{"id":17584,"date":"2018-09-19T15:00:08","date_gmt":"2018-09-19T22:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/community.nrs.com\/?p=17584"},"modified":"2019-04-01T16:17:23","modified_gmt":"2019-04-01T23:17:23","slug":"monsoons-curry-and-malabar-fest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2018\/09\/19\/monsoons-curry-and-malabar-fest\/","title":{"rendered":"Monsoons, Curry and Malabar Fest"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was once told, \u201cYou could paddle a new river every day for the rest of your life and still not paddle them all.\u201d This sparked my initial interest to explore India as a kayaking destination. I mean, of course, right? The country is massive, with almost unlimited river miles, why wouldn\u2019t it be on my radar. When I was invited to compete in the Malabar River Festival<\/a> this July, it seemed like a no-brainer.<\/p>\n

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Now, like all things, sometimes it seems easier, in theory, to pack up and travel half way across the world with my kayak. Even as a seasoned veteran\u2014I\u2019ve traveled more with my kayak than without\u2014getting the boat checked in at the counter never fails to be a challenge. Ask Dane Jackson. He was denied and had to buy a new ticket with another airline. Or take one of the British paddlers who paid 900 euros to get his boat on the plane, ouch.<\/p>\n

After scouring the Internet and several phone calls, I secured my boat on the plane with a flight on Air Canada. Easy, I thought, as I left the check-in counter and sett of on my first leg. I arrived in Delhi and realized my boat didn\u2019t arrive, and I still had another connection to Kochi in the south of India. As it turns out, when a ton of kayakers fly in for an event, it\u2019s inevitable for several boats to not make it, as mine was one of at least five athletes whose kayak went on its own adventure.<\/p>\n