Whitewater rafting on the Bhote Khosi River

The river and a village, on the way to the campsite.
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At first I was abit worried that I had been ripped off, because my pickup was a little bit late... but once we made it to the meeting site my fears were relieved.  After a little orientation we left to walk to the bus which would take us three hours outside of Kathmandu through some stunning scenery (even with the smoke from the burning garbage obscuring the view).  Its quite a shock to see the living conditions of the rural Nepalis,  with most living in a state of abject poverty.  Even stranger to see is the continual ads for whiskey and cigarettes painted on the sides of the run down brick buildings that they live in.  The road was very narrow and our bus driver deserves credit for navigationg it at the speed he did...the horn on the bus was a ridiculous two tone unit that could almost play a song, if it didn't sound like nails on a blackboard.  Turns out that the horn is a multi-purpose tool for passing, saying thankyou, hello, and a dozen other uses... which meant that we heard it a lot!

The Borderlands Adventure Camp,where we spent the night.
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Once we arrived at the first drop in point we had to help the guides inflate the rafts, and let me tell you that pumping up two huge whitewater rafts in 28C heat is a real chore!  After listening to our lead guide painfully try to explain how to operate the raft in heavily accented english we finally got on the river, and all proceeded to go swimming to cool off.  The fist leg of the journey was pretty tame... due mostly to the low water levels.  But we had lots of fun,  we stopped at a large rock outcropping and the guide, his name was Kamel told us us that this was the jumping rock, meaning that we all had to jump off it into the river.  Some were hesitant to leap off the 15 foot rock but eventually we all made it into the water.  The river valley was truly beautiful, with the new growth on the trees coming out in the most incredible shed of green I've ever seen.  I wish I could have take pictures but was worried about my camera getting wet, even in the sealed container on board.  The river valley is fantastic way to see rural Nepal and the natural beauty of the mountains.

The guide's daughter, she was a blast and totally fearless on the river! I think she was seven years old but soooo tiny!
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After the first days rafting was finished, we pulled out and made for the Bordelands Adventure Camp where we would be staying the night.  Its called Borderlands because we were only 16km from the Nepal/Tibet border.  The camp was drop dead gorgeous with flowers everywhere and even hot water showers  (solar heated of course).  That night we were told that it was Bhudda's birthday and that we would have a small celebration.  The food was amazing! A delicous blend of East/West with Tandoori chicken, mashed potatoes, fried vegetables, rice and salad.  We spent the night hanging out and playing lots or cards. LOTS of cards.  Our group was a real laid back bunch, with the UK, Sweden, Australia and Canada (me!) being represented.

Looking down the river in the morning from the campsite... just gorgeous. Arrgh! I can't rotate the pics.
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The next day we were told that this was the most difficult part of the river to raft and that we would be portaging around certain rapids, called "Frog in a blender" and "The great wall".  The river was definitly more interesting, but a far cry from the class V rapids that we were promised.  It was probably more like a low class IV, again due to the low water levels but we still had heaps of fun.  I particularly enjoyed waving at the young kids along the river banks who were shouting "Namaste!" meaning hello/goodbye.  The only downside to the trip was passing by the villages that had dumped their garbage over the edge of the riverbank forming a large stinking heap.  The people don't have any waste collection services or anyplace to put the garbage, which is mostly plastic from the new food wrappers and other goods.  Suffice to say that we didn't do much swimming after that.  Once the trip was finished we packed up and headed back to town,  most of us somehow sleeping on the loud, bumpy bus with the horn blaring the whole way.