Adventure Chronicles™

04.09.01 - Frog in a Blender
Kathmandu, Nepal - Bhote Koshi River

You have to love a river with rapids named "Frog In A Blender", "Oh My God, What To Do?" and "Fake Right, Go Left".

Our river rafting trip went well. Although a little tamer than expected, due to lower than usual water levels, there was plenty of fun. The river had a lot of Class 3 rapids, and plenty of Class 4 and 4+ rapids to keep things interesting.

We departed Kathmandu early Saturday morning and after 2 hours arrived at the rafting camp, which was situated right on the bank of the river. There were big safari tents along the river, a white sand beach and a nice garden filled with fireflies.

We spent our first day rafting the lower part of the river. After a short safety lesson, we hit the water for about 2.5 hours. The river was filled with rocks, and navigating the raft was a lot more technical than we expected. We had a great guide, Yek, who got us through it all, but there were times when he was yelling "paddle forward" in the middle of a rapid and all I (Lisa) wanted to do was hold on for dear life. My favorite rapid was "Fake Right, Go Left". It was a series of turns, and a large waterfall. When Yek yelled "hold on", we held on!

We rafted the upper and lower part of the river on day two. There was definitely more action on the upper part of the river. At first, I was wondering if I was sitting wrong or something, because I was in the very back of the boat and got thrown around quite a bit. We had several Class 4+ rapids, which were crazy! White water everywhere, and even a few waterfalls for good measure. On "Frog In A Blender", our raft hit a rock towards the end of the rapid and went almost vertical. We all scrambled to the high side when instructed by the guide, but Jay mixed up his right and left and almost overturned the raft. Actually, I was convinced we were going over, but somehow, we managed to get the raft flat again and continue. The adrenaline was pumping after that! Not too long after, we hit "Midnight Express", and my goal of staying in the raft for the trip was lost. The rapid was filled with several tight turns, one of which proved too much for me. I suddenly found myself out of the raft and right in the middle of the rapid. You'd think that my first priority would be getting back in the boat, but with all the white water around me, I was tempted to float my way out of it. Yek pulled me in pretty quickly, but not before I hit my butt on a very large rock. Other than that, I escaped unscathed. In case you were wondering, several people fell out of rafts on the trip, not just me. Actually, one of the guides in the other raft fell out at precisely the same point I did. Just thought I should point that out. :)

Today, we are back in Kathmandu, safe and dry. I have quite a bruise on my butt, of which I am a little proud. I consider it a battle wound.

Although Jay has been a constant consumer since arrived in Nepal, I joined in the fun today and between the two of us, we filled a large duffel bags with good stuff for us, and some presents for people back at home. The deals here are amazing!

Want to contact Jay and Lisa?

william.gibson@airtreks.com