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Kali Gandaki River Rafting
A deservedly popular and medium length
of river trip is combining exhilarating
white water with fine scenery. 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 Himalayas here; it
is a flat and braided river, flowing in
an arid open valley. As it tumbles down
between the majestic Dhaulagiri and the
Annapurna ranges, it creates one of the
world's deepest gorges. The explorer
Michael Peissel ran this stretch of the
river in a small hovercraft in 1973 and
at least two other groups have rafted
and kayaked in this section.
All day you have to continuous keeping
paddlers busy against all technical
rapids on the Kali Gandaki River. Both
experienced and novice rafters love
this. Nowhere else is it possible to
find such diversity on a 3 day raft
trip. Nice drops, sparkling chutes and
turbulent rapids provide class III to
IV+ runs during the fall and spring
seasons.
After your exhilarating white water trip
you have options either to drive or fly
back to Kathmandu or to visit the Royal
Chitwan National Park or again you can
go for the trekking trip in the popular
area of Annapurna region for few days.
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Trip at a
glance |
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Duration:
02 Nights / 03 Days
Best Season:
Autumn & Spring
Grade:
4 to 4+
River Distance:
55 km.
Possible Operational Trip:
Drive 138 km. to Royal Chitwan National Park or trekking to Annapurna region or drive or fly back to Kathmandu
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Rafting days:
03 +02 days (kathmandu to kathmandu)
Entrance by:
30 - minute flight or a 6-hour drive to Pokhara
Start Point:
Nayapul (70 km. / 4 hours drive from Pokhara)
End Point:
Mirme (105 km. / 5 hours drive back to Pokhara)
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Day 1:
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Pokhara to rafting put-in point Nayapul
70 km. for 4 hours drive from Pokhara
and then evening at the camp of Modi
Khola.At around 7 am, we drive to the
put-in point. Upon arrival, we unload
all the equipment and you will receive a
full safety briefing. Have lunch and
then the guide will take you to the
river starting point ready to begin your
exciting 3 days rafting trip. First day
we begin with plenty of class III rapids
this is a warm up for the team, after
couple of hours you will be encountering
2 big class 4 rapids i.e. ‘Small
Brother’ and ‘Big Brother’. Your guide
will be making you work hard at doing
exercises to work as a team maneuvering
the raft efficiently. After scouting the
rapid, the safety kayaks will go first
then the raft. Soon after encountering
these two big rapids we will reach the
Modi Khola confluence where we will
choose the beach for the evening
campsite. We unload the rafts and one
raft team prepares dinner whilst the
others play volleyball or relax and take
in the scenery.
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Day 2:
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Camp site Modi Khola to second day camp
site below the village of Purti Ghat.
Once the rafts are packed we start down
the river for a day mixed with
adrenaline, calm and spectacular scenery
including views of Annapurna I and
Himchuli. We will tackle many class III
sections and the challenging class IV
named REFUND. This section of river is
abundant with vines and lush vegetation
hanging from the cliff faces. Our
campsite is below the village of Purti
Ghat.
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Day 3:
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Purti Ghat to Mirme
Almost immediately after being back on
the water we reach the holy village of
Seti Beni. The river has deposited a
house size boulder in the confluence
with a smaller tributary. Since
confluences are considered holy places
in the Hindu religion, this boulder has
become an important shrine to the local
river people. There is usually a great
audience to watch and listen to the
spectacle as each team negotiates the
rapid that has formed around this holy
place. After the shirt-rafting trip it
is time for the journey to end. You
arrive in the Mirme where your bus will
be waiting for you. We load up the gear
and prepare for the bus journey back to
Pokhara 105 km. for 5 hours driving.
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