Rolling Down the River in Nepal

Water is an eternal symbol of life, and every time I take a trip where I am comfortably on a boat or water vessel as part of the other travel activities, I truly feel like I’m living. Although I booked the Overseas Adventure Travel trip Nepal and the Mystical Himalayas knowing white water rafting was involved (much more outside my comfort zone!), I still came away from the experience and all the trip’s varied activities feeling very much a part of life and living. Traveling to be outside my comfort zone is appealing to me, and I always return home richer for the experience.

Many people love river rafting. I enjoy a nice gentle float and appreciating the beauty of nature along the way. I waited years to book this trip because there were two days of river rafting on the trip with anywhere from Class one to class three rapids. I am not fond of rapids, but glamping at the Seti River Camp for two nights of the trip as part of the rafting experience sounded wonderful. I love camping near water. And I loved the idea of trekking in Nepal and visiting the small villages along the way. Of course, the cultural experiences on the rest of the trip sounded irresistible. It was my fear of water that was getting in my way.

After researching numerous options, the OAT trip sounded the best. I figured I would hope for a gentle float on the first day of rafting and the Class one rapids would not be too uncomfortable for me. I discovered I could pay a reasonable amount to be driven out of the camp rather than raft in Class three rapids as the program called for, so that was my plan.

 I had deliberately selected Spring for this trip even though I knew it would be hot, but the water levels were low because it was not after the monsoons when water would be coming down from the Himalayan ranges. It did, however, still create a challenging rafting experience. I had not anticipated high rocks in the rapids creating encounters with the low water and the rating crew.

Our group of 15 required three rafts, and a fourth to carry our luggage for the two nights. We met up with some Class two plus rapids according to those in my raft who knew more about rafting then I did. Those in other rafts thought it was more Class one mixed in with a gentle float. It might matter what kind of rafting experience the rafting guides wanted to provide. I hung on for dear life!  It was fun, but getting soaked was not what I was expecting. But I was appropriately dressed in true water shoes and pants which dry quickly. 

I cannot paddle due to an old rotator cuff injury which was not a problem. We had enough people for paddling and the rafting guides really wanted people to enjoy the experience. The scenery was beautiful, but not as breathtaking as I imagined because smoke from wildfires were dominating the landscape. Some were controlled burns or people cooking over wood and catching other dry brush which was causing the wildfires and smoke to continue for days. This level of smoke is common in Nepal in the spring. But the smoky and hazy landscape as we rafted down the river for three hours really muted what would otherwise be beautiful views with clear skies. So, for those who want to enjoy this experience and have a vibrant and unblemished view of the river and the Himalayan range, later in the year would be a better time. The river levels will be higher as well because of run off from the mountains after the Monsoon season. 

We had a nice lunch off the river after the first 40 minutes of rafting, then we rafted two more hours afterwards. I have only completed truly mild and gentle floats down the Colorado River in Page, Arizona. There were mild floats going down the Seti, but I was not expecting to get drenched so often in between the mild floats. The water levels were low and the rocks were high, so some of the rafting crew had to get out of the raft at times to keep us moving by turning the raft in a direction that would flow with the river. I admired their comfort in the water as the rapids came rushing by!

The Seti River Camp is a lovely, glamping site with terrific food and what would normally be beautiful vistas along the river’s edge. At night in my tent cabin with multi-colored prayer flags hanging  outside, I heard a cricket serenade. I slept on the hammock outside of my tent for several hours one afternoon. The fires continued and in the afternoon on the hammock I saw the smoke waft by the back of our campground. But it was all lovely, and our one full day at the camp was a nice mixture of taking a walk along undulating hills and doing nothing. The walk was easy and interesting as we crossed a suspension bridge over the Seti River and saw a few exceedingly small local communities. It was also wonderful to take a walk down the rocky edge of the river and sit on the larger rocks.

When it was time to leave the camp, those rafting the Class three rapids were set to go. We planned to meet up with them then go to Chitwan National Park. Since I did not raft back, I admit I completely enjoyed the bumpy and dusty ride we took through the villages which were a bit larger and almost more interesting than the others we saw trekking as part of the OAT program. We had the time to take photos of the villagers and even crossed part of another very different suspension bridge to get a photo of a stupa and prayer flags over the Seti River. I visited with a woman cooking food who invited us into her home to watch her cook. I wanted to support the community but did not see anyone in the local small store, so I gave her 50 Rupees. She handed it to her daughter who was dancing all over the small village with the money. It was a sweet moment. They do not really see many tourists in that village, but they know the tourists are there for the rafting, which was easy to view below.

The rafters as they arrived at the end point too, were happy to have gone through ten rapids, ranging from Class two to Class three.  They crossed two rivers, one the Seti, and the intersecting Truseli River, a tributary to the Ganges and were accompanied by the same red safety kayak that escorted us to the Seti River Camp to begin with.  We were about twenty miles from India at that point. 

To paraphrase author Pat Conroy, once you travel the journey never leaves you. In quiet moments, the traveler plays it out in their minds and relives the more inspirational, educational, unforgettable, and at times momentous experiences that travel affords us. The white-water river rafting for me was a new experience. I will still always prefer a gentle float and wish our views of the beautiful peaks were the clear, blue, mountainous Himalayan experience I had imagined. But as a travel experience it was truly one of a kind. There is always something to savor even after the feast has been completed.

All Photos Jann Segal