This Husband-Wife Duo Helps Travellers Connect With Rivers

Thapa: For 11 years, I worked to help grow what is now one of the biggest rafting companies in India. What started as a small, hands-on operation turned into a big-volume business where success was measured in how much money we made. The company would brag about how many people would come on a single expedition. For instance, we took 50 people (clients and crew) on the Brahmaputra. 

After a while, the work wasn’t meaningful anymore. We were running the same river trips repeatedly as the cash flowed in. Clients seemed to come rafting to check it off their bucket list. I witnessed the negative environmental impacts of running the same rivers repeatedly.

I left that company with a vision to start something more true to myself and more connected to the rivers. Expeditions India gives our clients the experience of the river via rafting and kayaking multi-day expeditions on rivers in India. From the beginning, I’ve wanted the company to remain small and hands-on. We focus on helping people travel through and explore river corridors rather than emphasising day trips. We specialise in working with student groups on the river since my wife and I are outdoor and experiential educators. 

I also wanted us to explore what other companies weren’t exploring, and we are doing just that. Especially in the early years, we opened up trips not done by others, such as the Saryu, Kameng, RamGanga East, and more.

Putka: Although my degree is in International Environmental studies, my previous work tended toward education and NGOs. I never thought I’d get into the tourism sector. But I guess I married in! Fortunately, my husband Anvesh and I share the same values regarding the outdoors and tourism, so it was a good fit.

Thapa:  On the expedition itself, we aim to take our clients on journeys through river corridors to understand the multiple meanings of the river (ecological, political, historical, cultural, etc). We want people to experience the wilderness as much as they can. 

Our team of well-trained river guides takes care of all the details, from safely navigating us down rapids to cooking up scrumptious meals so that our clients can relax and experience all the river has to offer.

Putka: Some of the perks (of travelling with Expeditions India) include amazing stories around the campfire–Anvesh is a phenomenal storyteller and has lots of years’ worth of river stories. And let’s not forget really, really good food.

Thapa: Government bureaucracy can be frustrating. The work ethics of guides can be a challenge. Mass tourism results in river guides getting a lot of freelance work, but I’ve observed that it also erodes the sense of pride and professionalism they take in their work. It just becomes all about the money. The rafting industry doesn’t have a vision beyond mass tourism and making big money. The typical pattern seems to be to open a rafting operation, make enough money to open a resort, shut down the rafting operation, and retire. Again, it feels like money is dominant and not many people care about the river. Finally, our rivers' health is deteriorating, impacting our work directly. There are fewer beaches due to sand mining and dams, so sometimes we don’t have a place to camp. There is no information sharing on dam release timings, so the flow is unpredictable, impacting our rafting days.

In all of these challenges, we just try to keep doing what we are doing, which is working with integrity in tune with our values. Sometimes, it does feel like swimming upstream, though. 

Thapa: We shut shop during the highest point of the season on the Ganga (May-June), so our impact is actually not having an impact. We don't want to participate in mass tourism's heavy ecological and social footprint. It's not good for the river, and it's certainly not a worthwhile experience for our clients. 

We encourage a high level of professionalism in our guides. We encourage them to get trained from the best, always at an international level. We also offer our guides options for future career pathways, such as NOLS or working abroad. One of our previous guides is an Instructor in Training with NOLS and will be travelling to the USA. We're proud of him.

Some trips are particularly geared for learning, such as our trips with school groups. But sometimes we are surprised by how much passion for rivers our team conveys, even without trying. For instance, we recently had a group of professionals from Bangalore. When we got off the river on our last day, they asked what they could do to keep India's rivers free-flowing and healthy. They were inspired by our team's love for rivers, and we were overjoyed.

Putka: I also like to think of our impact in terms of how we might have made someone's honeymoon a special one, or how we taught someone about the dangers of sand mining, or how we might have changed a detrimental behaviour such as open defecation or littering.

Thapa: 1) Leave no trace principles: just do it.

2) Buy local produce and support communities within the river corridor you’re travelling through. Don’t just pass them by.

3) Consider how to reduce your impact during high tourism season. Maybe it’s not as extreme as shutting shop, but maybe there are other ways to reduce your impact, such as limiting your number of clients.

4) Teach your clients something about the river—even if just one thing—so they return home caring about it.

Thapa: We’re not looking to expand by making more money. We’re looking to explore new river corridors, such as in the Northeast. We’re looking at introducing new river crafts, such as SUPs. We want to stay small but fine-tune our operation so that when you come with us, you leave touched by the river experience and inspired to conserve it.

For more information visit, expeditionsindia.com