A Slow Boat Down the Ganges Blog

Slow Boat Down the Ganges Update 33 There has been an unfortunate death for the Ganges. Not ON the Ganges, but FOR the Ganges. Activist GD Agarwal died Oct 11, 2018, after fasting for 111 days. He was protesting for a pollution free Ganges. Also known as Swami Gyanswaroop Sanand, he had been a professor…

Slow Boat Down the Ganges Update 32 I am on the most ambitious expedition of my life. I have never ever attempted something as big as A SLOW BOAT DOWN THE GANGES. Moreover, I am no paddler, even though I have rafted for many years. When rafting, there is a guide who is doing most…

Slow Boat Down the Ganges Update 31 Even though when I started to grab some shut eye last night, it was nearly morning, but when I opened my eyes it was just after five. I had barely got a hour’s sleep. But I was refreshed and did not seem to suffer from sleep deprivation at…

Slow Boat Down the Ganges Update 30 With the road support team leaving in a few days, I needed to repack. And Garhmukteswar is just about a couple of hour’s drive from Delhi. I called home and requested for a few things to be sent to me, while I was looking at all the stuff…

Slow Boat Down the Ganges Update 29 After a scrumptious breakfast, and a short tractor ride later, the canoe was on the water again. This time I was paddling solo. According to the locals of the village, my next destination, Garhmukteswar was less than twenty kilometres away. But according to my calculations it should be…

Slow Boat Down the Ganges Update 28 Today was one long day. An almost nine hour day. And nearly fifty kilometres. We started from Bijnor, Sam and I, and promptly got stuck in a sand bar. If well begun is half done, what happens when right at the start one gets stuck? Does it portend…

Slow Boat Down the Ganges Update 27 Eighty kilometres done, aches and pains are starting to emerge from places I did not know existed in my body, and morning happened slightly late. The river is about ten clicks away from where we are parked in a Bijnor hotel and we require a taxi to transport…

Slow Boat Down the Ganges Update 25 Whether it was excitement, anticipation, the adrenaline rush, I could not sleep last night. I did get my forty winks, but not what can be construed as a great night’s sleep. By the time I hit the bed it was near midnight, and when I checked my watch,…

Slow Boat Down the Ganges Update 24 I have spent three days in Hairdwar in eager anticipation of the expedition starting. The feet are itchy, the anticipation has been building, the adrenaline glands are on overdrive and there have been a host of last minute chores to be completed. The first evening was spent on…