Going with the flow
Behind the scenes of a brand new river expedition from Arunachal Pradesh to Assam!
We are very fortunate to call many of our guests, friends. Many have joined our walking holidays; sometimes, we bump into them when we are scouting new spaces/locations. These meet-ups almost always lead to interesting ideas and discussions (and some lighthearted ribbing). A spark of an idea usually evolves into something more… and this is how our newest extravaganza was born.
Last summer, our friend Rajiv (co-founder of Further & Beyond) joined Suman (founder of Knowhere Travel Co) on Sweet Valley Crossing. Suman’s dream of setting up a water-based experience became a big part of their conversation. We were, at the time, looking for a good starting point for a river journey, but most of the rivers in India aren’t free-flowing since they are dammed.
Rajiv casually mentioned that we should come to test out the waters in Arunachal Pradesh. Having worked there for over 14 years, he knew a lot about many parts of the state. The way he described it made it clear to us that this would be an ideal location to experiment and create a multi-day river adventure.
Cut to 6 months later.
We spent the first half of November on the spellbinding waters of the river Talo, a tributary of the Brahmaputra, to plan The Brahmaputra Drift.
Why are we doing this?
We’ve spent a fair amount of time developing experiences on land. This time, we were keen to get more “amphibious”. Our team has been training on the rivers since 2018 and Suman has been guiding on the rivers of the Western Ghats ever since.
We have long wanted to explore our rivers by boat, the same way we explore landscapes by foot - slowly and in a way that is accessible to all.
Not much is known about rivers in India apart from the Ganga, or the Cauvery, and not for the best reasons. What about bringing back a fascination with these ecosystems? Why not see the Tungabhadra, the Brahmaputra, and the Indus before we see the Nile or the Amazon?
There’s so much going on around the rivers of India - livelihoods depend on the free-flowing waters, animals and plants flock to the banks, and, I mean, who doesn’t love a river view?
This is why we wanted to show you a perspective from water, and we hope you’ll join us and be as excited as we are about this!!!
The recce
We reached Guwahati at the end of October, staying in Merwyn’s (co-founder of Further & Beyond) house, an apartment with a casual view of the majestic Brahmaputra. He played some tunes, opened a bottle of whiskey, and we ordered some divine Assamese meals and got planning. Team Further & Beyond and Knowhere Travel have now joined forces to develop tourism-based activities in the North East of India.
After two days of going over and over the river route, we reached the foothills of the East Himalayan Hills. It didn’t take long before we got into our packrafts and started the most epic journey we’ve taken this year (or this decade).
Over four days and spanning 80 km, we floated down the Talo River, marvelling at the mini rapids and the glittering surface. We could see right to the bottom of the pebbly river, and the currents took on a life of their own.
Every afternoon, we’d stop at a sandbank and set up camp. We built small tents, and a little grilling space for meals, and we’d sit and watch the blue waters flow by all around us.
Apart from our lead river guides (Suman, Manu, Iho) the rest of our team hadn’t spent much time paddling. This did not matter one bit. There were so many portions of this journey where we put our feet up and let the raft take us. We felt safe - we were never far from the rest of the team, and the water gently took us on a journey through the most beautiful environments. We went past small Mising villages, long stretches of forest, sandbanks, and riverine beaches. Eddies were where we’d stop and grab a snack from our little waterproof bags.
A perspective from the water
To sit on a boat and float and float… is a privilege for us city folk. And trips like this allow us to appreciate it even more. All these days of testing the waters (and enjoying ourselves immensely) have culminated in our first-ever river expedition: The Brahmaputra Drift. We even made a little film about it!
This is a 9-day journey where you will stay in small, beautiful lodges before getting into the water to paddle down the final 75 km of the Talo. After four glorious days of paddling, you will stay in a heritage tea estate to wrap up the journey.
Our dates are:
February 3 - 11: fast filling
February 17 - 25: 1 slot remaining
If you’re not ready to join us on the water yet, don’t worry. We’re still doing our epic land-based walking holidays for you. Read on to find out more.
Our walking holidays continue!
Our upcoming walking holidays (our deep dives into the heart of Kumaon, Uttarakhand) are starting again for the winter/spring season!
We announced our dates for both The Binsar Forest Trail and Sweet Valley Crossing for the winter/spring/summer season! If you (somehow) missed it on our Instagram, check out the dates below:
The Binsar Forest Trail dates
Winter special:
Jan 13 - Jan 19 - winter special
Jan 26 - Feb 01 - winter special
Feb 10 - Feb 16 - transition to spring
Spring and rhododendron blooms:
Mar 08 - Mar 14
Mar 24 - Mar 30
Apr 07 - Apr 13
Apr 14 - Apr 20
Summer season:
Apr 28 - May 04
May 10 - May 16
Jun 15 - Jun 21
Sweet Valley Crossing dates:
Spring:
Mar 22 - Mar 30
Mar 23 - Mar 31
Apr 06 - Apr 14
Apr 13 - Apr 21
Summer season:
Apr 27 - May 05
May 10 - May 18
Jun 09 - Jun 17
You can read about our two walking holidays here, but stay tuned, because we’ll be adding these to our website soon!!
The Ladakh season is starting in May
We’ve already started preparing ourselves for the upcoming Ladakh season (May to September). What about you?
Check out the fun times that some of our guests had this year!
If you want to just visit our properties, check out our website.
See you next year, folks!