Goddess of the River

Tuesday, December 11, 2001
Kathmandu, Nepal
Well, just when i thought things couldn't get better after trekking 150kms in
the high mountains of nepal, i went rafting for 2 days down 64kms of the Kali
Ghandaki (which means "Goddess of the river"), a class III-IV river in East
Nepal!

quick backtrack. i got back from the trek a week ago now and spent the first
few days metaphorically licking my wounds and deciding what to do next.
white-water rafting seemed a very good choice, so off i went. it was meant to
be 3 days, but due to some Maoist issues, we had to cut it down to 2, which
actually ended up being fine.

i booked independently so didnt know anyone beforehand. met up with the group
of people on the thursday night, 7 people in total, a dutch couple in their
twenties, 2 lads travelling together, 1 from Wales, 1 from Birmingham, a
38-year old doctor from Sth Germany, an Actuary from London and yours truly.
had a quick briefing for the trip due to begin 2 days hence and told to meet
sat morning at 7am. we all decided to go out for dinner to become better
acquainted. after dinner, the dutch couple and the german made a quick getaway
while myself and the english and welsh guys got to know each other in the 1
sure way one can: went out to play pool and got blinding drunk! by 2am, after
holding shoulders, waving beers and singing U2 songs as best we could whilst
trying to shoot pool at Nepals version of the "Hard Rock Cafe", we decided to
call it a night!

next day, nursing hangovers we met for lunch and just hung out with my new
mates, John, Matt and Mark (luke was missing from this fray) and a quite dinner
that night.

next day we all got up at a frosty 7am for breakfast, meet our river guide,
Purna, then a 3 hour bus ride to the river. lunch by the river, then got kitted
up in our wetsuits and lifejackets we hit the river. our intrepid river guide
went through what it seemed were a series of very complicated commands for
traversing the river like "right back" "left forward" "all back" etc. very soon
though we became accustomed to them.

we sat 4 per side of the raft with the guide seated at the back barking
commands. looking at my watch as we headed off, it was 12:30'ish. we quickly
learned the ways of the river, with the Londoner and German sitting at the
front of the boat which bears the brunt of the rapids, especially the London
lad who toppled out of the raft after hitting one of the ominously named
rapids, "big brother".

a few more rapids and stunning scenery later, we found a small beach where we
camped for the night. set up tents and a small kitchen and got a crackling fire
going. after dinner, we all sat around the campfire until it was only our group
left there. i encouraged everyone to sing a tune from their home countries: the
german, a well travelled burly dude, sang loud a song they would sing at
campfires, the dutch couple their national anthem, the welshman is anthem, and
the english their national anthem. fighting temptation to give my rendering of
a U2 song i had trouble deciding which national anthem to sing?? south african,
israeli or New Zealand? so i sung for them "Nkosi Sikeleli" as best i could!
after that we just randomly picked songs like "Piano man" by Billy Joel and wel
all sang them as best we could! so all in all, a great night and good bonding
between us!

the next day got up bright and early and after breakfast, once again, hit the
water. this time it was only 3 hours, but myself and the welshman, tempting
fate sat at the front of the boat. it was fantastic hitting the rapids, but
fortuntely no-one had fallen out after the first few. then our crazy guide told
us that for the next rapid we are all going to stand on the outside of the boat
and hold hands as we go down the rapid. clearly, some people would be falling
in. so i gingerly climbed up and linked arms with the welshman and the german.
halfway down the rapid, the welshman, the Londoner and the dutch bloke went
toppling into the river! but we soon got them back on the boat. the rafting
ended soon after, we had lunch, packed up and made the 4 hour ride back to
Pokhara. so all in all, i didn't fall in once, despite the Londoner trying
several times to push me in!

oh, i have totally seperated from the guy i was travelling with. long ago i
remembering appreciating the meaning of the word "hate". and i can tell you
that i really cant think of the last person i hated. but this guy i hate. it's
a long story and i wont go into detail, but to sum it up: he is selfish,
arrogant and an anti-semite.

so now it is the day after, my muscles hurt in some very strange places and i
am a wee bit tired. tomorrow i am going to Chitwan National Park for wildlife
spotting, then to Kathmandu. from there i am flying to Bombay on the 17th
December. my brother is currently studying in a town 8 hours Nth, so he will
hopefully be coming down to see me after 2 years! then leaving for home on Dec
23rd, get into Auckland 2pm on the 26th.

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