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There are numerous fine rivers in
Nepal which offer excellent rafting or canoeing. You can glide
on calm jade water with a magnificence of scenery all about or
rush through roaring white rapids, in the care of expert river
men. There are clear sandy beaches to camp or take a meal, and
cool clear pools to bathe.
Trisuli
River
The Trisuli River is
Nepal's
most popular rafting river. Impressive gorges, exciting rapids,
some easier sections, and easily accessible from
Kathmandu
and Pokhara. Recommended for intermediate kayakers and those
wanting a cheap white water trip.
Not far from the source the Trisuli joins the Bhote Kosi that
flows from Tibet. The two rivers joining in some pretty fearsome
looking gorges that are visible on the way up to the Langtang
Trek. The Buri river, the Marsyandi and the Seti river ads to
its flow.
When the Kali Gandaki joins it, shortly before the plains, it
changes its name to the Narayani. Here, it is a truly mighty
river, peak flows in the Monsoon have been measured at 25,700
cusec (extreme, instantaneous discharge) about 900,000 cubic
feet per second or fifty times the typical flow of Colarado
river through the
Grand Canyon.
Sunkoshi
River
The river rises near
Tibet and is joined by the Bhoti Kosi just downstream from
Barbesi. Most raft trips start at Dolaghat. The Sun Kosi flows
eastwards in Nepal through the great valley between the
Mahabharat Lekh mountains and the Himalayas.
The volume increases considerably draining flows from his
Himalayan tributaries. In November, the flow at Dologhat is
about 100 cumecs. Lower down the river, through the big rapids
of the Jungle Corridor, it would be about 400 cumecs, which is
appr. 11,000 cft, a typical low flow on the Grand Canyon of the
Colorado.
A nice thing about Sun Kosi is that the general standard of the
river gets progressively harder as you descend it so there is
time to practice your skills on easy water before the more
interesting, bigger and continuous rapids lower down the river.
Bheri
River
A remote and easy river, blue water, white beaches and fine
campsites.
This must be one over your premier rafting trips in
Nepal. Is has some of the best fishing in Nepal, together with
beautiful and diverse scenery, lots of wildlife and unspoiled
villages. Two large tributaries, the Thuli (large) and the Sani
(small) join at Ramnagat to form the main Bheri river.
Arun
River
A powerful and famous river, huge rapids, good sensations. It is
respected as one of the most mighty rivers of Nepal. Its source
is on the Tibetan plateau, to the north of
Kathmandu.
The Arun is ideal for someone who wants to run a big water river
but hasn't got the time to raft the Sun Kosi or the Karnali.
Kaligandaki
River
The upper part is a beautiful unspoiled river with good white
water, gorges and a feeling of remoteness. The lower part is a
big but relatively easy river, with small gorges, jungle and an
abundance of wildlife. A combined upper and lower part of the
river is a classic, best of its kind.
The Kali Gandaki rises in Mustang. Here it is a flat and braided
river, flowing in an arid open valley. At Kalopani (black water)
the river drops off the roof of the world and cuts one of the
deepest gorges in the world between Dhaulagiri, height 8,167 m
and Annapurna, height 8,091 m.
The Kali Gandaki is named after the goddess Kali and is
considered a particularly holy river. It is also a gold bearing
river, and we met several small groups who were sluicing and
panning the gravel's of the river bed for minuscule amounts of
metal.
TAMUR
RIVER
A magnificent white water trip, one of the best in the world,
approximately 130 rapids in 120 km The river flows through a
beautiful and unspoiled valley and the trek to the start is one
of the most scenic in
Nepal.
The Tamur and its tributaries drain the snows of Kanchendzonga,
third highest peak in the world. The river is the sixth largest
river in Nepal and seems to have a feeling of thrusting power.
Whilst it is possible to fly into Taplejung, we especially
recommend the trek, a great way to start your river trip. The
trek is not to arduous as it goes along the top of the ridge and
then drops down to the river.
We should recommend this particularly as an exciting paddle trip
for fit and active rafters looking for the second time trip.
Karnali River
One of the finest big volume rafting and kayaking trips in
Nepal and definitely the best combination trip, trekking, white
water rafting and wilderness.
The Karnali is
Nepal's
longest and largest river and with its tributaries, it drains
most of the Far West of Nepal. The rapids are also pretty wild,
with the river building to its climax in these lower canyons. In
terms of volume, the river is comparable to the Sun Kosi, but
the Karnali is more constrained by its canyon walls, giving
bigger, mote continuous and serious rapids. This constrained
nature of the river means that any increase in volume has more
pronounced effect on the difficulty of the rapids and this makes
it a river that is best run at low flows. Highest extreme
instantaneous discharge measured at Chisapani was an incredible
21,700 cumecs.
The trek to start of the river trip is pleasant and highly
scenic. It climbs through mixed forest and then traverses two
ridge tops with excellent panoramic views of the Bheri forests. |
