Wild Wild West

Last year when I was in Nepal I went on the Karnali River and really enjoyed it. Karnali was on my hit list this year and I randomly bumped into Stan, a South African guide who I met the first time 3 years ago in Zambia then again last year in Chile.

Stan was trip-leading on the Karnali so it was a perfect option so I went with him and Equator Expeditions. Another factor which also shows what a small world it is was one of the kayakers called Patrick actually did some trips for the company I was working at this summer in Norway!

Young girls wanting their picture taken at the put-in

Most of us had a 2 day bus ride to the put-in and some others flew into which meant they just had less than a day ride to the put-in. The hotel we stayed in on the way was pretty dodgey but I actually expected it to be a million times worse as most places out in Western Nepal are pretty dire. I shared my hotel room the first night with an American girl who was absolutely mortifided by our room and all the bugs inhabiting it. I just figured if I closed my eyes and I couldn’t see them they weren’t really there!

The bus ride to the put-in took a little longer than usual because the last section of road was so muddy from the monsoon that the bus couldn’t really clear some parts of it. We arrived in the dark so we ate dhal bhat at one of the local establishments and slept on the beach with out thermarests and sleeping bags.

Small child watching us pack the rafts for the river

This photo shows the elder on higher ground

The next morning we had a large group of onlookers as we pumped up the rafts and got ready to set off for our first day on the Karnali River. The first day had a lot of rapids but is not as intense as Day 2 or 3 of the trip. The river was also higher than last year so some sections were more boily and others were washed out slightly. I guess compared to last year my kayaking has improved a lot without realising it myself because I was no longer apprehensive or uncertain of the river like I was last year and was able to stay out the front and enjoy the river without feeling nervous.

After the first day on the river Joel ( a 20 year old from Tassie) and I thought it would be hilarious to hide the jerry full of rum and pretend we knew nothing about it. We predicted the loss of rum might cause a state of panic and we were right. About 20min later after finding a good hiding spot Patrick came out asking everyone where the rum was and Stan and Patrick came to the conclusion that it must have been forgotten at the put-in. Joel then subtublly put the rum back with the cordial and water and the rest of us pretended that nothing had happened and it was priceless to then see the look on Patrick and Stan’s faces when they realised the rum was there.

Maybe it would have been better to have kept the rum hidden that night as we all drank a fair bit and pretty much all of the rum which was meant to last a week was drunk the first night camping on the river!

Day 2 on the river we started off with a substantially large rapid called Sweetness & Light. I remember running it down the middle last year but because the water was high we ended up all doing a sneak down the right (which wasn’t really a sneak as the line itself was fairly pushy). Jail House Rock was also another highlight for the day and had a few of our knees shaking but the rapid was way easier than it looked when we scouted it!

These 3 photos show Stan taking wicked lines down 'Jail House Rock'

Som preparing yet another great lunch on the river

Day 3 on the river was the most demanding. We started off with God House. This is the rapid last year where I got smashed in a pour over and broke my paddle! This year everyone went fine but Arun the guide of the gear raft decided to portage as he didn’t want to risk flipping and losing all the food and gear. To portage a raft like this it involves attaching a rope to the raft and then holding it from the bank and slowly letting the raft drift down the easier of the two banks of the rapid.

AK taking a sneak down river right of 'God House'

Entry to 'God House'

Entry to 'God House'

Stan taking a great line, missing the huge munchy hole at the bottom of 'God House'

Days 4-6 on the river were fairly easy water, a lot of flat which made the clients on the raft happy as they were able to lay back while Stan guided and Stan had even bought his speakers on the raft so they were able to listen to some music while they relaxed.

AK getting ready for another day on the river

Som relaxing before getting ready for a relaxing day on the gear raft

AK leading the raft down 'Stuffed Pig Surprise'

David boofing the bottom hole on 'Stuffed Pig Surprise', Day 4 of the Karnali

David relaxing on Day 4 on the river

At the end of the trip two of the clients from Scotland and Stan flew back to Kathmandu and the rest of us spent a night in Bardia National Park. We all had an elephant ride in the park but it was a little different to how I expected it to be. The elephants had wooden platforms in which 3 of us sat on top of on each elephant. We didn’t see any animals in the park apart from deer and the guides weren’t very informative about the park or talkative either which was a let down. I remember going to quite a few parks in Eastern Africa and even when we didn’t see any animals the guides would talk about the animals and also give a lot of information about the parks and plants in it which was very interesting.

Joel putting on a juggling act for the kids on at our last camp for the Karnali River

Little girls watching Joel juggling on our last day of camp on the Karnali

As you can imagine with the group we had on this trip we all went out and drank a fair bit in Tom & Jerry’s the night we got back to Kathmandu before we all parted our separate ways in Nepal.