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The Western Bend ~ Karnali
“The Big One”
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Country: Nepal |
Description |
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Rapids:
Freight
Train,
Touching
the
Void,
Snapshot,
Flip
'n'
strip,
Juicer,
Inversion,
Jailhouse
Rock,
Human
for
lunch,
Shake,
Rattle
&
Roll,
Sweetness
and
Light.
Nepal's
mightiest
river,
the
Karnali,
lies
in
the
"Wild
West"
of
Nepal,
an
area
only
recently
opened
to
tourism.
Rising
in
the
vicinity
of
Tibet's
holy
Mount
Kailash,
the
Karnali
carves
the
Himalayan
landscape
into
a
series
of
magnificent
gorges
and
canyons
as
it
descends
slowly
into
the
jungle
forests
of
western
Nepal.
Seasonal
snow
melts
and
storms
can
cause
the
river
levels
to
swell
drastically,
and
create
the
extremes
of
whitewater
rafting.
In
high
water
the
Karnali
is
a
serious
undertaking
with
fairly
straightforward,
yet
huge
rapids.
Even
at
lower
levels
it
is
still
not
a
walk
in
the
park,
as
the
rapids
become
more
constricted
and
the
gradient
steeper.
One
highlight
of
this
classic
river
journey
is
a
7
km
long
gorge
"Thrill-a-minute
roller-coaster
ride"
with
rapids
at
every
bend.
Truly
though,
any
season
suits
the
Karnali.
Class
III
-
V
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Itinerary |
|
 Rafting |
Included |
| Transfer
from
and
back
to
Kathmandu,
full
board
on
trip,
accommodation
in
double
tents. |
Departure Dates |
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2009> 05 Nov Ð 14 Nov; 17 Nov Ð 26 Nov; 05 Dec Ð 14 Dec
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Day
1-2:
We
meet
at
our
sales
office
at
6
am
where
we
serve
you
tea
and
coffee
to
freshen
you
up.
After
the
drinks
we
take
a
short
walk
through
the
narrow
and
winding
street
of
Thamel
to
our
waiting
bus.
From
here
we
begin
our
trip
to
the
wild
west.
We
stop
for
the
night
at
a
small
town
called
Kohalpur
(25minutes
drive
from
the
Nepalgunj
Airport).
Here
we
spend
the
night
at
a
guesthouse.
In
the
morning
of
the
next
day
after
the
breakfast
we
hop
onto
the
bus
passing
through
the
low
lands
and
climbing
the
Churia
hill
through
Bardia
National
Park
and
on
to
the
remote
village
of
Surkhet.
As
we
transverse
the
Terai
the
scenery
is
varied
and
splendid.
It's
a
good
chance
to
see
some
of
the
wildlife
and
birds
while
driving
through
the
National
Park
area,
so
keep
your
eyes
open.
We
get
to
Surkhet
early
afternoon
on
day
2.
Here
we
stop
for
a
while
just
to
check
that
everything
is
fine
before
we
proceed
with
our
drive
to
Kalyani
Dada
as
this
is
the
only
town
where
we
can
buy
any
goods
if
we
have
forgotten.
After
being
sure
of
everything
we
drive
further
through
the
wild
forest
of
the
Karnali
zone
leaving
behind
the
civilization
for
the
next
10
days.
At
around
4
p.m.,
we
reach
Kalyani
Dada
(Dada
means
hill),
the
end
of
our
bus
journey.
We
camp
the
2nd
night
at
this
peaceful
spot,
overlooking
the
Terai
and
the
sub
Himalayan
region.
Day
3-6:
In
the
morning
of
3rd
day,
you
will
be
served
with
a
hot
drink
while
our
guys
re-pack
and
divide
the
gears
among
our
Sardhar
(head
porter).
We
now
head
down
the
trail
(one
and
half
hours
easy
hike)
to
reach
the
Karnali
riverbank
.
Once
we
reach
the
river,
we
inflate
the
rafts
and
tie
the
equipment.
A
breakfast
will
be
served
to
you
at
around
8
am
and
the
first
part
of
the
morning
is
spend
explaining
the
finer
points
of
how
to
paddle
through
whitewater
and
stay
in
the
raft
as
it
bucks
and
contorts
through
the
rapids.
For
those
who
missed
a
point
in
the
previous
lesson,
there
is
a
lesson
on
how
to
swim
through
whitewater,
using
your
flotation
device
and
paddle
to
keep
your
head
up
and
your
feet
to
push
off
rocks.
