Row, row, row your kayak Skillfully down the stream Around the rocks, over the falls The rush is but a dream		Tale of a Rafting Adventure
		Prologue	The Cast	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	The Crew

k a y a k i n g @ c h i c o	Day 2
by Marko Laqui
The evening rain, though further hurting the prospect of tackling the Tinglayan route, failed to dampen the high spirits of us four adventurers come morning. The sun shone brightly & invitingly. With tackling the shorter route of the river tucked under our belt, we were ready for more...this time with a different kind of water challenge - Kayaking. It was relatively a short trip to our take off point. We came to a stretch of the river that was relatively calm, but still the current was something to contend with. I never cease to marvel at how our guides efficiently set up our water equipment. They just have these small compressors powered by an equally small battery pack that can both inflate & deflate the water crafts. And as the crafts ballooned up to their customary size, so did our excitement! There were 4 water crafts in all, an oar boat(description of which I already stated previously), 2 duckies - inflatable rubber kayaks, & 1 hard kayak. Soon, all four of us got to be on at least one of the crafts, & all four of us agree, regardless of gender, that it was hell paddling against the current. It was as if your boat was tied to a rock, you hardly move, and if you did move it's usually backwards. The oar boat was even more difficult to maneuver. Even the guides looked awkward in steering it, more so when there was a passenger on. Luckily, there was an alley near the rock wall on the right side of the river, facing upstream, where the current's not that strong, & we could paddle back and forth along that stretch. There we managed to get some practice done and at least give a semblance of some decent paddling. Steadily getting the hang of it, I decided to cross the other side of the river. A guide on the hard kayak was by my side giving instructions on how to go about the job. A 45 degree angle facing upstream is the right way to tackle it. Man, it was a lot tougher than it looked. I intended to head on a straight path but the current had other ideas. I veered off steadily to the left and ended up way off the target spot. The effort crossing the river was pretty exhausting, the strain mainly concentrated on the shoulders deltoids. After getting my wind back on a few minutes rest, I told the guide I was ready to cross back to the other side. He must've thought I was trying to be funny because he decided that we walk the rafts by the bank upstream instead, & start from a point where, when we set off, we'll end up exactly where we started from the other side. He obviously didn't trust my abilities yet as a newbie kayaker to handle the current. After my performance in crossing the river, who could blame him? :) I got some sort of vindication though when, after we had our brief snack, we decided to head off downstream & ride the current. It was a blast! The ride was naturally a lot easier. Paddling was done primarily to steer the kayak, with the current doing most of the work. Rapids encountered along the way provided adrenaline-pumping fun & excitement. They were not as rough as the ones we tackled the day before but still they were rocking the boats. It gave me quite a high, riding solo on the kayak. The only downside was when we were nearing the dam, signifying the end of the exhilirating ride. Reluctantly, we got off our water crafts & I dragged mine to land, wishing the experience had not ended yet, expecting to do it again sometime soon, & itching to recount our adventure to envious faces of friends. :) Previous page \|Back to top

Day 2

by Marko Laqui

The evening rain, though further hurting the prospect of tackling the Tinglayan route, failed to dampen the high spirits of us four adventurers come morning. The sun shone brightly & invitingly. With tackling the shorter route of the river tucked under our belt, we were ready for more...this time with a different kind of water challenge - Kayaking.

It was relatively a short trip to our take off point. We came to a stretch of the river that was relatively calm, but still the current was something to contend with. I never cease to marvel at how our guides efficiently set up our water equipment. They just have these small compressors powered by an equally small battery pack that can both inflate & deflate the water crafts. And as the crafts ballooned up to their customary size, so did our excitement!

There were 4 water crafts in all, an oar boat(description of which I already stated previously), 2 duckies - inflatable rubber kayaks, & 1 hard kayak. Soon, all four of us got to be on at least one of the crafts, & all four of us agree, regardless of gender, that it was hell paddling against the current. It was as if your boat was tied to a rock, you hardly move, and if you did move it's usually backwards.

The oar boat was even more difficult to maneuver. Even the guides looked awkward in steering it, more so when there was a passenger on. Luckily, there was an alley near the rock wall on the right side of the river, facing upstream, where the current's not that strong, & we could paddle back and forth along that stretch. There we managed to get some practice done and at least give a semblance of some decent paddling.

Steadily getting the hang of it, I decided to cross the other side of the river. A guide on the hard kayak was by my side giving instructions on how to go about the job. A 45 degree angle facing upstream is the right way to tackle it. Man, it was a lot tougher than it looked. I intended to head on a straight path but the current had other ideas. I veered off steadily to the left and ended up way off the target spot.

The effort crossing the river was pretty exhausting, the strain mainly concentrated on the shoulders deltoids. After getting my wind back on a few minutes rest, I told the guide I was ready to cross back to the other side. He must've thought I was trying to be funny because he decided that we walk the rafts by the bank upstream instead, & start from a point where, when we set off, we'll end up exactly where we started from the other side. He obviously didn't trust my abilities yet as a newbie kayaker to handle the current. After my performance in crossing the river, who could blame him? :)

I got some sort of vindication though when, after we had our brief snack, we decided to head off downstream & ride the current. It was a blast! The ride was naturally a lot easier. Paddling was done primarily to steer the kayak, with the current doing most of the work. Rapids encountered along the way provided adrenaline-pumping fun & excitement. They were not as rough as the ones we tackled the day before but still they were rocking the boats. It gave me quite a high, riding solo on the kayak.

The only downside was when we were nearing the dam, signifying the end of the exhilirating ride. Reluctantly, we got off our water crafts & I dragged mine to land, wishing the experience had not ended yet, expecting to do it again sometime soon, & itching to recount our adventure to envious faces of friends. :)

Previous page |Back to top