Rafting the Sun Kosi!!!

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After a quick first night's sleep in Kathmandu, we got up early on Fri. Oct. 12th to head to the put-in for the Sun Kosi (River of Gold) rafting trip. This amazing eight day adventure got off to a shaky start when our bus ran out of gas while heading up a hill in the center of KTM...we had to roll backwards in neutral through the city to a gas station and interestingly enough, no one looked at us like this was a strange and unusual occurrence. After a wild three hour bus ride, we finally made it to the put-in where the rest of the trip consisted of beautiful scenery, sightings of many exotic animals, boats flipping in huge whitewater, showers underneath waterfalls, and lots of curious villagers at our campsites. Each day started with a delicious riverside breakfast, complete with coffee and tea. We'd try to be on the water by 10:00 or so and after lots of huge rapids and plenty of flat water to soak it all in, around 4:30, we'd set up camp for the night on a white sandy beach. The boys (all of our guides from our outfitter, Drift Nepal) made us delicious meals every evening and we even got to sample some local specialties....hot rum punch and a traditional fireside song and dance. Although we came prepared with our Thermarests (inflatable mattresses), warm sleeping bags, water purification tablets, etc. we found the one thing we really needed was a thesaurus because beautiful, amazing, and breathtaking were all over used by the end of Day 1. Hopefully these pictures will give you a bit of an idea!!!!

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Photos

Drift Nepal
Amber and Anna in front of the Drift Nepal check-in office, downtown Kathmandu.

Marc and the TaTa (name of bus)
Our trusty rafting bus to the Sun Kosi...started off rough, but she made it!!!

Put In for the SunKosi
Our entrance to the 'River of Gold'. (A little different from our put-ins on the Arkansas!)

Camp Spot Night 1
Our first white sandy beach. Although it rained on us at every camp site, it was hard to complain with the soft sand between your toes in October!!!

Another day on the Sun Kosi
...trying to capture the magnitude of this huge river!

Village Girls
We stopped for lunch the second day at a small village and encountered these two beautiful Nepali girls.

AAE helmets around the world!
The ladies from the village on Day 3 were extremely curious about us and our equipment...we tried to teach them safety first!!

Mikey & his Nepali Kids
These kids thought Mikey was the coolest!!! Apparently having a 'tan' wasn't in the qualifications for being cool!!!

Kalu Kayaking
Kalu is testing his 'big water' kayaking skills on the mighty Sun Kosi.

Nepali Boys
We tried to stay out of the villagers way as much as possible...this was a good fishing spot for them.

Mikey's First Shower
It took a couple of days, but he was just looking for the right spot!

Rainbow
We took one day off of rafting to just sit in the sand, read, and go for some 'side-hikes'. After a quick rain shower we were all rewarded with this gorgeous rainbow.

Waterslide Fun
The boys always found ways to keep us entertained! This 'boater's waterslide' was a big hit!

The Boys
Here are our amazing guides!! From left to right, Kalu, Kamal, Uttar, Subas, and Kumar...who wouldn't have a blast with these guys?!?

Team AAE
Timing was perfect as it ended up that 8 of us from AAE could go on this trip together. From left to right...Mikey, Kalu, Marc, Anna, Amber, Leen, Kay and Spencer in front!