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White water rafting on Nepal's mighty river
Fast and furious
The raft was surely sinking with only our guide and myself on board. The rest of the crew were somewhere down the river. The hole that we had plunged into was perhaps 15 feet deep and our huge raft was near vertical, perilously close to tipping over. The entire river seemed to be pouring into the front section, now submerged in the roaring and freezing waters that are fed from the glacier peaks of the Himalayas.

I was standing on the thwarts looking down into a liquid abyss when I heard a desperate "hard back". Our guide was giving his last shot at getting the raft out of this seemingly hopeless mess! Thankfully, advanced design in water bailing and buoyancy systems rather than the effort of two people got the raft out and away!

These were my first moments on Nepal's mighty rivers.

It had all began innocently enough on the banks of the Kali, when after a picnic lunch everyone got down to the river for a three-day rafting trip. After a thorough briefing, I got into the yellow boat that already had five Spanish youth eager to begin the trip.

Within minutes we were at the first rapid "Little Brother", a grade 3-4 rapid. The river flows around a huge boulder that's in the middle of the river with a drop of around 50 feet.

Beneath the boulder the water reunites and continues its phenomenal descent towards the plains of India. It was under this boulder that we had near tragically got ourselves into trouble, the reason being that my fellow paddlers, all being Spanish did not understand a word of English, uttered by the guide during the briefing session. The end result was that all of them were thrown into the churning waters and we were catapulted into the heart of the rapid. Miraculously everyone survived with some being swept 50 metres away.

My pleas to switch to another raft fell on deaf ears! No one on the river wanted to trade places with anyone from our boat. We were considered the Titanic or the boat with 6 captains, a probable floating disaster and I had landed myself into this chaos. Coming up ahead was "Big Brother", a grade 4 rapid! Needless to say I managed to stay afloat with some very memorable times in-between. My Spanish friends if not better paddlers are definitely better at English now, especially well versed in some words.

This was one of the few instances I had pitted myself against the intense and continuous rivers of Nepal. Based on the time of year the rapids grow from a mild grade 2, to an impossible 6+. Choosing a good river operator is very important if you intend staying inside the boat. New and quality equipment with good river guides give further value for the extra dollars invested. These trips are not cheap either, with each setting you back from US$150 to 750. The water for most of the year is very cold, although any reputed river operator does provide you with a wetsuit on request.

Then based on the time available you could choose a trip run between 2 to 14 days.
No matter what you choose, the rapids are fast and furious. Some of these rivers provide in a day, what some cannot during an entire trip! For example the Bhote Kosi River has around 75 rapids that one has got to negotiate in one day! That's discounting the grade 2- rapids!

Most trips have all the makings of an expedition, as you travel for almost a day and a half, the bus from Katmandu taking you to the starting point. If one were to grade the road conditions with river rapids, you would be hitting some 3-4 with the occasional fiver! Porters thankfully carry all the equipment that includes 80-90 kg rafts! At the starting point everyone chips-in to inflate the rafts, tie-untie equipment and carry everything to the river's edge.

The surrounding areas are lush and beautiful with the snow peaks providing a picturesque backdrop. Villages come and gape in wonder at these crazy tourists, challenging the cascading currents in plastic boats!

After a thorough briefing everyone paddles the boat into the bubbly white waters of the river. Somewhere in-between the mayhem, the guide manages to squeeze the raft between two boulders, just before another staircase of rapids! The raft comes to a standstill and everyone stares in disbelief! The few minutes in the river had put all paddlers to the test and it would continue for days down the river.

Stopping for lunch or the night is a blessing from above as one could send their hearts from their mouths to its rightful place! The intensity of these rivers are such that everyone walks away dazed! The food is excellent and so it should be as rafting creates a healthy appetite. Around the fire come the stories, tales and yarns of the day's highlights, "Man, I saw you airborne", "Did you see how close we were...", "Luckily I held onto you..", "..Remember that big rapid by the bend" and so on! Coffee is finally served ending another day's adventures on the river.

Warm inside your sleeping bag, on a lonely shore besides the roaring river sleep comes easily. The next morning after breakfast everyone pits their skills against the river once again. As always the rapids are continuous, technical and challenging. Ironically most of these rapids have no names as we shoot through them!

The ones that do may sound funny, but are not when attempted. Frog in the Blender, Kiwi Cupcake, The Great Wall, RIP, Kick back, Liquid Bliss, No Kidding, God's Room, Dazed & Confused, Refund, You're Joking, One way Ticket, Fake Right, Go Left, Oh No, Raftbreaker, Liliput, Waterworld, Deathwish, Hold on Honey & Rodeo are some of the many that thrill and kill too!

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