We were now back in Kathmandu making the most of the various cuisines on offer in and around Thamel. The rain was starting to fall almost every afternoon and evening. It certainly seemed as though monsoon was arriving early in Nepal.
So where to go next? With the Sun Koshi the lowest I had ever seen it at Dolalghat and the Bhote Koshi low the Trishuli had by far the best levels in the area. So we headed back to the Trishuli, where the river had risen nearly a metre. It would make for a great few days of warm water boating before the bus picked us up for our trip on the Karnali.
It was going to be a long drive to the far west of Nepal and to our put-in for the Karnali. The last time I had run the Karnali it was a continuous 36 hour bus journey from hell. This time however it was a pleasant (for Nepal standards) 1½ days drive with a night in a hotel! Nepal has certainly seen a lot of infrastructure over the past 12 years. But do not be fooled, the roads are not really being built for the locals, but for huge dam projects! The Karnali itself is going to be damed not once but twice killing off all the whitewater which has made the river famous!
We decided to tag along with a raft trip. It was going to make a nice change to eat 10 kilos of spaghetti instead of Nepal’s notorious Dhal Bhaat! So together with a raft team and 5 other kayakers Ute and I put-in. The river had a pretty good level. With all the rain that had fallen we had levels similar to the end of October.
The first day on the river saw us running a few class III warm up rapids and surfing some on the fly waves. After 3 more nights of rain we were now running some big whitewater rapids with classic names such as Jailhouse, Flip and Strip, Juicer and of course the hardest rapid on the river God’s House.
Along the way we had a few swims, some lucky escapes and a few eyes so wide open you thought they would pop out!! Luckily for me, I was not involved in any of the above!
After exiting the gorge the Karnali flattened out and it was time for me to work on the tan and so I headed into the gear raft. We drifted downstream for the next 3 days, camping on huge beaches and just being on river time. The weather was hot and as soon as the sun came out you could not walk on the beach bare foot. It was in the evening when the rains came that cooled us down somewhat. A new rapid on the penultimate day got me back into my kayak and the final day saw us scrambling to catch a glassy wave before taking-out at Chisapani. A cold Coca-Cola to wash down the Dhal Bhaat (beers for the rest of the team) and it was off to Bardia Park to sweat and look for Tigers.
Another epic drive through the night and we arrived in Mugling before changing onto a local bus (you could not call it a Chicken Bus as even the Chickens would refuse to get on this thing). With a couple of extra rows of seats put inside we all suffered (including Ute) for another 4 hours to Pokhara! It was time to stretch the legs and catch up with Min an old friend and his new family. We were given the Royal treatment from Min and the Paddle Nepal staff which made Pokhara difficult to leave, but with strikes and protests being planned we were told to get to Kathmandu 3 days before our flight!
In Kathmandu we caught up with Simon and made a plan for next year. We also finally met up with another old friend Sunir and enjoyed the final few days in the bustling city of Kathmandu. Even the day we flew out a strike had been planned for after 7am and as we waited in Delhi for our connection we saw pictures of running battles with the Police in Kathmandu. Oh how things change!
A big thanks goes to Pete @ Peak UK, Andre @ Wave Sport UK, Robert @ Robson Paddles, Gabe @ Smith Optics, Sunir, Min, Alison @ Trailfinders and to everyone on the Karnali River Expedition that made it such a memorable trip. I just hope it will not be another 12 years before I am back in Nepal!
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