| DAY 1: Our trip meets at 06:00
(always make a point of checking this as it can
change depending on the time of year) at our office
in Thamel. Because all the restaurants are closed
at that time, bring a cinnamon roll, some fruit
or a large bottle of sap for breakfast. Once we
have everyone collected we have short walk to our
chartered bus.
The bus ride takes us out of Kathmandu Valley and
through rice fields and ancient town of Dhulikhel.
On a clear day the entire Himalayan Range is clearly
visible from the summit. From here the road drops,
1,100 meters to the village of Dolalghat on the
banks of the Indrawati River. Our put in point is
just below the Dam on the Upper SunKosi, 40 Kms
south of the Tibetan Border. Once we arrive at the
put in we have our lunch and rest for some time
(we will serve lunch before the start of the rafting
or after a couple of hours of rafting downstream,
depending on the time). Then we unload all the gear
and prepare for the Rafting cum Training Day.
The rafting cum training starts after all the safety
briefings. This is the day in which you learn about
River Currents, Eddies, Whirlpool, Hydraulic Hole,
Rapids; as well as Self-rescue, Flip drill, Whitewater
Floating Position and more.
As our instructors are internationally qualified
Rescue3 International (Swift water Rescue Technician,
SRT) trained river guides, you will get qualified
to do rafting anywhere in the world on Class IV
to V- Rapids. We are sure that the people will get
an opportunity to enjoy the real savor of Rafting
after increasing confidence from this Training.
After the day of Rafting & Training the team
will drive to Borderlands. An evening at the Borderlands
resort is the ideal preparation for the day to come.
Thatched roof safari style tents, toilets, and a
massive dining hall complete with a well stocked
bar, make for the perfect haven, where you can indulge
in home comforts in the middle of Himalayan splendor.
An oasis, and temple of tranquility, nestled in
the curves of the flowing torrents
Take in
the view, fresh air, and peace that only Nature
could offer. Your overnight stay will never last
long enough.
DAY 2: In the morning everyone packs their gear
and comes to breakfast where a huge pot of cowboy
is waiting. Coffee not only wakes up, it also insulates
us from the fear of being a sentient beings early
in the morning, when the vastness of the world and
the smallness of our place on it is so clearly seen.
Personal gears are loaded onto the bus, which will
drive to the take-out to meet us. Before starting
there is another paddling session to refresh everyones
memory and scrape away last night fog. Its
all action today and we will have 4 to 5 hours (depends
on the water level) on the river, pure whitewater
all the way downstream. After a series of class
3 rapids we drop into the first class 4 drop, affectionately
known as Gerbil In The Plumbing. From Gerbil there
is a stretch of class 3 whitewater and then we come
to crux of the day, which is a long, technical rapid
called Frog in a Blender (guess whos the frog).
The guides often scout this one, as with changing
water levels the ride can become well interesting.
(If the water level allows us to run this rapid
.)
Dont worry though; your trustworthy and stalwart
safety kayaker is waiting for you at the bottom,
providing of course that he isnt still cartwheeling
in one of the several hydraulic to be found along
the way.
After frog things settle down for about twenty feet,
and then its back into the soup with a long
series of class 3+/4- drops, which lead us into
a nifty, little rapid called Carnal Knowledge of
a Deviant Nature (named for the compromising position
often attained after running the last drop). This
gem of a rapid starts out of a long series of boulder
slaloming and hole riding, and ends with the entire
river rebounding off two rocks before spilling over
a two meter ledge into a big soft pool.
The remaining ten kilometers of river is a non-stop
series of class 3 and 4 drops terminating into short
pools with the next drop just a few feet away. The
river flows through a beautiful narrow canyon with
lush green vegetation and waterfalls coming in from
the steep stone walls. At the bottom of this stretch
is a rapid called ExLax (cause people go all over
the place). Just before we hit the village of Barhabise
we take a break for lunch to refuel and continue
our descent through the center of town and onto
a short flat stretch. While most people equate flat
stretches with a lessening of intensity, our raft
guides know better. The reason the river is flatter
here is because a side stream has deposited a huge
amount of rock into the river channel, essentially
making a dam, which backs the river up for a kilometer.
Upon reaching the dam, the entire gradient of the
last kilometer fulminates into fifty meters of incredibly
steep and technical rapid, respectfully known as
The Great Wall. Guides tend to smoke a lot of cigarettes
in the quite stretch above The Great Wall
.
The Great Walls one redeeming feature is that
there is a pool at the bottom, because right after
the pool is an incredible rapid called Liquid Bliss,
which leads directly into a rapid called My God,
What To Do? This is one of the most fun stretches
on the river, made doubly fun by the fact that The
Great Wall is behind us and lunch is ahead of us.
Depending on the time we stop to have lunch after
My God, What To Do?, or push on and have lunch at
the takeout. Either way the trip ends with a bang
on a long series of drops known as Dazed And Confused.
Without a doubt this is some of the finest whitewater
rafting to be had anywhere.
At the takeout the rafts are carried up and dried
in a garden surrounding the Dam Keepers house at
Lamosangu. From here its a three hours bus
ride back to KTM, usually arriving around 19:00
Hrs. The 3-hour ride allows some time to rest our
bodies before we reach the capital. After collecting
valuables, and having a shower or some more rest,
we often gather for dinner and drinks at a favorite
restaurant in Thamel, to recount the trip highlights. |