The
guides
will
also
teach
you
what
they
are
looking
for
when
they
run
the
river
–
the
innocuous
looking
rise
in
the
water
that
hides
a
hole,
or
the
way
you
can
use
the
pillow
of
water
rebounding
off
a
rock
to
push
the
raft
where
you
want
it.
Whitewater
rafts
are
amazingly
versatile
and
stable
crafts,
and
in
the
care
of
an
expert
raft
guide
it
is
possible
to
run
exhilarating
lines
safely
and
confidently.
Your
guide
is
a
professional,
someone
who
has
devoted
their
life
to
learning
and
running
the
whitewater
rivers.
Under
his
careful
indoctrination
the
raft
crew
learns
how
to
work
as
a
team,
practicing
on
the
smaller
rapids
we
encounter
on
the
first
kilometer
of
the
river.
Teamwork
is
what
makes
it
possible
to
run
any
river
safely
and
this
extends
beyond
your
raft.
On
the
next
day
on
the
water,
we
face
the
biggest
day
of
rafting
as
we
paddle
down
to
jungle
ghat.
We
normally
stop
at
the
only
village
of
any
size
on
the
upper
section
of
the
river,
to
go
and
have
cup
of
tea
and
check
out
the
local
scene.
It's
always
good
to
have
a
break
here
as
10minutes
downstream
we
pull
over
into
the
surging
eddy
above
Jailhouse
Rock.
Below
all
you
can
see
is
the
pulsing
plumes
of
spray
accompanied
by
the
ominous
rumbling
of
the
river,
a
really
good
indication
that
this
is
a
rapid
worth
looking
at.
From
the
side
of
the
river
the
line
looks
pretty
clear
–
be
warned
though,
the
water
is
a
lot
more
powerful
than
it
looks!
Inversion
rapid
follows
this,
a
series
of
massive
stranding
waves
that
leads
down
into
a
steep
canyon
with
a
300
foot
waterfall
cascading
into
the
river.
Day
7-
10:
The
most
sustained
challenging
section
of
the
river
begins
with
God's
house,
a
mirror
image
of
Jail
house
rock,
and
continues
in
a
series
of
canyons
for
about
7km
with
16
odd
rapids.
This
is
what
we
are
here
for
–
it's
real
"thrill-a-minute
roller-coaster
ride"
with
rapids
on
every
bend.
The
whole
river
narrows
down
into
the
bowels
of
the
Earth
as
we
run
such
classic
drops
as
Juicer,
Flip'n
Strip,
Totali
Ghat,
Snapshot
and
Freight
train
before
stopping
at
a
sweeping
sandy
beach
in
a
beautiful
canyon
for
the
night.
Camping
on
the
Karnali
is
awesome.
The
night
camp
at
the
Scorpion
Beach,
will
be
home
for
our
layover
day
as
well.
The
massive
floods
of
the
monsoon
deposit
huge
tracks
of
pure
whitesand
along
the
river,
making
it
ideal
to
camp
on.
Hello
Beach
Party!!
volleyball,
sand
sculpture,
footbag,
sunbathing
and
eating
are
the
favourite
activities
for
the
layover
day.
You
can
also
take
in
the
advantage
of
the
layover
day
to
trek
to
a
peak
or
nearby
village
or
take
part
in
the
kayak
workshop
the
safety
boaters
offer.
On
the
9th
day,
from
our
last
campsite
nestled
in
the
rock
formations
of
the
lower
canyon,
we
drift
down
to
Chisopani.
The
first
town
we've
seen
after
10
days
into
the
wilderness.
Chisopani
isn't
much
of
a
town…………basically
just
a
couple
of
dal
bhat(
famous
nepali
meal)
shop
and
an
impressive
bridge.
But
even
so
it
is
hard
to
get
re-acclimated
to
the
sounds
of
human
chaos.
After
10
days
without
any
motors,
car
horns
or
screaming
of
children,
even
a
little
town
like
Chisopani
serves
to
remind
us
of
just
how
quiet
the
last
10
days
on
river
have
been.
Most
people
want
to
crawl
back
up
the
river
at
this
point,
but
alas,
the
river
only
flows
one
way.
So
from
Chisopani
we
board
the
bus
for
the
return
trip
to
Kathmandu.
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Departure |
| Kathmandu,
Nepal
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Price: $ 400
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