The River Ganga: A trip to India - Montana River Guides

The River Ganga: A trip to India

Mike & Cody recently returned from India where they trained with instructors from the Hannibal Outdoor Center and ran the Ganges river in northern India. They stayed with some guides on the Ganges to learn about rafting standards in India and got a brief immersion in this amazing culture. The Ganges is the most sacred river in India, people pilgrimage from far away to participate in daily religious ceremonies on the river. Here’s a clip from Haridwar where you get an idea of the number of people cleansing themselves and praying in or near the river on a typical day.

Many aspects of India are overwhelming. The size of the mountains is difficult to imagine unless you’ve been there. At 8 to 12,000 feet in elevation you are still in foot hill towns and villages. The rivers tumbling out of the Himalaya range are huge and powerful. We estimated the Ganges’ flow at 40,000 cfs when we ran it.

There are wild elephants, jaguar countless monkeys, cobras and all kinds of incredible wildlife. There’s people, culture, poverty and pollution on scales we had never experienced before. A fifth of the world’s population lives in India and besides Hindi, there are about 3,000 languages spoken.   Despite being one of the planet’s most worshipped rivers, the Ganges is also on of the most polluted rivers in the world, Due to untreated human waste and industrial runoff.

We’ve always preferred experiencing a place from a river or trail. After this trip we should add train and rickshaw to that list. India’s trains are a one of the best options for traveling through it’s spectacular expanse. Beauty surrounded by landfills. Glimpses of heroic subsistence agriculture. Mike preferred hanging out between the cars for the fresh air and views.

In short, India’s diversity, beauty, problems and potential are overwhelming. There is so much to see, experience and learn in India that we look forward to returning soon.

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138 Big Bend Ln, Alberton
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5
We have taken many rafting trips over the years and hands down this was one of the best ones yet!!! We took a private full day rafting tour with river side picnic and couldn’t have had a better time!! Our guide set up the best lunch spread at the waterside including fresh fruit and veggie trays, salad, sandwiches, chips/salsa, and the best homemade cookies!!! We had many stops, chances to swim, small cliff jumping, and the most beautiful scenery!!! Shout out to Amy as being the most fun guide to our crazy “Billy Goat Cyrus” group from Texas!!! Request her and you won’t be disappointed!!!
5
Our Montana River Guide trip down the Clark Fork was the highlight to our Montana vacation. Our guide let us paddle some while we were going thru the rapids which was an awesome experience. Weather and sun on the morning trip made for some great pictures.
5
We did a scenic float with our young kids. This was the absolute best thing we did our whole trip! So beautiful, so much fun. Amy was our guide and she was incredibly fun, knowledgable and kind. Cannot wait to float with them again!
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There were three of us over 60 year old gals on our trip. Our guide, Jack, was outstanding. We felt safe and secure under his care the whole time while having the time of our lives. The beautiful scenery and wildlife were a bonus to the incredible river with its rapids along with calm areas to relax & enjoy the ride. Top on my list of the other incredible things we did this summer.
5
One of the best experience in the US was spending our Sunday with Montana River Guides! The crew was able to accommodate to over 60 of us on the YSEALI alumni tour and all of us thoroughly enjoyed our time on the river - Whitewater Rafting or Scenic Tour. Guides are 100% professionals who have fun with safety in mind. Highly recommend and must visit when you're in Montana. Thanks for the memories!