserved smore.

Getting Aryaman ready for the talent show: Mr/Ms Bear Camp

Friday: We had a short early morning hike, had some breakfast, and hit the road. Feeling great and glad to be home!