Kayak Boat experience at Panshet near Pune

This was a nice Sunday morning. We started from our house in Pune around 8 am in the morning. Reached Panshet at around 9.30 am. Panshet is around 45 Kms away from the heart of Pune. It is off the Sinhgad Road. Panshet is the name of a dam and supplies drinking water to the Pune city.

We were 5 persons + 3 kids. So the plan was to enjoy the natural surroundings, play with the kids, have a heavy breakfast and come back home after noon. As usual, as soon as we reached Panshet everyone was hungry.

A little bit about how to locate the best boating location in Panshet. There are quite a few locations here from where one can do boating. The best one is the biggest one. It has a covered parking lot, a small restaurant. When you reach Panshet, you will find many different boards pointing towards boating locations. At the main junction, there are 2 roads - and each one of them leads to a different boat club. The turn to the left takes us to this good place with parking etc.

Once there, we ordered tea and breakfast. The food at the place is not that great. So its better if you take some home made bread/butter or any other breakfast. Whatever food is available is very costly and probably extremely un-hygienic.

There are some small horse, camel, elephant shaped games for kids. All 3 of them loved those :-) But everyone was now looking forward to the real stuff: Boating.

We first tried the simplest option. A large ride for all 8 of us in a medium paced motor-boat. It was for around 15 minutes. Very nice, clam, relaxing and enjoyable. The kids loved it, too. We were able to dip our hands in the river bed and sprinkle some of that water in the boat. The water was blueish and clean at most of the places in the river bed.

Next, we tried a speed boat with all of us in there along with the kids. This was a wonderful experience for us, but a scary one for the kids. I personally didn't find it worth the cost (of 60 Rs per person). But it was good fun.

I next asked them what other options are available for boating. He said - speed boat for a couple. A scooter boat - which is a very high speed boat with their driver and a passenger. I had seen a friend riding this earlier, and he had lots of fun. The guys then mentioned about a boat known as Kayak. They said, it takes you alone in the river bed. And that's what spurred me on. On asking further details, they said that it does not run on any fuel. And needs a paddle which is used to move the boat in the water.

I knew instantly that I was excited. I asked them to put it in the water. Since there was no fuel involved, the cost for 15 minutes was very less - 30 Rs. This was even better. I sat in the kayak - this was not easy though. It had a very small weight. And there were holes in the kayak for the water to flow in/out. It was somehow able to maintain its buoyancy. Being a very good swimmer and having the life jacket on - gave me enough confidence. For people who don't know how to swim, it can be a dangerous option.

I started with the paddle. 4 years ago, at the same spot, I had tried a rowing boat with 3 other people on board. We had erred at that point - in the sense that we did not try to understand the technique. There were also synchronization problems. And hence, this time round, I knew what should not be done :-) First, I tried to control the kayak by randomly moving the paddle in the water once to my left and then right. I realized that if not controlled, I would keep round and round in circles. Hence I tried to focus on how to crack the technique. I realized the following two tacts:

1. I stuck my legs to the grooves. This gave me some more force to use on the paddle. I pushed my legs while paddling and it was very helpful.

2. I made sure that while paddling on the right hand side, the paddle touched the outer border of the boat on that side. And then the same on the left. This was crucial because now, there was no randomness and I knew I was onto something special.

Very soon, I was traveling at quite a good speed, and in almost a straight line. For the first time, I looked around me. I was amazed by the beauty of the nature. Away from the busy roads, traffic and noise, away from the tensions of day to day routines, here I was - surrounded by a beautiful blue river bed. In the middle of lush green mountains. Birds singing sweet sounds. Clean air, no pollution, pure bliss. To top all that, I was out there on my own, without any fuel and having learned and mastered something new and adventurous, it gave me a phenomenal kick. I promised myself that this was only the first of many many times that I would go kayaking.

I knew that the time was limited and hence tried to turn reverse. Just paddled on the left hand side. After rotating by 180 degrees, I started on my way back. In the middle, I just used to stop, drop the paddle and just relax. Enjoyed the moment, the surroundings, the quiet and the nature. Finally, there was another boat passing by and the driver shouted at me saying my time was already over. On coming back, I was surprised that I could even park the kayak without many hassles. I told everyone that this was one of my most enjoyable moments ever and I had already started thinking about when should I go kayaking next?

The next time was only 10 minutes away :-) And even more enjoyable. Details to follow in the next post.

Cheers,
- Ashutosh