Christmas in Kathmandu

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Carlsberg don't do Whitewater rafting - but if they did, it would probably be the best Whitewater rafting in the world.
Well I'll pick up where Clare left off last time. We headed for the hills to do our whitewater rafting for a two day expedition, accompanied by our friend John from England, who we've been knocking around with since last week. A 3 hour bus journey from Kathmandu west along the Trisuli (sp?) river took us to our departure point. We all got changed into shorts an T shirts and were given the standard safety equipment and briefed by our guide, Krish. At about 11am on Thursday we all set sail along the river on a calm stretch, each of us not having a clue what to expect. Pretty soon the looming sound of ferocious water in the distance got closer and louder. Then boom ! We were in he middle of a class 4 rapid, raft being hurled up and down and around by the strong waves; all along Krish is screaming instructions -"ALL FORWARD!!!" or "LEFT FORWARD, RIGHT BACK!!!" desparately trying to keep us all in the boat at the same time. It was the most fun experience I have had in a long long time. The rapids are spread about 10 to 15 minutes apart and in between we had time to look around and marvel at the spectacular scenery of the foothills of the Himalaya. It was unbelievable. It was such an adrenaline buzz. The rapids all have names like 'Pinball' or 'Shock' or 'Washing machine' - It's not hard to figure out why. The rafting on the first day lasted for about 3 hours and we travelled about 25km along the river. We then set up camp on a beach near a corner of the river. Campfire, food and beer were last on the busy day's itinerary, and great night's craic was had by all. Next morning we were up at the crack of dawn for more of the same. Day 2 was alot more relaxed though with not as many rapids as the first, so most of our 'cruise' was spent relaxing in the sun. After a few hours we stopped, got changed, ate lunch and Krish got us on a bus back to Kathmandu. When I say 'on' a bus, that's precisely what I mean - John, Clare and I all got up on top of the bus for the ride of our lives, swirling round corners and rolling up and down valleys and hills through again, some of the most awesome scenery in the world. All the time accompanied by two goats clinging on for dear life.
Last night, Christmas eve, was spent in a bar called the Tom and Jerry bar with our rafting guides and a load of other tourists and backpackers. It was great fun and we eventually rolled through the hotel entrance at 4.30 this morning. Queue the hangover from Hell.
So I'll wrap up by saying a very merry Christmas to you all and how we wish we were in your company right now. But take care and have a Happy new year too.

Gareth & Clare

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Comments

[Andy Cole]

And a merry X-mas to you too!
Hope the beer is not getting the best of you Gar! The folks in Chicago have been wondering where in the world you have ended up, but this is a bit of a suprise! Hope you are having a grand old time, and I'm certain you are, so take care, and I'll try to post again later on too. Have a great new year, and try not to scale Everest as rusult of a massive session. Later!