The Paddler ezine WW kayak collection 2013 | Page 151

What a brutal journey
I am finally dropped off next to a
bridge some 4,300m above sea
level. I had left Manali the day
before and crossed the Rohtang
Pass, not before stopping and waiting
for a light truck to be rolled back the
right way.The back part of it
was somewhere over the
side of the mountain.Then as
we head towards Jispa,
locals tried to rob the bus
but luckily the bus boy
fought back to prevent
them gaining entry. In the
meantime the bus driver did
what he knew best (and had
been doing since we left
Manali) and that was to put
the pedal to the metal!

So as I pack the final contents of my
kayak I wave to every truck, jeep and
bus that drives by and blows its horn.
I am finally ready. Over 300Km of
white water lays ahead of me and a
few box canyons. Will there be
people around? Just how remote is
the Tsarap Chu and Zanskar Rivers?
These questions and others were
going to be answered, I put in!

ThePaddler 151