When you go white-water rafting on the Sindhu River, the lifeline of Ladakh, your experience feels as if you are in heaven. The place is called Sangam Point, where the Sindhu River and the Zanskar River meet. This is where your water rafting adventure begins. Whenever you visit Leh and Ladakh, you must come to see Sangam Point.

At Sangam Point, you can engage in water rafting in the middle of the valley between two mountains. Sitting in a raft over the river, the experience is completely unparalleled.

Sangam Point is about an hour away from Ladakh’s capital, Leh. Sangam Point is where the Sindhu River and the Zanskar River of Ladakh join together to form a river, and this is where you can do river rafting.

If you want to go rafting at Sangam Point, the cost is between 3000 and 3500. A raft can accommodate 7 to 8 people.

You can go rafting at Sangam Point only during the summer, from mid-April to September. From October to March, the river freezes, so you can do ice trekking during that time.

You can book water rafting at Sangam Point on the spot.

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Stay calm at all times. If you fall out of the boat, do not panic. It’s easier to hold your breath if you are calm. It’s much easier for us to get you back in the boat if you are not yelling and screaming (usually it’s “rule number one”). And that’s the only rule. After that, I talk about everything else. Just don’t panic; that’s the big one. I mention that like seven times throughout the speech. Most people freak out, so you need to stay calm at all times in the river.

Keep your feet up off the bottom. Never stand up in moving water. Assume the white-water swimming position: flat on your back, feet downstream, nose and toes in the sky, breathing air between the waves. This is a defensive swimming position. You’re not doing much swimming; you’re really just floating, staying calm at all times, and breathing between the troughs of the waves. When the wave crashes over you, hold your breath and remain in the white-water swimming position until you reach calm water. Then flip over onto your stomach and swim aggressively back to the boat. One of the big hazards in our river is strainers—logs or debris caught in the current. Water flows through them, but people do not. If you’re swimming, swim away from the strainer with everything you’ve got. Try to get out of the way, moving across the current. If, as a last resort, you cannot avoid it, swim towards the strainer, pull yourself up on top, and get your head high and dry out of the water.

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There’s a blue-and-white line that runs around the perimeter of all our boats. Most people who fall out end up right next to the raft. If you are next to the raft, grab the blue-and-white line, and we’ll pull you back in. 

Really important: We pull all people back in the same way. Two shoulder straps of the PFD.

Kneel on the side of the boat, grab that person, and pull them back into the raft. It’s very easy to do if you do it properly. If you are far from the raft, I have a throw bag with 50 feet of rope in it. I might throw this to you. If I throw this rope to you, you’ll hear “Swimmer, grab the rope!” and then I’ll fire this thing right at your head. 

Very important: Put your hands up to catch the rope, not the bag. Throw it over your shoulder, and we’ll tow you back into the raft.

When you get back to the raft, we’ll pull you in the same way—two shoulder straps of the PFD. We also have three other boats out here. If you fall out of our boat and are closer to another raft, swim to the closest raft. All boats will help pull you back in.

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If the boat flips upside down, all the previous rules apply. Stay calm. Stay flat on the surface. Swim back to the boat. There are handles on the bottom of the boat at the front and back. If you can grab the chicken line and work your way to the front and back of the boat, it’s easier to climb on top. If you’re underneath the raft, you need to get out from under it. Press your hands off the boat and get out from under it. If you can climb on top of the raft, hopefully your guide will be on top first, pulling people up. We’ll use this flip line to right the boat and continue the trip from there.

When loading and unloading the raft, please be careful! Sit down on the side gunnel and throw your legs over into the raft; it’s the easiest way to get in. If you’re sitting in the front, have a good wide stance. In the back, get your legs wedged under the thwarts and sit all the way out on the side tube. That way, when you paddle, you’re able to reach the water, cover the T-grip of the paddle, and maintain a good wide grip. If you’re not paddling, sit in the center of the raft holding onto the handles at all times.

If you are paddling the boat today, make sure your hands cover the T-grip at all times. Have a good wide paddle grip and keep your feet wedged in. If you wedge your feet and paddle aggressively, you’re more likely to stay in the boat. Vertical paddles are best, and if you get the whole paddle blade in the water, you’ll be stronger and more stable. People tend to stay in the raft if they paddle hard. You’ll want to paddle with your whole upper body, not just your arms—bending forward, rocking back, using your core and back muscles instead of just your arm muscles.

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Our PFDs are adult universal size and fit all individuals over 90 pounds. The first thing you need to do when you pick up your vest is to loosen all six side straps. These shoulder straps have a height adjustment. Make sure it fits right in the middle of your chest. When you put on the jacket, ensure the head pillow is on the outside and that it sits in the middle of your chest. Buckle all four buckles, starting with the bottom one, which is easily missed. Once all four buckles are secured, tighten the jacket from the bottom as much as you can handle. Do up all six side straps and lastly pull up the slack in the shoulder straps.

This is where I end this blog. If you want to know more about river rafting, then definitely comment “Thanks.”