After we had got back fro the Modi Khola we had a bit of a relaxing day (monday 20th Oct) and came up with the idea to go run the Madi Khola and Marsyandhi rivers. We sent Danny and Si off to go and sort out the details and a couple of hours later an entirely new plan emerged - we were going to head off up the Kalighandaki and the Myagdi Khola. Sweet. The plan was to go high on the Kalighandaki, something I've wanted to do for a while. A jeep was booked at 7am the next day for 8000NRs to take us up the new road that would get us to the hot spings at Tatopani.
The following morning we loaded up the jeep and squashed ourselves inside. I plugged into my iPod for the 3-4hr ride taking in the bizarre mix of Underworld and Van Halen. Don't ask. When we eventually reached Beni we weren't allowed to go any further in the jeep we had hired. Beni is not a great place and we decided it was a s**t-hole. They made us re-load our boats onto a small local bus that would take us up the road.
The "road" turned out to be one of the worst I've come accross in Nepal, which is saying something. At some points it would climb a 1:6 incline though muddy ruts on a road only a foot or two wider than the bus and a 500ft drop beside it snaking on it's bald tires all the way. We were well and truely tenderized by the 2hrs in the hot and dusty bus and were super happy when we arrived at the hot springs of Tatopani. Of course we made full use of the natural resources. Again we were dealt great views of the Annapurnas and I got a clasic 'kid in kayak' camera shot, keeping the inquisitive locals happy.
The Upper Upper Kalighandaki is a great run and definitely put the fear in me a bit. The water was a muddy brown and it charged downstream over huge boulders that formed the major rapids. Needless to say, much of the run has blurred into memory, but it was a classic river. I did a little more walking than I would've liked, but I still fired up a few great lines. I distinctly remember one rapid where the whole flow slammed into a central rock: The left side slammed into a sharp looking, undercut rock and the right side had a sizeable hole to negotiate with. It was so satifying to hit the huge flying boof over that hole and into the eddy. The paddle out downstream was underneath a huge mountain of a rock overhanging the river, creating a kind of tunnel (see pic, courtesy of Mr Sean). There were many other big rapids and Colin fired them up in good style. Sean did the hardest parts of one of the rapids and then found a hole downstream, a few of us 'ooooed' and 'ahhhhed' at the multiple ends and loops he got in the Everest (big boat) and after a minute or so he 
washed out. Emrys and I had an interesting portage we took on the road as the others did it riverside. Trying to get back down to the river was hard work and involved ropes and spiders. I also had a moment towards the end when I was getting really tired. Heading straight towards a rock that was splitting the main flow I failed to avoid it, capsizing and disappearing from view the others thought I was pinned. Luckily, I had anchored my outstretched arms in the main flow, and although underwater pulled myself around the boulder. It was definitley time to get off the river! (Any pics of me are by Sean, cheers buddy!)
We took out above the S**t-hole and found a brilliant guest hole, Paradise Hotel, which fulfilled all our needs. We got a big dinner of Daal Baat and got chatting to the other guests - a couple of guys biking round the Annapurnas and a Canadian lady who was trekking.
The next day was a bit of a disappointment. When we reached the S**t-hole and made our way to the bridge and road up to the Myagdi Khola, we found out that the road did not go all the way up to the upper section we wanted to run. Not having the funds or energy available, we continued down the Upper Kalighandaki. This time our luck was in, and we bumped into a raft trip which was just putting on. We found out their bus was heading back to Pokhara and so tied on our boats and headed back to town for some R&R.
This has taken me a while, let's see if I have the energy to put up the next installment and get back up to date...
No comments:
Post a Comment