On the beach at dusk by the Sun Kosi, the river of gold in Nepal. Picture by Lee Stokes.
Getting the Sun Kosi on my brain
Back in 2003 I rafted the
East Glacial river in Iceland
in the northern region of Skagafjörður in Iceland. I wasn´t new to
rafting, I had been on that river four years earlier but somehow I had
much more fun the second time around. Perhaps, because we had an epic
flip in the infamous "Green Room" rapid! I also got to know Nepalese
guides who told me about the
´River of Gold´- Sun Kosi - in Nepal.
They told me of huge water volume, huge rapids, massive waves and big
hydraulics. Over the years the idea of going to Nepal and take on that
river grew on me. The civil strife in that country dissuaded me and
friends from actually going ahead.
The suburbs of Khatmandu from the air
The thought of Sun Kosi didn´t leave me alone though and in 2012 I knew
I had to scratch that itch and I had the perfect excuse of turning 40
(hey, its cheaper than a sports car!).
I contacted my friends but they were lukewarm to say the least. For some
reason they weren´t turned on by spending 8 days on a river bank in
Nepal and rafting some 275KM. I just don´t get these guys :)
I tried my brother and to my delight and surprise he was all for it. So I
went online and started my search for a reliable Nepalese rafting
company.
Map of our route
Safe, reliable, predictable
I wanted to find a company who was reliable, was safety conscious and
had been in business for some time. I had never travelled to Asia before
and could hardly describe myself as an experienced traveller. I decided
to use
Tripadvisor and contact the highest rated Nepalese rafting company. It was clear that
GRG Adventure Kayaking (GRG) was that
company.
Starting out. In the background you can see the guides inflating the
cargo boat and on the right you can see our raft who somebody had named
"Krishna"
I went on the
GRG Facebook page
and found a picture album from a Sun Kosi trip they had organized and
messaged one of the guys who had been on that trip and asked for his
verdict. He recommended GRG without any hesitation so I decided to use
them for the trip. We booked a trip that started on the 2nd of October
2012.
One of the beaches we camped on.
One of the camps. We did the dishes in the buckets in the centre
with ionized river water. We also used treated water from the river for
drinking.
Be a lazy tourist in Kathmandu as well
My wife advised me to stay at a nice hotel in Kathmandu as the trip involves eight days on the river. I decided to go for the
Hotel Shanker
which I found to be a really old school four star hotel with some
really great and helpful staff. The best thing about it was the
resturant, the spa and of course the pool where you can relax with a
nice drink and surf the web.
The guides cooked some awesome food for us on the way.
I booked my flights through
Icelandair and we had a smooth (albeit long) travel which started in Keflavik and then on to London with Icelandair and then with
Etihad Airways to from Abu Dhabi to Khatmandu.
The "facilities" - when you wanted to use the toilet you would take
the helmet with you to indicate that it was occupied. Notice the lantern
on the right of the paddle. It would light our way in the dark.
Culture shock
When we arrived in Kathmandu we were taken to the GRG office where we
met up with
Maila and Chrissy and our companions on the trip. We had our
dose of culture shock when driving through the traffic choked streets
of Kathmandu. Neither of us had been to Asia or a third world country
for that matter so the poverty and the massive chaotic traffic was
something quite new to us.
We are not in Iceland anymore
Early next day a bus from GRG picked us up at our hotel and we drove in a
bus for three hours to our starting point in Damauli. The trip was
actually fun for us who had never been to Nepal. The guides pumped up
the volume of their favourite music and I felt a world away with the
Bollywod music and the excotic scenery outside. We stopped once or twice
along the way and, man, it was hot outside. My brother provided a taste
of home by bringing some dried fish but it was somewhat
underappreciated by our companions. Next time he should bring butter as
well :)
My brother Gudjon with dried fish on his way to the Sun Kosi
Routine is good - when it involves a lot of thrills and spills
There is a
detailed description of the Sun Kosi trip on the GRG website
so I won´t go into what we did each day but what impressed me was the
routine that took over from day one. It went something like this:
1. Wake up at 6 in the morning - look greedily at whatever the guides were making for breakfast
2. Have coffee or tea and breakfast and lots of it
3 Strike our tents and get our things into rubber dry bags
4. Carry all things to the raft and cargo boat
5. Put on helmets, lifevest and get on the raft - feel a flutter in your
stomach as we pushed the raft from the beach and on to the river for
some thrills and spills
6. Paddle hard through some awesome rapids, joke with the guys on the
raft, swim in the river if the guide gave the green light or just enjoy
the fantastic scenery.
