The Wormlips Scrapbook

It’s been fun trolling the Internet for information on Nepal’s rivers. Aqua-philes are strange beasts, if you can judge by their joyous metaphors about South Asia’s whitewater:

• “Like being flushed down an open-air toilet.”
• “Like reading an erotic novel.”
• “Like a pinball machine and you’re the ball.”
• “Orgasmic.”

Some people offer valuable advice, like “Try not to get hung up on the bone-cracking boulder placed nastily in the middle of this section of the river.” And then there are translation quirks, linguistically delightful and visually rich.

“One of the famous names of Himalayan Rivers, the Kali Gandaki raises in mustang an enclave of Nepal poking into Tibet on the other side of the Himalaya. Here it is a flat and braided river flowing in an arid open valley and cuts one of the deepest gorges in the world between Daulagiri height 8167m to the west and Annapurna 8091m to the east.

Speaking of the Kali Gandaki, that’s the one I’m leaning toward visiting. It’s the only one whose overview isn’t filled with caveats like “Great views but you need rear view mirrors,” “Once you’re on the river there is no time to stop and admire the scenery,” and “At the end of the day your head will be spinning.” Here’s what I like about the Kali Gandaki:

“Named after the much-revered Goddess Kali … the river offers a mixture of astounding mountain views and pure adrenaline with a full immersion into the wilderness.

“Turbulent rapids intertwine with abrupt drops as we dodge our way down intricate chutes of sparkling water. Village terraces cling precariously to the slopes … set against the backdrop of the Annapurna range and surreal snow capped peaks … we drift through the world’s deepest gorge … shadowy canyons of stone.

Being one of the holiest rivers in Nepal, every junction of the Kali Gandaki is dotted with cremation sites and above ground burial mounds.”

Oh, I don’t know. Maybe I want to go to the Marsyangdi instead.

I’m still intrigued by the possibility of going rafting. I’d get to see a different part of the country — not just the river itself but the countryside enroute. And the rivers pass through remote villages so I’d get a fleeting glimpse of life in other parts of Nepal, in addition to the Sherpa region where we’re trekking.

On our Upper Klamath trip this summer I realized I don’t like nonstop, big rapids. It’s such hard work that you can’t enjoy what’s around you. An ideal for me is a river that’s relatively wild but punctuated with quieter rapids.

And I don’t want to go for a single-day trip, because (depending on where I’d go) it would be a hunk of bus travel (possibly a flight too) just for one day. And spending a few nights under the stars in such country sounds idyllic.

October and November seem to be the the time for rafting. Water levels get low after that: less volume but more rock. So I called my travel agent to see if I could still get good reservations for different dates. I can.

I hope I stop changing my mind. I’m really bad at making travel plans well in advance. You never know what’ll inspire you in the meantime. I appreciate the idea of being organized and settled, but it’s more fun to stay flexible, like Gumby.

I thought it might be fun to do a river-rafting trip too … probably not enough time, may be too late in the season, likely costs too much, but worth considering.

Here are rafting company possibilities, hacked down from dozens I checked out. Hard to know which are reputable. Cheryl’s been sending out queries for me. And when Greg gets back from the Magpie, maybe I’ll see if he has ideas. I’ve asterisked the ones that seem best.

• *http://www.driftnepal.com.np or http://www.nepalvisitors.com/driftnepal
  The company recommended by our new-agey Upper-Klamath guide.
• http://www.mountainriverrafting.com
• http://www.udnepal.com
  One Lonely Planet reader says it’s got a good reputation but is expensive. Another hated them.
• *http://www.raftnepal.com
• http://www.plannepal.com/rafting/index.php
  Recommended by a friend of Cheryl’s in Nepal, but they have little detail on their site about rafting; they’re more an all-purpose adventure travel agent, methinks.
• http://www.nepalraft.com
  They seem pretty funky but they’re the only site that lists prices.

All companies seem to agree on which are the rivers to raft. What they don’t agree on is the ranking of each. Is it really a Class 3, or should I believe the people who say it’s 5? There are some clues in the rivers’ names: Kali Gandaki is, of course, named after the goddess of destruction. And the translation of Marsyangdi is “Raging River.” I’m looking for one that means “The Amazing but Not Seriously Life-Threatening River.” Of the ten commercially runnable rivers in Nepal, I’ve narrowed my choices to three: Kali Gandaki, Bhote Koshi and Marsyangdi.

[map adapted from Nepal Visitors Web site]