10 years of adventures with Aquaterra

Chopta 2010, the invention of the sexy wide angle photo

10 years ago, I went on my first rafting trip, which also was my first trip with Aquaterra Adventures. I was going for a weekend trip to camp Silversands close to Rishikesh and my main purpose of the trip was to meet new friends in Delhi. I'd never even considered rafting previously and expected it to be a one-time activity. Boy, was I wrong....

Here's a bit of what I wrote back home after the weekend:

"On a scale from 1 to 10, how cool is your life, when you've been rafting on Ganges for a weekend – on the holy river that washes your sins away. Whey you've been drinking the holy water while body surfing and falling out of the raft in the biggest rapid. And when you've even stayed in a camp on the beach, sleeping in good comfortable dry beds, while hearing the raging of the nature during the nightly thunder storm. Having delicious food served thrice a day. Living childhood dreams while swimming in the waves and being surrounded by the Himalayan mountains. Having long and peaceful hikes in these same mountains, reaching remote villages by small trails. Even the toilets had views to the river and the mountains. On that scale, I believe it ended up as 11. Only con was that we'd only had a weekend, but no doubt this has been the main highlight so far of my stay in India. (I even liked falling in to the water in the middle of the rapid called The Wall)."

As you can tell from the blog, I didn't only raft for one weekend. I've been back on trips with Aquaterra at least once a year since (usually more than once) and over the past 10 years, I've spent more than a year in their company... Meeting Aquaterra and not least the people in and around the company has changed my life in several ways:

1. I've become outdoorsy. That kind of girl who loves staying in tents, not showering for a week and hence having an odeur of smoke and sweat.
2. I've become sporty and approximately 25 kg's smaller. I've so sporty by now that it affects my mood when I haven't exercised for a couple of days.
3. I turned out to be adventurous. New experiences, new people, new adventures, preferably fairly regularly. A week on a beach in Southern Europe really just isn't the thing anymore.
4. I've learned a lot about life by the numbers of wonderful people, I've met over the years on the trips I've been to. Not least the staff of Aquaterra - their smiles and respect is probably some of the most valuable I've ever deserved. In spite of our differences, we've found some sort of (in my opinion) magical relation.
5. And perhaps, I've even found more peace with my self. I've definitely become better at being present and not having my mind somewhere else. One thing is for certain: I've smiled a whole damn lot with Aquaterra.

We've celebrated properly in camp the past couple of days. And now I also found it to be time for a trip down memory lane at the blog. 

Brahmaputra 2004 - I've still got this smile on the wall back home. I like this smile. I always turns up, when Im on the river.

The by far coldest ducky trip on Alaknanda - christmas 2005

My first real trek. Ruinsara Lake. With Kristian and Laila in 2006.

 Turning 30 in camp over Holi.

Above Dodital 2007. A day after a terrible climb, where I could hardly breathe. Pretty much forgotten when we woke up to sun and 360 degrees views.

Ladakh, Zanskar river - 2008. I bought the hat in Darjeeling and still use it...

 Subansari first time, 2010 - wearing the famous t-shirt: the rivers in the mountains.

Grand Canyon, 2011 - 13 dage through one of the greatest wonders of the world.

Subansari second time, December 2011.

Futaleufu, Patagona, Chile 2012

 Last evening in camp with Vaibhav and Solil, the two founders of Aquaterra, who've given me the options of all these great adventures.

The guides in 2010 - my beloved boys!

And if anyone should have gotten curious - Aquaterra's website is www.aquaterra.in. Be careful, though, it's kind of addictive...