7. Land at a pristine beautiful beach and have delicious lunch
8. Repeat no. 6. We would spend some 6 hours on the boat each day
9. Land at beach and bring all gear to land, pitch our tents, dig the
toilet, light candles, collect firewood and get ready for darkness which
falls at 18.00 or so
10. Have an evening snack prepared by the guides
11. Eat a delicious dinner prepared by the guides, these guys prepared feasts by the light of an open fire or a small torch
12. Sit by the fire, chat with my friends and have a beer or two
13. Fall asleep in record time
I also realized how disconnected from the cycle of day and night us
westerners have really become. I mean, I found my self at a riverbank
in Nepal thinking to myself: "Hang on, it´s all dark now, where can I
turn on the light?" The guides were ever patient with us so when we had
forgotten to find our sleeping bags after it had become really dark they
were quick to help us out.
Love sand
And I have talk about the sand. Beaches are nice but you shouldn´t stay
there unless you love sand. And believe me there is a lot of it and it
gets everywhere. So just love sand. Even the kind that is made from
crushed rock and consists of razor sharp crystals.
The rapids of the Sun Kosi river
The Sun Kosi is filled with large (and small) rapids. The main ones are:
- No Exit
- Meatgrinder
- High Anxiety
- The mighty Harkapur, the 10th largest rapid in the world
- JAWS where we flipped (see below)
- Rhino Rock"
- Jungle Corridor
- Rollercoaster
- Big Dipper
- Black Hole
Entering a large rapid was for me scary at first, especially when we
were paddling towards it, but then the sheer adrenalin infused fun just
took over. We would shout at each other to paddle hard and try to keep
the rhythm of our paddling as good as possible. This could be
difficult when big waves would lift the boat and you would end up
just pushing your paddle through air. The alternative would be a
large wave coming from your opposite side so you would sink your paddle
into the water. The sheer fun of it all is difficult to put in words.
The Beastly Harkapur
The feeling of going successfully through a big rapid like Harkapur is a
pretty unique feeling to say the least. I think the videos and the
pictures below tell the story much better than I ever could. What is
missing from those videos and pictures is the deep rumble of a large
rapid such as the Harkapur rapid. We heard this bone crunching growl
when we came to our camping site the night before and it was our
companion throughout the evening and the morning. We scouted the rapid
in the afternoon and in the morning before running it and it wasn´t the
massive waves or the rocks that scared me, it was that rumbling sound
that got to me. You would listen to it and think "My God ... what have I
gotten myself into?"
One interesting thing that happened and something you might catch on the
GoPro video below, at one point when were are approaching the rapid the
senior guide (Gotam) yells something in Nepalese to Rajul the other
guide steering the boat. We all took this as "Forward hard" so we
paddled really hard, it was like an electric current going through the
boat. He was actually telling him to steer to the right. Oh, and they
didn´t mention to us until we had gone through that two other companies
had bypassed Harkapur so we really opened the rapid for the 2012 season.
Pretty cool :)
Scouting Harkapur from the riverside.
Running the Harkapur rapid and opening it up for the 2012 season (GoPro view - my brother is wearing the camera on his helmet).
Running the Harkapur rapid (GoPro view - my brother is wearing the camera on his helmet)
Below are images from us running the Harkapur rapid:
Kali guides the cargo boat through Harkapur.
