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Sunkoshi River Rafting
We travel by surface to Dolalghat your
raft 'put-in-point' covering the
distance of 57kms in about 3 hrs. Your
excitement starts and ends only after
you covered 210kms of wild stretches,
calm flows through high rock strewn
passages eventually emerging form the
mountains to the flat plains of southern
Nepal.
One of the 10th classic and best white
water journeys on Sunkoshi (river of
gold) is in Nepal offers a longest river
trip and the most fascinating among the
few rivers, which flow down from
snow-capped mountains. Big rapes, warm
water, beautiful scenery and great
camping makes this is a classic
multi-day river trip. There will be a
great trip for intermediate and advanced
kayakers. At its best in medium to high
flows. This enchanting river expedition
of 9 days will definitely be the
highlight of you visit to Nepal, its
memory shall last for ever and ever …
Sunkoshi is an unpredictable river, it
has its own moods, serene, calm and
tranquil one moment, wile and turbulent
the next, always changing, always
challenging, the ultimate in the river
adventure. So, Sun Koshi is famous in
rafting circles, and with good reason.
With in a short span or 9 days, you come
in close contact with Nepal's natural
beauty, people, culture, wildlife and
its rivers, its simply magic, an
experience you shall be glad you took.
En route to the Chatara you come across
many ethnic groups, each unique and
colorful as relatively more Rais, Limbus
and Newar are seen in this area. In this
trip you have 250 different species of
orchids to look for. River chats,
dippers, flycatcher, wall creepers,
bulbuls, fork tales are a few of the
almost 400 species of birds available
around the basin.
There are few more tributary of Sun
Koshi as Rosi Khola, Junga Khola,
Tamakoshi (Copper River), Dudh Koshi
(Milk River), Rasuwa Khola. Tribenighat
from where the Arun and Tamur join the
Sunkoshi to form the giant Saptakoshi,
which flows through Mahabharat range
onto the Gangetic plain.
There are numerous (abundant) rapids
such as Meat Grinder, Punch, and High
Anxiety etc. Scaled from 3-8 will
eventually emerges into the low land of
Terai at Chatara. After 45-minute drive
from Chatara you arrive in Dharan, which
use to be British Gurkha Army recruiting
center in Nepal for decades. Now you
have several options as you can Drive to
Biratnagar and take a flight to
Kathmandu or drive to Chitwan National
Park or Koshi Tappu for an excellent
safari trip or drive back to Kathmandu.
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Trip at a
glance |
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Duration:
09 Nights / 10 Days
Best Season:
Round the Year
Grade:
3 to 5
River Distance:
270 km.
Possible Operational Trip:
Drive to Biratnagar and take a flight to Kathmandu or drive to Chitwan National Park or Koshi Tappu for an excellent safari or drive back to Kathmandu
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Rafting days:
10 Days
Entrance by:
Drive 3 hours east to from Kathmandu
Start Point:
Dolalghat
End Point:
Chatara
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Day 1:
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3hrs drive to Dolalghat; rafting
starting point and short rafting camp in
Tarang Gaon
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Day 2:
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Tarang Gaon to Dumja village rafting
approx. 4 hours
The gathered villagers shall cheer you
as you drift away slowly gathering
momentum, slowly leaving behind the
Langtang ranges. Sunkoshi is considered
as a Holy river by the Nepalese Hindus,
the river flows into the Holy Ganges in
India, soon we hit the very technical
rapid called Khuei Bhai rapid, strewn
with rooks and boulders, hence,
considerable care is need. Camp for the
night near the Mahadev temple, reputed
to be the first Shiva temple in Nepal.
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Day 3:
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Dumja village to Khunkot rafting approx.
6 hours
WET AND WILD…immediately we are hitting
the rapids passing enroute the fishing
village of Kodaris’ and the Chamera Bhir
were you see hundreds of bats screaming
and clinging to the walls of the cliffs,
some good fun filled rapids takes up to
Khunkot where we camp for the night.
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Day 4:
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Khurkot to Likhu Khola rafting approx. 5
hours
Habitations dwindle, few poor Rai
villages’ enroute, exciting rapids in
the afternoon with good photo prospects
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Day 5:
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Likhu Khola to Harkapur village rafting
approx. 6 hours
Today, we pass through deep gorges
punctuated with exciting rapids
unfolding pleasant floats in the
afternoon troops of Langur and Rhesus
monkeys can be seen romping the
riverbanks.
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Day 6:
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Harkapur village to Rai Ghat rafting
approx. 6 hours
Today is one of the most exciting and
challenging days of the expedition
encountering some very demanding rapids
where you witness the skills of our
guides, we pass through ‘Bridge rapids’
and ‘Krishna rapids’ stopping to
carefully plan our strategy through the
next rapids. Mr. Mangal Gurung was the
first rafter to successfully take rafts
in 1979 and he has the distinction of
being the 1st Nepali to raft the
Sunkoshi, it was a no mean success,
hence, the rapid is named after him
‘MANGAL RAPID’. Floating past the
confluence of the Dudh Koshi, we hit the
last rapid for the day, ‘Roller Coaster’
a hair rising rapid.
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Day 7:
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Rai Ghat to Bander Ghat rafting approx.
6 hours
Hold tight, the ride is not over yet…as
past the point of Sap Su Khola is a
rapid with the greatest drop Huge
‘holes’, ‘eddies’ and churning ‘stopper
waves’ demands team work and hard
paddle.
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Day 8:
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Bander Ghat to Bonjur Ghat rafting aprox.
6 hours
We take to the rapids again, busy all
morning earnestly thanking for the lunch
break, emerging from the Mardheku gorge
the river spreads wide, less agitated
after its confinement between steep
cliffs and gorges.
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Day 9:
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Bonjur Ghat to Barahchhatra rafting
aprox. 6 hours
Today the whole stretch is a mixture of
fun filled rapids and calm undulating
floats, you are somewhat relived, yet
sad that the trip is coming to an end,
all good things ultimately does…
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Day 6:
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Short rafting reaches out points Chatara,
after lunch takes night bus to Kathmandu
or drive to Biratnagar to take a flight
back to Kathmandu.
After a while we join the turbid waters
of the Arun Koshi encountering our last
rapids to the junction of the Tamur
Koshi. The river changes its course from
west -east to northeast through
beautiful gorge floating to the white
temple of Barahchhatra set upon the east
bank. This is a Hindu temple dedicated
to 12 different Hindu Gods and
Goddesses; we stop to pay a visit.
Suddenly we break through the Mahabharat
and Rapcha ranges and spreading before
us is a completely flat horizon, slowly
we drift to Chatara. After Chatara we
drive to Koshi Tappu or Chitwan National
Park for an excellent Safari or drive
back to Kathmandu or drive to Biratnagar
for your fly back to Kathmandu.
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