River Rafting with Explore Sumatera at Namu Sira Sira, Bingei River, North Sumatera

I was having mixed feelings about rafting… You see, I have heard so much about rafting but have yet gone on one.. Until now…

Our trip to Bingei was about 3 hours from Tangkahan… And if coming from Medan it would be about just 2 hours..

One of the operators that run rafting tours on the Bingei River is ‘Explore Sumatra’ and they had certified guides..

The river rafting was to take place along the irrigation dam project area of Namu Sira Sira… And although it is an irrigation dam project area, the location is quite breathtaking..

The river is said to start from Mount Sibayak, and is clear, clean and refreshing…

We put on our helmets, life jackets and collected a paddle before boarding the small truck..

All of us got at the back (standing room only) and we teased each other saying we were goats being brought to the slaughter…the trip took 20 minutes through cornfields and some villages – including getting slapped on the face or head by tree branches, before we arrived at the edge of the river where a few rafts and people (our guides) were waiting for us…

Feeling nervous, I ‘latched’ on to my friend Jas (who has gone on these before) and also pulled Hasif who had a Go Pro into our team…

Our guide rearranged our seating for balance… And taught us the basics as to how to seat and how we should respond to his instructions… Row forward, row backward, stop rowing, to the left, to the right, boom (all on the floor) etc..

And before we knew it we were off… Rowing whenever we were told to… It was thrilling and fun… Then we came to a little corner and the guide told us to jump into the river… I was like – Whaaa….

While all my other team members simply left their oars and abandoned raft, whooping in glee… And I gingerly lowered myself into the river too..

Then there was another corner where there was a rocky outcrop about maybe 9 or 10 feet tall and we were being urged to climb and jump off the mini cliff… After some urging, I headed up the rock too and pinched my nose (did not want the water rushing into my nose) before jumping into the water… The water was deep but safe as we were wearing life jackets and we knew basic swimming… Huhuhu

It was pretty fun… And well, time flies when you are having fun and before we know it we had arrived at the end of our trail, safe and sound… Huhuh