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Published: November 23rd 2005
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The day has finally arrived ! We are terribly excited about the prospect of going white-water-rafting in Tibet. Hopefully, we might even get a T-shirt to prove it. Chris, the Australian chap in charge of the company, came to pick us up in his lovely lime green jeep. He is a terribly nice chap. It took him three years to set up the company, get the permits and authorisations to operate. 51% of his business is owned by a large Chinese company. He has to renew his visa every two months, a scary situation considering the huge investment that it must be, importing the boats and all the kit from the U.S and Canada.
About an hour and a half away from Lhasa, on a surprisingly smooth road, we saw the boats, all ready and waiting for us; there was also a gathering crowd of locals, who had never seen large inflatable rafts and wondered what on earth were the wet suits, life jackets and helmets for. We all turned up in good spirits, ready for the day ahead. We greatly amused the locals by trying desperately to wriggle in our wetsuits, usually putting them back to front and making
complete fools of ourselves; the girls all tried to hide behind a blanket which kept falling. The local village thought it was all great fun, far better than cinema and the circus put together. They cheered us on with enthusiasm, pulling their tongues at us whenever we looked. The kids joined in the fun by trying on our life jackets and helmets (once they had ascertained that it was not live by prodding them with sticks), they even tried some of our own clothes on. Eventually, the traffic on the nearby road stopped to allow the drivers and passengers to partake in the spectacle. After feeling terribly uncomfortable, hot and eventually resembling a yeti, we finally got in the water, took our positions and started rafting. I was at the front of our boat with Bene leading the group into the biggest rapids we could find. Our guide was a kind Nepali chap named Ram. He was slightly concerned about our constant threat of throwing him in the water but smiled throughout the adventure.
The white water rafting was extraordinary; it was easy enough to do with the highest and steepest rapids being grade IV, most being grade I
and II. Ram was an excellent leader, instructing us what to do and giving good and clear commands. Safety was very important and they had it all covered with Kayaks in the water to rescue those that fell in.
The views from the river were unbelievable: the river runs deep in a valley and we were surrounded by high, abrupt mountains with the occasional flat terrain. There were wild horses and Yaks drinking by the river, intrigued by our approach with their shepherds and families coming to see what the silly foreigners had now invented. They had probably never even seen a boat on the river before, let alone a large inflatable plastic one with 8 scary, screaming foreigners in it, dressed to impress. We made a brief stop for lunch and a few stops for hot drinks on the way. We got on very well with the rest of the crew on the boat and made a good assaulting team against the other boats, even managing to pull a few Americans in the water. As the day ended, all those that has not yet been in the water were pushed in. I managed to push Bene in but
he got his revenge and got me later. My great triumph was getting Ram in the water; it was all fun until he got rescued by the other boat and we found ourselves guideless. He thankfully soon rejoined our ranks.
It was an incredible experience, which left us begging for more; sadly, the lime green jeep was keen to make the return trip to town.
It is an expensive sport but one that is rewarding and in countries such as Tibet we see things that we could not possibly see otherwise. We also have the privilege of entertaining the local population of Tibetans and Yaks.
On the way back, Chris entertained us with some facts of life in Tibet: he was not allowed to buy or rent a flat and had to stay at the hotel but he could stay in one hotel no more than one and a half months. He was allowed to buy a car or jeep but not a powerful one and, furthermore, he could not drive it. He told us of the new fire station which had 3 fire engines to cover the town of Lhasa but 175 people to fill in
papers and apply stamps where they thought they could be needed.
Chris gave us (against financial contribution) a T-Shirt of his company, as we had hoped.
Evening in a local restaurant and bed early to have a night filled with dreams of rafting down the Tibetan rivers.
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alscyl
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Hello, I'm french. Sorry for my bad langage... ;) I Like your picture "the rafting adventure is starting". Coult I put it on my blog with a link for yoyr blog? Thanks! http://alscyl.hautetfort.com