Discover India Holidays

Adventure Holidays in India

India reflects the spirit of adventure. Here, in this exciting country with its diverse terrain, the quest for the nouvelle is sustained in unusual sports activities. And yet they allow for fascinating glimpses of traditional, mystical India.

Whether you are running the high Colorado scale rapids of the northern rivers or rock climbing sheer cliff faces close to metro cities, you are never too far from the warmth and hospitality of her people, the towns and her cultural offerings.

Rock Climbing
Rock climbing in India, can be a cultually enriching experience quite apart from the exhilarating experience of climbing on virgin solid granite. Rock climbing in India, as in other parts of the world, started off as a training for mountaineering As a sport it took off only about 15 years ago. As the climbing standards reached greater heights in the rest of the world, the gear abnd the standards were left far behind in the 1950's. However, due to the influx of the visiting climbers and climbing literature in the past few years, the development has led to higher climbing standards and many superbclimbing areas.

One of the India's best climbing areas exist in Bangalore (in South India). Within a radius of 60 kilometres there is possibly the biggest concentration of granite in the country. The granite can at times have loose fakes, and cleaning the rock on new routes sometimes becomes essential. Savandurga is the biggest dome near bangalore which has been developed. The most exciting climb is "Bangalore Bill". nother very popular climbing area situated 50 kms from Bangalore is known as 'Ramanagram'.

Hampi, "City of rocks", 350 km north of Bangalore is another climbing area considered to be rock climbers' paradise. The area has seen lot of action from world class climbers such as Jerry Moffat, JohnnyDawes, Kurt Albert and recently Isabelle Patiesser.

Amongst other interesting places for rock climbing are Dhauj, situated 50 kms south west of Delhi. Its a worthwhile stop for visiting climbers. Few of the climbs have fixed protection apart from a few pegs on the harder routes. Other great climb areas are Mount Abu (Rajasthan), Pachmarhi (in Madhya Pradesh) etc.

Miscellaneous Holidays Information

Food and Accomodation:
The food is generally cheap and good. Most of the climbing areas have a chai (tea) shop serving snacks and tea. The small restaurants inthe villags closest to the rocks hav good Indian dishes. In case you like to cook yourself, most things are available in small shops at the narby towns.

Climbing Contacts:
It is useful to have a contactto guide you to the various climbing areas and show the climbs since the climbing areas are difficult to get on to your own.



River Rafting
"As far as those fortunate beings who have had the opportunity to 'mess around in boats' are concerned the world is divided into two very distinct groups. Those who have done so and the rest - those poor lamentable, deprived beings who have never had the chance."

Referred to as white water rafting, river running is a fairly young sport in India, but the challenge of the rivers in the upper Himalayas makes it amongst the best regions in the world.

It is unique in as much as it provides a marvelous and thrilling trip through the foaming gaps in the river's rock strewn channels. Even more so as it requires very little skill and can be instantly grasped and mastered by the greenest rookie. The Ganges is the popular river for water rafting. The thickly wooded and steep sided valley runs almost directly east to west, upstream, before swinging off northwards through the rumbling rapids at Shivpuri, some 15 kilometers from Rishikesh, the Hindu holy place.

Outside of the actual rafting there is a very important ritual that is practised by anyone going remotely near the water, i.e the safety drill. In addition to the safety aspect, every participant is instructed, drone-like, to 'respect the river'. The exciting stretch of river between Shivpuri and Rishikesh has several exxiting and thrilling rapids, which ensure a roller coaster ride of a lifetime.



Camel Safari
Thar Desert Camel Safaris are now one of the world's fastest selling adventure holidays. These include camel treks ranging from short rides around Jaisalmer to extensive trips that remind you of Lawrence of Arabia on his epic journey across the Sahara, Marco Polo, on the historic silk route, a medieval trader leading his caravan through the hostile spice route or a royal caravan serai heading for one of the medieval kingdoms of the Thar desert - without many of the hardships of course!

The Great Indian desert may not have great expanses of sand dunes and incredible spaces of wilderness as large as those of the Sahara and Namib, but more than makes up for it with some glorious citadels and extremely colorful and unspolt villages. There were princely kingdoms in the desert belt of India - Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner and Kutch - the first three in Rajasthan and the last in Gujarat, each comparable in size to many modern nations of Europe.

Whichever safari you select, there are some requisites you must carry. The climate is extreme hot in the days and chilling at nights. It is essential to stock both woolen and cotton clothing. Shorts and skirts are comfortable wear for camel safaris but remember some of the off beat routes visit villages not frequented by foreign tourists and locals may look astance at ladies who do not wear ankle length clothing.

Sun hats, sunscreen lotion, moisturizers and lip salve area are must. Bottled mineral water is available at Jodhpur and Jaisalmer, though it always practical to carry tangerines as even on a deluxe safari, it may not be practical to dismount each time to drink from the carted water supply.

Popular camel safaris include a wide range of routes such as Jaisalmer to Barmer; from Khuri to Samm; and from the Desert Heritage at Shergadh to Sovali.



Para Gliding
India, with its vast Himalayan ramps complemented by ten months of clean blue skies, is an ideal paragliding country with the advantage of offering para-gliding for nearly the whole year at different sites. Paragliding is the latest aerosport to have taken the world by storm. A para-glider is a simple aircraft, but in common with all other aircraft it is, in fact, the result of complex and painstaking design. It is a specially designed square parachute along with a harness attached by lines and is made of ripstop nylon which is specially coated with polyurethane to ensure zero porosity. Thanks to the efforts of many active organizers the dreams of the Indian para-gliding pilots of walking on air and soaring like a bird are now beginning to be realized.

The entire training program of paragliding consists of theory lessons in safety rules and precautions, lessons in aerodynamics with the special emphasis on theory of flight , air safety, maintenance of the para-glider canopy and meteorology. Exhaustive ground training is the most important part of the course.

To start the training a briefing on the para-glider is given. How to layout the para-glider, putting on the harness, checking of the three sets of lines attached to the canopy and the harness, the pre-flight checks, the steps taken to take to inflate the canopy and to bring it overhead, everything is described in great detail.

We also conduct a wide array of exciting tours to various destinations in India like Royal Enfield motorbike safaris, Jeep Safaris, Trekking etc