Rafting the Trishuli River

So yesterday we went rafting for the first time in Nepal, along with seven other friends on the Trishuli river. In the past I had been a little hesitant to go rafting here, but Kim had wanted to go ever since we first came here, and the Trishuli is only a class three river so it looked like a good opportunity. Also it would only be a one day event, not an overnight, as the starting point on the river is just off the highway to Pokhara about two and a half hours to the west of Kathmandu.

The above picture shows most of our intrepid crew prior to departure, minus myself Sami and Alex. Hillary, who planned the trip (Thanks Hillary!) is obscured in the back with the red shirt. By going as a group we were able to get transportation, lunch and the rafting trip (was about 5 hours on the water) for only $30 each, which seemed like a great deal to me. I know back in the states for something similar we would have shelled out over $100 a piece.

This was our guide, Krishna. I think our raft had more fun than the others, as we kept playing games or trying to go up and around rocks. The flip side was that these activities often ended up with us getting ejected from the raft. Regardless, he had a great attitude and kept the trip fun, and also got us through the rapids with most of us still in the raft. The cool thing about having a waterproof camera was that I got to take some pictures, but I still couldn't get any in the thick of the rapids as I was paddling and  holding on to the raft to keep from being ejected. So the more tame photos will have to do. (If you are interested in more pictures click on the May Photos slide show on the right hand side of the page).

 The other great thing about rafting here is the scenery. Nepal has some of the best in the world, seemingly anywhere you choose to end up. As we went down the river you were constantly passing under huge suspension bridges with locals watching the foreigners go down the river. In places the mountains closed in close and overhanging cliffs rose up hundreds of feet over head.

Here we see the raft in front of us heading toward some rapids at the bend with the rescue kayak not far behind.

 Even in remote places in Nepal all the hills seem to be terraced and small farms and homes dot the hills. This was the view from where we had lunch.

Here is Clay trying to get himself back into the raft after going for a quick swim. We considered sending this to the embassy, saying this was the last we ever saw of him. He did however make it into the raft without incident before we hit the next set of rapids.

So a good time had by all, as Amos would say. I had a lot more fun than I thought I would, and we will definitely go rafting again when we get the opportunity. Thanks again to everyone for a great time.