Nepal - Highlights of a Himalayan Adventure.

Boasting the highest mountains on the planet and rivers that rage from the Himalayan peaks all the way to the Indian plains... Nepal is crying out to the white-water junkie.
Colin Irvine set aside two months in post monsoon autumn and embarked on a grand adventure in the high Himalaya! Here are some of the highlights...

Week 1:
Kathmandu is a crazy place - colourful and chaotic. I checked into a hotel and went searching for some river bums. Soon found some old friends from past African adventures and formed a two-pronged strategy: (1) go mad in Kathmandu and (2) hit some scary rivers.

After some bad behaviour in the big city we headed for the Bhote Kosi. Running at over twice the guidebook level, the run provided several hours of fast and furious class 4/5 action - a great start to the trip.

Week 2
Keen to take on a multi-day classic while levels were high, I scored some safety-kayaking work on the Sun Kosi. 270km of big volume class 3/4, spread over 9 days. We camped on white beaches, played football with the kids and drank millet beer with the village elders. This was holiday boating at its very best, far away from western hassles. Got stung by some Maoist rebels on our second night though - a group of armed men entered the camp looking for a “donation”. Faced with a tough choice between fresh chicken and men with guns, we paid up!

Week 3
Chitwan National Park in the Terai region was my next destination. I joined some backpackers and went searching for tigers in the grassland. Didn’t find any tigers, but did get charged by rhino, twice. If angry rhinos aren’t your cup of tea, and if you don’t mind a very sore arse, then seeking refuge on top of an elephant is one option. Chilling by the river is another - sipping cocktails as the setting sun casts a purple hue over the distant Himalayas... happy days!

Week 4
In grave danger of chilling my trip away, I blazed a trail for Pokhara. and searched for a solid team to go exploring with. A renegade bunch of Frenchmen were looking strong so I scraped my brain for leaving cert vocab and headed into the Annapurna range for a paddling and linguistic adventure.

We started with some waterfalls on the Burungdi Khola, then hiked high on the Kali Gandaki. Not in the guide, we weren’t sure what to expect. Heavy overnight rain and a rapidly rising dark brown river just added to our fears. We got stuck in nonetheless and took on some hard and continuous class 5 paddling, with several arduous portages. After 4 days of adventure we returned to Pokhara to refuel on steak, beer and hot showers...

Week 5
Next up was the Modi Khola where a 2 day hike had us at the put in of a world classic. Even an overnight visit from the local Maoists wasn’t enough to spoil the adventure. We bargained hard, cut their initial demands in half and got a receipt to show to rebels further up the valley - civilised extortion, excellent!

The river itself was steep, fast and highly technical. Lots of class 5, lots of class 4, no portages, stunning scenery...we boofed and bounced our way down over two days. Top whitewater, all to ourselves, high in the Himalayas - for me, this is what our sport is all about!

Weeks 6 & 7
An R&R period back in Pokhara quickly turned into a toilet marathon as I got hit by some Delhi belly. On recovery I found myself with yet another new crew and days blurred into weeks as we bussed to, hiked up and paddled down some classic runs. We used Pokhara as a base camp - living cheap but feeling rich!
In mid November I headed for Kathmandu with Brian Keogh who had visited Nepal in 1994 and was determined to rekindle his wilder youth. “Dancing girls”, rickshaw races, pick up trucks, breaking curfews, army patrols, dodgy pimps, violent Scotsmen and a hippie musician... all contributed to a night of mayhem that I can only explain by saying: “visit Kathmandu... and bring Keoghser”!

Week 8
The Peak UK challenge was next on the hit list - a superb event, up on the Bhote Kosi. Each competitor did an extreme slalom, a downriver race and a rodeo - all in the same boat. Peak provided lots of prizes for the Nepali competitors and the beach parties rocked till the early hours...

After the competition I hooked up with Herve Amalbert , LoLo de Lyon.. and Andrei the Random Russian and headed for a section of river near Tibet. Riding the roof of the bus we caught glimpses of the rapids deep in the gorge below and the stomachs began to tighten. The first day was intense, with steep, powerful class 5 water - probably the most difficult stretch of my trip. Exhausted, we got off the river at dusk, and searched for somewhere to stay. Some pitiful Nepali phrases and colourful hand gestures were enough to make an arrangement - a local family would give us food and a bed for the night.

We nearly lost Andrei the Russian that night. Caught by a bout of explosive diarrhoea, he was emptying his guts on the side of the road (there were no toilets in the village), when he lost his balance and staggered back, only to find that he was at the top of a 100m cliff. A close call for sure, for no-one wants that story on their gravestone.

Week 9
I stayed on the Bhote Kosi till early December, running and re-running the upper sections with Andrei the Russian, until one day we decided to make a change. We decided to go hill-walking!!

Since we couldn’t afford guides, porters or even the official trekking permit (Andrei actually had to sell his sleeping bag and some of his clothes by the end) we disguised ourselves as rafting clients and gave the police patrol the slip. We couldn’t afford to pay the rebels again either, so we photocopied an old receipt and produced some acting fit for Bollywood. It worked - and we legged it to the 4300m Annapurna Base Camp and back in just five days.

The scenery was stunning, the walk gruelling, the people fantastic, the sunrises enchanting, and the food disgusting. In short, it was one of the highlights of my trip. Standing at the foot of a glacier, surrounded by Himalayan peaks being bathed in the golden glow of the rising sun, is an experience that defies description. Besides, I got a genuine offer of marriage at a Maoist dance in Sinuwa - but that’s another story...

Week 10
Some days later, back in Kathmandu, we prepared for one last adventure. A long day on top of a bus had us back at the Upper Bhote Kosi gorges. A cold, uncomfortable night in an old shed had us ready for action at daybreak.

We started well enough but that quickly changed when Dave took a ferocious beating, and was forced to swim. Andrei and myself fought hard to perform rescue on a long and steep class 5 rapid but it took several hours to retrieve the boat, which became pinned. Ropes and pulleys were used in countless combinations until it eventually came free... only for the rope to snap and the boat run off downriver again... aghh!!

I ran some interesting lines that day, chasing a battered kayak down a very steep river. The final inventory revealed 1 broken boat, hundreds of euro worth of lost gear, 3 severely knackered paddlers and the imminent departure of my flight!

I made the plane, but Nepal had not let me go without a lesson in humility. Her rivers had provided me with countless adventures, timeless memories and a harsh reminder that steep rivers can be every bit as savage as they are beautiful. Her people had welcomed me with open arms and warm hearts. As the plane left the runway I was certain of just one thing - I would return.

CI

Many thanks to Clive Williamson for his excellent photography and to Chris Carnegie for his equally excellent shots... and his demonstration (right) of the hazards of whitewater kayaking!!