Rocks don't move

Trip Start Sep 23, 2004

Trip End Ongoing

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Flag of Nepal Bhote Kosi, Nepal
Friday, November 5, 2004

On the 3rd November I was up bright and early again to go rafting with Ultimate Descents. We drove to the Bhote Kosi river, which flows from Tibet, to raft the lower section as a training day in preparation for the more challenging rapids of the second day. First was a very comprejensive safety talk, then we donned our wetsuits (I managed to find the only organisation that gives you wetsuits- which seem fairly essential when rafting in glacial water), pumped up the raft and were off! It was glorious, it was sunny, the river was pale blue and we were surrounded by lush green hills contoured by terraces of rice. Perfect! The local children all came out to wave- I think we were the day's entertainment! The rafting was great fun, though I wasn't so happy when we had to climb up up 5 metre boulder and jump off into the water so Mani, our guide, could check our swimming was strong enough in case we came out of the raft. The water didn't scare me, but the jumping did- i was sure I'd hit the boulder on my way down

01 Camping out in style

. I suggested I could just wade into the river and swim, but this was wussing out, so one of the guys held my hand so I couldn't bottle out and dragged me in as he jumped. Needless to say I was fine, but apparently I won the prize for most piercing scream. THe water was cold!

We went to a great resort for the evening- an adventure centre called Borderlands near the Tibetan border. I had my own expedition tent, surrounded by tropical plants and butterflies, which was invaded by a very large and hairy caterpillar who didn't like it when I made him sleep outside. I could hear the river rushing by and when i woke up in the morning i opened the flysheet and watched the butterflies and the waterfall tumbling down the huge hill on the other side of the river. Eventually we got up for a late breakfast and then were off! It was quite an adventure! We had two safety kayakers in case someone fell out and we couldn't get them back ourselves. WE started off on class 3 rapids, which made a good refresher, but later got to class 4 and 4+. We were all present and correct by the end of the day, after justin fell out and went down a rapid by himself without the raft (when asked what it was like, his answer was 'blloody fast!'). Enrique and Rob both tumbled in too (Rob forgot the first rule of punting when his paddle got stuck- 'don't hold on!' It took him with it then stayed stuck- thankfully we had a spare, but that got lost later too....)

02 Bhote Kosi

. We managed to get stuck on a rock, then all had to climb out onto a boulder (just big enough for 9 of us), gripping onto the rope of the raft until it floated free, then we had to hold on tight to stop the raft floating down the river (grabbing the rope and each other- it's a very friendly past time), which we managed (just). Got the impression that Mani steered us onto the rock on purpose.... Met a South African lady later who had a great picture of us all stranded on our rock!

Nearly lost Mani overboard after hitting a rock (it didn't move, so he did), and also managed to run over a kayaker (that must be an unusual occurance). The kayakers run the rapid first then indicate to mani the best way to go. One pointed the way, and we went over as the other got stuck in a hole. We couldn't go back (it was a HUGE rapid) and ended up going over the guy- there was suddenly part of a kayak sticking out from underneath! So we tried to haul it out... luckily the guy was fine, got out and bobbed away down the river, and we got the kayak and paddle, then finished the rapid and waited for him somewhere calm (he reached the shore and had to get out and walk).

It was an amazing experience- the environment is so perfect it's almost like a theme park ride as you shoot over huge boulders and waves and get whirled about all over the place. Except you can only hold on tight if you don't have to paddle! My arms and shoulders ache today!

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