My white-water rafting in Bhote-Koshi, Nepal

We all four had never done rafting before; and we already had mind set that this is going to be good first experience. We decided to go to Bhote-Koshi river, which is one of the most popular rafting destination of Nepal and its difficulty is graded from 3+ to 5-. We were going to do rafting in lower section, and this season (March 10, 2007), the grade was 3+. It was a perfect time and location to do our first rafting. We had bought the package from “The Last Resort“

We started our trip from Thamel at 6:30AM and reached to the rafting spot at around 9:30AM. We also had 8 other tourists for rafting and about 4-5 tourists for kayaking. And we had around 5 guides. As mentioned we were four (Pratik, Roshan, Sabeen and I). So, we had a good number of people to enjoy the day.

At the spot, the first rafting guide talked to all of us about the safety instructions. “If you fell into the river, try to catch the rope surrounding the rafting boat… If you fell and can’t reach the boat, wait for rope to be thrown to you by your boat guide (i think) … If you fell and can’t get any help from your boat, wait for the help from the kayak guide … If you fell and boat flipped and you got stuck underneath the boat, then … ” He also mentioned a bottom line for every situation: “DON’T PANIC!” And also said, “if you panic then you may make the work of saver guide much difficult and he may not help you at all.” Yes, the bottom line was so true; however, as I am not yet a confident swimmer, I thought, the bottom line is, “DON’T FALL.”

Later, we were divided into two rafting teams of seven (including the guide). Steve and Helen joined into our team. The team leader instructed how to follow his instructions with paddling. He would stay at the back of the boat and do the main job, and would call his of his sides (left and right people) to paddle forward or backward, or to hold. And then with a short pratice in stagnant water near the dam, we headed towards the white water rapids.

As we were beginning to enjoy the varying currents, we were attacked by other rafting boat with huge splashes of water, cold water it is. That obviously meant “let’s play” and the game was all on.

Initially, we all were so cautious on falling into the river, but in short time that was only a small part around the corner of our minds. I was on the right front side of the boat, and I could very closely see all the swirls, slopes, and the rocks beneath the water. I loved the seat, and I would not have enjoyed so much if I was at the back seat. I don’t know how others thought about this.

Only Steve was the most coolheaded person in our boat (except for the guide, of course!). And why not, he was the only person who had already done rafting before (I think he said once before). And because he sat quite cool and comfortable, he was the only person in our boat to fall into the river. He fell twice! The first one was not a natural fall - the guide in other boat had dragged him into the river. The second one is very interesting. In one of the big swirls, the boat was shaking and the guide was calling to paddle on. Then there came a huge rock infront of us and we all had to think of safety. Somehow, Steve was looking in other direction and as the boat clashed with the rock, Steve flew out of the boat and fell into the water. He was well about 1.5 meters away from the boat, in the swirling rapid. People at the back of the boat did not even knew where he had disappeared. Even then, he could swim to reach the boat and hold on to the safety rope around the boat. I could see him not let go. That was brave. And, yes, lucky too, for not getting hit on the rocks.

The river had plenty of such swirling spots and lots of rocks, shaking the boat in all directions and making our trip all adventurous. We also got stuck in the rocks a few times, and we had to shake our bums hard to move the boat - most of the times the method did not work and the guide had to drag the boat. Numerous times the boat would hit on the large rocks in rapids, and turning and rotating the boat in all angles. And sometimes there would be some almost-stagnant current, where we would require to paddle hard. We had about 5 people kayaking around us, and it was also very nice to see them do skillful display. The river had also pleasure to see high hills, some villages and villagers, especially children, lining on suspension bridges across the river looking at us pass through.

The rafting package in Bhote Koshi would normally be of two days, first day in lower section (where we rafted), and next day in upper section. As said by our guide dai, rafting in lower section in first day is only like a “training” for the second day. We four had come in a single day package, and and we thought that we should have come in two days package. But next day (in Kathmandu), we were all so tired that we could not have possibly been able to raft.

We rafted for about 3 hours (excluding a lunch break in between) and rafted almost 10 kilometers. The end-spot was very near to Dolalghat. We had a rushing return to Kathmandu immediately after the rafting (because we had to return in the bus with people coming back after doing bungy jump), and that part was not interesting at all. We reached Kathmandu (Thamel) at around 5:30PM.

I certainly am thinking of rafting again, and next time in upper section of Bhote Koshi; hopefully, within 3-4 months. The guide had also mentioned that there is rafting festival being held this May in Trishuli river. But with a Bhote Koshi experience, rafting in Trishuli river might seem dull. Anyway, I had put rafting in my “things to do in life” list for quite some time and now I am happy that I have done it, and would like to do it a few more times. The adventure of the day will not go away from me, ever.