Nepali River Rafting

Sightseeing is great while traveling, but my best experiences are always the ones that are more interactive - experiences that involve more than just taking a look around. Until today I still hadn't had the third-world river rafting experience. A few years back a friend of mine went rafting in Thailand and said it was the most insane thing he's ever done in his life. I thought my trip could use a little more insanity, so I booked a day of river rafting through a travel agency in Kathmandu and headed off this morning for the put in point on the Trishuli River.

On the bus to Trishuli I sat by the only other person who would be on the rafting trip today - an Australian girl named Kylie. Kylie is from Brisbane, Australia and is in Nepal as part of a four month trip through the Middle East and Asia. We talked a lot about our traveling experiences and, interestingly enough, a lot about Islam. Kylie just visited Petra a few weeks ago and told me to be sure I spend at least two days there while I'm in Jordan this August. After Nepal Kylie will be stopping in Bangkok, so I had a little travel advice to offer her as well.

Kylie and I and our Nepali guide, Ochu, got off the bus at the put in point and Ochu went down to the river with two of his buddies to pump up the raft. Rafting in Nepal is a whole different ball game than rafting in the US. The few times I've been rafting have all been in Utah or Colorado and I'm used to signing a pile of legal waivers and then heading off with licensed guides and perfectly maintained equipment. In Nepal you just get in the water and go for it. Fortunately for me Ochu has twenty years of rafting experience (or at least that's what he claims). He really was a good guide though, it was easy to tell that he knew exactly what he was doing.Sometimes I wonder if outdoors-sports guides are actually more competant in third-world countries than they are in the US. In America rafting is something that most people only do when they're younger. Most river guides in the States, for example, take the job for a few summers during college and then move on to something else. For Ochu though, rafting is a full-time profession. Between the two of us Ochu only grossed $60, and that had to cover sales commissions, transportation to and from Kathmandu, and lunch after the rafting trip. If Ochu only comes away with thirty dollars per day though, that's a whole lot more than most people in Nepal make. I'm sure that rafting is a lucrative profession for Ochu; he probably has fifty times the experience of a college kid working as a guide for the summer.

Rafting Trishuli was fun and there were a few good thrills involved, but it wasn't as insane as I hoped it would be. I'm actually not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. It's great that I got back to Kathmandu alive and everything, but I also wanted to come back with some wild memories and wild stories to tell. It's alright. We went on some semi-intimidating class 3 rapids today and I definitely got wet and got a workout while paddling.For lunch I had two giant plates of chapatti, chowmein, and spicy potatoes, then got on the bus back to Kathmandu. When I say I got on the bus, I literally mean that I got on the bus - meaning on top of the bus, not inside. Ochu told me really casually after lunch that the bus was full and that we would be riding the entire way back to Kathmandu on the roof. I was a little apprehensive at first, but it was actually a lot of fun. I used the time outdoors (I guess that riding on top of a bus counts as being outdoors) to enjoy the views of the Nepali countryside. After watching miles of lush, green hills and terraced rice patties go by, I realized how little I really have seen of Nepal. I feel like I've seen a lot because I've already been to all of the really well known tourist sights in Kathmandu, but there's so much more to Nepal than that. Coming to Nepal and only seeing Kathmandu would be the same as if a foreigner visited the United States but only saw New York City.

After a three-hour ride on the roof along narrow roads winding up the edges of tall, green hills, I finally arrived back in Kathmandu alive and was even free of any injuries or traumatic experiences. A few risks are inevitable while traveling, but it helps to know that the locals do things the same way and that most of them are still alive as well.