galavanting garwalis, third edition

as we floated down the ganges in inflated truck tires, a british gent yelled to us, "how do you get to do that?" yes. that is the question of the hour. how do we get to live this life?

agent wolf tittie, code name v and myself (deathsquad) set out on the weekend mission on friday. we drove out of mussoorie in a torrent of rain... consequently, my first drive down the mountain. following a few fishtails, single-motorcycle debacles, and second degree calf burns, team holy water arrived in r-kesh. saturday morning, the day we planned to tube the river, i awoke like a kid at christmas. sleep was futile. we inflated our 350 rupee truck tires at the indian oil station, hung the intertubes on our arms like giant bangles, and drove (three on a bike) upstream. looking down at the rapids from a cliff, we were pretty sure serious bodily harm was imminent. our fears increased when none of the rafting companies had spare life jackets. when river rafting guides informed us that, "river is very technical. very risky, dangerous. you will sink. die." we wondered if we were going to become the next idiots trying to do something cool and instead, eating golden boy peanuts in the process.

swimming against the current, we entered the river. we formed a trifecta of tubes and approached the rapids. ethan, a.k.a. code name v, continually called out, "feet downsteam!" we bounced, swallowed holy water, rolled with the waves... and we were immediately hooked. a friendly rafting guide took us under his wing and shouted directions from upstream, "watch out for the rocks on the left," "approach on the right," you get the drift.

of course, our seeming expertise made us cocky. we went into the last rapid passively, assuming an uneventful end to a perfect afternoon on the water. then we saw the rock. consequently, which we were headed straight for. ethan, of course, began yelling about foot position. futilly, we struggled against the rapids. finally, i decided to let the river decide. at the last moment, we were swept back out to the middle.

man. it was great. another mission accomplished.