The Bhote Kosi

We woke up early with the sun penetrating the flimsy shell of our tent but, unwilling to go through the rigmarole of washing and packing just yet, we lay there in the cosy warmth and chatted excitedly about the day ahead. The Bhote Kosi is, reputedly, one of the best short rafting trips in the world. With a gradient of 15m per kilometre (80ft per mile for you oldies!) it experiences high flow rates and the upper section is dominated by a series of continual class 4 rapids, with continual class 3s filling most of the time in between. This means constant, energetic paddling work and necessitates a solid team and a guide with excellent knowledge of the river. Our company, Ultimate Descents, over the years had performed all of the first commercial ascents of Nepal’s big rivers – meaning that Mani (the senior guide for the whole company) was the best man we could have asked for. With such continual fast water, it’s almost inevitable that somebody will go in – but with a well-trained team of safety kayakers and the excellent briefing we’d received the previous day, there was no reason to fear that anybody would get into any serious trouble.

The good ship 'Bishnu' and her able crew

Excited and brimming with anticipation, we eventually roused ourselves and managed to tuck into a tasty and filling breakfast. We packed up and stowed our gear on board the bus before carefully dragging our rafts down the steep access to the river – just below a churning Class 5 rapid.

Wet 'n' wild!

For all our excited anticipation, we were not disappointed one jot. The natural high of guiding your raft through the boiling waters and jagged rocks is definitely the most exhilarating experience I’ve enjoyed on my trip. We worked really well together and Mani’s knowledge and experience ensured that we never got stuck or rolled by the powerful water. At one point Al was tossed into the water by an unexpected jolt as we cleared the first of a series of difficult cascades. Our team’s response was so rapid that he was back in the craft and paddling furiously before we’d even reached the next drop and we continued through without a hitch.

One of the 'lesser' crews gets stuck on a rock...haha!

There were three points where we were forced to disembark and walk, while the guides and kayakers carefully led our rafts through some dangerous 4+ and 5 rapids but we were not in the least upset by this as we watched, even these experienced guys struggling to bring the craft through and back to shore.
The day ended far too soon and we were all disappointed (although well and truly knackered!) to be clambering ashore as the river slowed at the hydro-electric dam. My plans to return to Nepal for a longer period would mean that I’d get chance to raft this exciting river during the monsoon…and there are plenty more rivers in Nepal that I’ll be gleefully checking out when I come back.

Taking a breather

The bus ride back to Kathmandu seemed to take forever and it was long after sunset when we finally crawled into town. I’d really enjoyed hanging out with my boat crew and, as they were all staying in Thamel, I suggested that we all meet up for dinner at Road House. When I proclaimed the virtues of the excellent pizza, delicious cheesecake and ‘real’ coffee, everyone jumped at the idea – so we all disappeared to freshen up and sort out our (mostly wet) kit.
Back at the Great Wall, I realised that now was the time to get things off my chest with Anna. Initially, she took the whole thing very calmly and said that she could totally understand why I’d been a bit freaked out by her slightly bunny-boiling antics. In the gentlest terms, I explained that I didn’t think it was a good idea for us to see each other any more and, thankfully, as it was too late for her to return to her homestay, she suggested taking a different room at the hotel. I’d have felt awkward sharing my room with her after all of this…and I wanted to get a good night’s sleep instead of spending half the night discussing the ins and outs of the situation. I was glad to have got things straightened out (the more so as I could see from Anna’s eventually tearful remonstrations that she really had become far too involved) and, after she’d dried her eyes and showered and changed, we went off to meet the others.
Dinner was fun (although only Joel seemed to have a decent appetite) and we all swapped e-mail addresses and promised to keep in touch. I mentioned to Jo and Tiff that I would be in Singapore at some point in June and that it would be nice, if they were around, to meet up and have a few drinks. Jo’s car-parking business and Tiff’s junior doctor hours kept them both very busy and a little unsure of their schedules so we agreed to sort it out a little nearer the time. We went our separate ways and I managed to avoid any long post-mortem with Anna, getting early to bed and eagerly anticipating Annie’s arrival in the morning.

The Bishnu crew at The Roadhouse Cafe (from left: Tiff, Jo, Me, Anna, Joel and Al)