Rafting Down The Blue... Oops! Grey Trishuli!

Trishuli River

I love adventure and travelling if both happen at the same time I love them the most. I was thinking about rafting quite a long time then, and my craze for rafting increased even more when my husband along with his colleagues went for rafting some weeks back. I evoked my colleagues in the office for rafting, some of them liked the idea and eventually, we went rafting last Saturday. We enjoyed it a lot. Everyone was excited and afraid as it was the first time for all of us. In my case excitement level was higher than anything else, exactly similar to when I did a Bungee Jump some years back in The Last Resort. It was a combination of real thrill and excitement. I can experience the thrill of being on the hanging bridge at a height of 160 meters above the Bhotekoshi River Gorge even today. It is the scariest thing you can do and the best feeling once you have done it. It is equally fun and terrifying. As the crew were tying me up with the cord and safety belts I was listening to the roar of Bhotekoshi, as if she was challenging me to jump, at the same time one of the crew members with the camera asked me ‘are you afraid Umang?’, he was taking my video, I smiled at him and said ‘I am more excited than afraid.’ listening that from me, he smiled back. They took me to the cockpit, and asked me to extend my hands as if I was ready to float and counted one…. Two… Bungee…, I jumped. Wooo! It was a lifetime experience.

Posing in front of the camera before the journey begins

Here begins our journey of adventure

It was 31-03-2012, we all gathered in our office at around 6:30AM; a bus from the travel agency came to pick us up from our office. The three-hour bus ride ahead provides an opportunity for learning; all of us were excited and happy to talk about that. We reached Charaudi, our rafting spot. We changed, had breakfast, applied sunscreens to avoid the sunburns and put on life jackets and helmets for safety. All of us were given a paddle to row the boat. Our guide gave us a short orientation class. He explained about commands and safety measures we need to follow while rowing the boat. As the guide was explaining the safety measures I realized that many of my colleagues were turning pale and blue, because our guide was talking about each and every possible consequence of drowning and breaking heads and legs. In the meantime "I don't want to scare you. I just want to prepare you," said our guide who offers these potentially lifesaving pointers:

-If someone falls off the boat into the river (or rather, when someone falls in), pull them out by the shoulder straps of their life vests - not by their arms, and certainly never by the head or neck.

-Listen to your guide's instructions. He is the one in charge of the boat and gives the rowing commands, of which there are four: forward, fast forward, back, right back (in which the right side of the boat rows backwards while the front rows forward, causing the boat to turn to the left) and the opposite command, left-back, turning the boat to the right.

-If you get thrown out of the boat and find yourself getting swept toward an obstacle in the water, a fallen log, say, then whatever you do, don't try to swim under the obstruction, as you could get entangled or pinned down.

-If jettisoned, assume the safety position, floating on your back. Stay calm and keep your eyes open and your mouth shut. People who panic tend to do the opposite.

We rarely got a chance to take photos during rafting as the camera was in another boat :(

Finally, we jumped into the boat, we took our seats. "Okay, let's move out. Forward!" he yelled, and we paddle out in a column of three blue and yellow rafts. Within fifteen minutes, the rafts hit the first major patch of rapids and lurch violently. Two of our group of nine are tossed from the raft like ragdolls. The raft is still bobbing and spinning around as we pull them out of the water, one by one. The excitement had begun. Everyone got back into position as we continued our semi-controlled descent down the raging corridor. Rapids upon rapids awaited, they were churning and gurgling like boiling water but were cold. As the boat cut through the water, waves broke over the bows, drenching everyone. The only thing left dry in the reporting boat was the camera equipment, stowed in the waterproof box on the raft. Names of some of the rapids were- Ladies Delights, Upset, Landslide, Butterfly and Tiger/Chicken Heart.

We stopped here for lunch, we were delighted to have food as we were very hungry after hours of rowing. :)

As I noticed with my friends, the first rapid experience was scary but it was fun as they became more used to it. After experiencing 2-3 rapids all of us were more deliberately waiting for rapids to come and drench us. As the rapids would hit us everyone would scream with thrill and excitement. We spent about three hours on the raft filled with fun, fear, excitement and thrill. After this three hours long aquatic roller coaster experience, with enough sore muscles to keep an army of massage therapists busy for days, we arrive around a bend in the river to the bank for an inviting buffet lunch waiting for us on a sandy bank. Our group has endured the whitewater with no injuries, but with memories of a lifetime.

Thank you, guys.
God bless :)