Flipping in the Jaws rapid
The same day we ran the Harkapur rapid we had an epic flip in the Jaws rapid.
Flipping the raft in the JAWS rapid. My God!
Apperantly, our angle into the rapid was a bit off so the massive wave
just swept us aside like we were a piece of cardboard in a hurricane. I
remember paddling hard when two successive waves struck the boat and
flipped it over. It is strange but I wasn´t really surprised when the
boat turned and I was in the water.
I was lucky as I got ejected from the boat in a way I didn´t spend
significant time under it. I will never forget the view when I got to
the surface, a huge wave on the right and that sound again, the massive
roar of the rapid. Successive waves of water slammed me in the face.
Then I saw the kayakers in front of me and I yelled so loud for help I
was hoarse for two days. They rushed towards to us and pulled us to
safety. My trip to the riverbank took an interesting turn when Finn the
safety Kayaker turned to me where I was hanging to his kayak and said:
"You have to let me go now." I knew I had to comply as this meant we
were having an encounter with a whirlpool. As soon as I let him go I was
sucked under and I wish I had a recording of the gurgling sound I heard
myself make while stuck in the whirlpool. When the whirlpool ejected me
to the surface a rope appeared in front of me as by magic. This was
thrown from the guys on the cargo boat. They pulled me in and one of the
guys patted me on the back and said: "You went down for a long time."
After this we all worked together to salvage the situation and get
everybody back on the raft where they belong and tackle the next rapids
in the Jaws series. And that whirlpool? Finn told me later that it was
at least 15 meters wide. Holy crap.
The last two days were pretty quiet but I liked those days as well as it
gave us all a time to chat, cement our friendship and enjoy the beauty
of Nepal.
Team FORWARD! From the left: Sanji, Jon Thorsteinsson (me), Gudjon
Magnusson, Raju the guide, Ralph Boelzner and Lee Stokes. We are mates
for life.
Finally, we opted for a flight back from the "take out" point of Chatra
which involves a two hour crazy drive through the countryside and an
hour long flight back to Kathmandu. We flew with
Buddha Air
which was just as uneventful and smooth as you want a flight to be. The
alternative was a 16 hour ride on a bus. We were glad we took the
flight. We came to the Shanker Hotel, hugged the water toilet and took
extra long showers. The morning after we revisited Buddha Air and joined
them on a mountain flight to see Mt. Sagarmatha (or Mt. Everest as it
is known in the west.
Mt. Sagarmatha or Mt. Everest on the left.
What to bring on a rafting trip to Nepal
- Sun Screen and after sun lotion
- Bug repellent
- After bite lotion
- Baseball cap to wear under your helmet to screen your face from the sun
- Thin dry fit long sleeved sweater to wear on the river to shield
yourself from the sun (GRG issues a jacket but it got a bit hot
sometimes)
- Dry fit pants to wear on the river, again to shield yourself from the scorching sun
- Imodium in case you get a stomach flu
- Carbohydrate drink mix or energy gel like long distance runners use (in case of stomach flu)
- Copy of your passport and insurance documents
Booking a rafting company in Nepal
Be careful when deciding upon a company and a trip. Make sure that the
company is reputable and they care about safety and know what they are
doing.
This includes the following:
1. Enough safety kayakers who are experienced and certified in river rescue
2. They are insured
3. Have been in business for a long time and have a good safety record
4. Have the proper gear
5. Safety isn´t just about rescuing in big rapids. It is also about
being able to run a proper camp on a river beach in the jungle or next
to village. This means taking hygine seriously and being aware of the
risk of theft which is inevitable when bunch of tourists with priceless
cameras and stuff show up next to an impoverished village. The guides
also need to be proficient with first aid, for example it is necessary
to clean and bandage all small wounds or cuts immediately to avoid
infections
Disclosure: I am not affliliated with GRG Adventure Kayaking in any
way but both Chrissy and Maila are friends with me on Facebook. I would
without a doubt use GRG again should I return to Nepal for rafting or
hiking.
