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2003-10-02 / 10-04 - Pokhara - Rafting Kali Gandaki - Pokhara (Day 169-171)

This was a busload of crazy foreigners if there ever was one. Israelis with their wild long hair and stoned eyes, a group of wild Spaniards and then an assortment of adventurous 20-somthings from a number of countries made up the ruckus bunch headed out to Kali Gandaki for a three-day rafting trip on Class 4+ whitewater right off the Himalayan glaciers. I joined the group as a kayaker even though it had been 17 years since I had been in a kayak back in Idaho. Originally I'd been scheduled to go with another group a day later which would have left me with a day to practice on the lake and get the feel back before getting on the river but when that trip canceled, I was moved to this trip leaving the next morning and thus I find myself on a bus with a bunch of people anxious for adventure.

Just from the look of the group, I should have guessed what I was in for, as this group comprised mostly of tough young guys wasn't going to spend their time on any pansy river but I really had no idea until we got to the put-in point, which was supposed to be the "calm water." There were white caps anywhere one looked and the current was at full trot. One of the guides mentioned that the monsoon rains which had kept me in the cafes through my two weeks in Pokhara had the water level up much higher then normal and thus much faster, oh lovely! Even better, the guide also added that just around the next corner about 10 minutes down was the first of two rapids, the biggest on the trip called "Little Brother" and "Big Brother." Boy was I over my head on this one. Having only 10 minutes to find out if kayaking is like riding a bicycle and on this water was not a good thing. This was clearly one of those cases where I had vastly overestimated my abilities and backing down might mean saving my neck. I went to the guides and admitted I couldn't handle this kind of water and fortunately for me since the bus was gone and there was no way back but the river, they came up with the solution of tying my kayak onto the kitchen raft and my joining a raft. That solution brought a heck of a sense of relief, though that too was over optimistic.

I joined a raft filled with Spaniards out for as much adrenalin as they could muster but the team did not have anyone who was well versed in English leaving us doing circles as our Nepali guide tried to teach us the commands to control the raft. We only had a short stretch of water to practice on though that was enough to show we were abject failures at following the guide's orders as everyone on the raft except for me couldn't understand the instructions in the guide's heavily accented English.

Just at the head of the first rapids, we hit a hole, which unfortunately, we went in sideways and the boat flipped sending us all into the freezing water. Even though it is late summer, the water is direct from the high glaciers and cold enough to chill you to the bone in seconds. I was pulled underwater by the fast current and brought up right into the boat, which was coming off another wave sending me back down underwater without a breath. The water was a churning mess whose currents the life jacket couldn't contend with and I was only able to get to the surface for a couple of breaths. I was spun around under the water and had to try to fight my way to the surface which when just as I broke to the top, one of the safety kayaks trying to rescue a women near me slammed into my head. Another current grabbed me and again I am pulled under, spun around and swallow a good bit of water fighting to get a breath. Still in the churning whitewater, I mange to yell to one of the kayakers who came over and pulled me to the side, gasping for air and coughing up water. That was the first 20 minutes of the trip, which left me shaken, cold and waterlogged. Big Brother came 5 minutes later and we lost another rafter into the churn who had to be rescued by a kayak. The next 2 hours was constant white water and more rapids and when we finally made it to the camping spot for the first night we were beat and cold.

Some coffee and a bit of rest however revived everyone and we made our camp of lean-tos made of the rafts supported on ores while the guides made dinner. The evening was lovely with the moon hidden behind the ridges of the valley we were in leaving the sky dark and full of stars. The rushing water nearby and insects on the hills left the sound of the night very alive and a perfect one for long talks into the night.

Morning came far too early after a hard night on the sand and waking up required a through shaking out of sore muscles. I pulled out the kayak just after breakfast and put it in the river to see how I would fare. Much worse then I had expected would be the concise answer with kayaking bearing no relation to bicycles in that it did not come right back at all. A few flips in the water convinced me I would need a lot more practice before being safe on a river like this and I resigned myself to admitting the kayak was beyond me and I am staying in the raft for the rest of the trip.

All packed up, the four rafts and the cooking raft set off into the next set of rapids and it wasn't an hour before we flipped the raft again and I was back into the water. The second day of rafting was about five hours on the water with the water fast and churning for the entire way. Our boat flipped again in the afternoon and yet again, I went into the water with my team. It was becoming apparent that we had a very risky mix of a guide who was either less experienced then the others or who just wanted to take more risks and a team that still had not gelled in understanding the commands of the guide even though the full set had been simplified down to just two - forward and back. Of the other three rafts, two had also flipped once and one had not had any problems when our boat had already flipped three times and thrown a couple of rafters into the water a couple more. As with any trip, the guides can make all the difference and in this case, I was in the boat most likely to get hurt.

The second evening was a heck of a party with the Nepali guides taking full advantage of this being the one day in the year where gambling was allowed and drinking encouraged with the whole group gathering around a big campfire singing, dancing and drinking.

After the first two days, the third day was short and easy with flat water for much of the way and only a few big rapids. Even so, we still managed to flip the boat although today it was just a pleasant dunk in the water after getting too hot in the sun. Rafting in Nepal was another goal I'd wanted to try for some time and though our guide was a little too crazy for my ever more cautious taste, what with flipping the raft 4 times being a little over the top, the trip as a whole was a pleasure and with three days of whitewater rafting in Nepal costing the same as a dinner out in Taiwan a heck of a bargain.

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