Ziggy wakes up looks around and says, “Where are we at?” It’s 6:45 in
the morning and nobody answers him. We have been driving for about 16
hours and have entered the Karnali Zone, the largest district in Nepal
at roughly 5,000 square miles and the country’s most un-inhabited and
remote region. We stop at a small village, the first we have seen for
some time, and rub the sleep out of our eyes. Joints creak to life.
Weariness gets lifted from bodies and floats away with each successive
movement. We eat chickpea curry, hardboiled eggs, fried bread, and black
tea with milk. We are four more hours from the put-in.
As we near the river the road becomes steeper and steeper. After
cresting a ridge, we look down at a ribbon of blue-green water. This is
our first glimpse of the Karnali. Moments later the bus lurches to the
side; our first flat tire. We walk for a while as the tire is repaired
and examine the snakes, frogs, and unidentifiable bugs that are smashed
on the road, crouching low to get a better look to at the florescent
colors and black blood of the road kill.
Day 2
We awake to tea and coffee as we watch the sun rise over the rocks of
the canyon wall, which stretches slowly towards us. We are getting our
systems in place, beginning the rhythm for the trip. A substantial
amount of dew makes everything quite wet and today will be the first of
many mornings where the team pulls tents and sleeping bags out to dry in
the sun. Luckily the days are hot. Maila, our Nepalese coach for the
semester and owner of GRG kayaking, the company helping us organize this
trip, is pacing the sand near the river. He points out paw tracks.
“Tigers?” I ask, knowing that this is a notorious zone for these
endangered kings of the forest. “Maybe a small one,” says Maila.
On day three we awake to a crowd of children who have come out of the
hills to watch us go about our morning. We conduct classes under
watchful and curious eyes, eyes that have not had much opportunity for
learning. In 1971 the Karnali basin had a literacy rate of 7.5%. While
significant change has taken place, that percentage today is somewhere
around 50%. I wonder what these locals think about us, with our books
and notepads, sipping coffee and discussing apartheid South Africa and
graphs in Algebra.
Day three has some of the most consistent whitewater on the entire
run and the smiles are permanently drawn on all of our faces. We break
up the action by stopping in a small village for tea and suddenly become
transformed to what life was like 100 years ago.
Our Nepalese guides fish with nets from the kayaks, but only manage
to catch a few sardine-like specimens that soon get dissolved into the
dhal bhat. The next morning we slowly make our way down river to the
next camp. We pull our kayaks onto shore and begin unloading the rafts,
laying dry bags and gear out onto blue tarps so they don’t become
encrusted with sand. Some students begin setting up the kitchen, while
others start digging a hole for the communal outhouse. Just like that we
realize we have hit full-Karnali mode and all of us have think hard to
remember what life was like before.
On this night we held a memorial ceremony for Peter and Max, carving
their names into a pumpkin before launching it into the river. Both
would have enjoyed this trip and we still don’t understand why they had
to go.
The Nepalese guides go into the village and get us a goat, which they
set about making curry with. This is our first fresh meat in some time
and the feast they prepare is glorious: Goat curry, rice, lentils,
pasta, white sauce, and fruit. Sitting around the campfire we swap
stories of our favorite moments on the canyon and enjoy the stars, the
people, and the night around us.
The process of loading the boats begins and electronics are dug out
from the bus. Everything gets tied onto the roof and we change into
“street” clothes. Suddenly the pivotal moment occurs, which firmly,
definitively, and un-gracefully pulls us out of whatever river trance we
may still be in, and that sweet, delicious feeling of having escaped
the frantic motion that is the outside world comes crashing down as
Chase receives a bar of Wi-Fi on his cell phone. Without warning it
comes: Obama has been elected, Detroit got swept in the Series, a
hurricane devastated New Jersey and the Ducks won a shoot-out against a
very talented USC team.
