Marsyandi, still a great river.

Not so many years ago a dam was placed on one of the classic rivers in Nepal. We feared that we would lose the Marsyandi for good. In part this is true, we have lost some of the magic, but what is left allows for a day or so of amazing river running in the surrounded by white peaks. It is a place that still holds magic, one of the best runs in the world for many people. We have to agree.

Pure Land Expeditions have pleasure to include this on our bespoke Multi River self-support adventure, the fun never stops, the crisp lines never fail, smiles shine. We overnight in a hotel, so this is luxury self-support, no need to carry loaded boats. Day one is full of fun, thrills and spills, from the standard put in at Bhule Bhule, with harder grade water higher up – with the flat lake of the dam saluting us to the take out, its a long day. With time we can run the section again, or venture around the dan to Paundi, a subtle goodbye to the river as it takes us to the highway. The river still holds passion, rapids still amuse and the views are picture perfect.

Chasing rainbows

For many years kayakers in Nepal who had a thirst for waterfalls had no choice but to make a walk from the road head up to the Modi Khola in Nepal and then to the Burundi Khola. Now with the advancement of the road working past the trekkers town of Birithanti these waterfalls are a simple 2hour drive from Pokhara. Although you are in the 'park' and have to buy a trek permit its all worth it. Clear waterfalls, cheeky vistas, cake shops and unique 'Nepal Experience'. This makes a great day trip and for those you sit in Pokhara watching the paragliders; it is a welcome distraction.

A mini adventure, a solo run and a memory.

Budhi Ganga Descent 2000

Looking at only kayaking magazines always makes me smile, I just love 'em. What makes me smile more is when I happen upon an article or photo of, or by myself - long forgotten memory lapse.

Way back in 2000 I was out in Nepal all fun and smiles and I happened upon the Budhi Ganga river in the far west of Nepal and feeds the (Karnali) Seti. This is not the Seti that's near Pokhara. After some time I decided to make the descent and the article below was published in the UK Canoeist magazine. I have left the text 'as is' apart from the omission of the last paragraph or so. I have added footnotes as required.

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BUDHI GANGA - THE OLD RIVER
First descent: solo. WEST NEPAL, FALL 2000

We have fine recreational adventurous activities but we rarely get the chance for genuine new discovery that qualifies as adventure, as Columbus did.

So there I was stocking up on medical supplies in Nepalgunj all the time thinking about my impending trip to this uncharted river. As a matter of fact it felt like I was in the backend of no place, heading for a solo self support trip (not even porters) further up the backside of the back end of no place. And all the time there is the possibility that it might have bugger all water in or perhaps too much water.

It was a strange turn of events that lead me wandering the streets of Nepalgunj between my meals at Hotel Batika in the first place…I suppose its all about personal goals and one upmanship. Perhaps things weren't good back home? Whatever the reasons and the consequences I was mission bound.

Even with the supposed political (terrorist) trouble in the area, that Unicef had warned me about, I had bought the bus ticket so was gonna get to the river. For those not coerced in the modes of transport in Nepal, It was yet another bus ride on a road that was not complete. This was a night bus, a groggy, smelly 18 hour ride that shook all the bones in my body. A bus ride, which you know, is bad since there was only one driver and I never remember stopping for him to sleep.

The bus crawled sleepily into Saphe Baggar at lunchtime the following day and I wasted no time in untying my kayak and walking towards the river. I am the first to admit that I could have walked upstream for a further 2 days to a village called Martadi, but to honest I didn't fancy being alone in a strange land with all this political upheaval all around. Anyway it seemed flat. So I think I must be content with the descent from Saphe down to the Seti and hence forth into the Karnali. Perhaps later I will do the walk in.



Putting on in Saphe was a surreal experience and unique even for Nepalese standards. It seemed as I walked through narrow streets that I was the main attraction of the millennium. Launching into the meandering flow the villagers, men, women and children raced down the banks watching until I was out of sight or they could not keep up. Just then, as the last remnants of Saphe's community faded into the distance, further villagers came to watch the show. Then suddenly without warning it was all over, the groups of villagers were gone, and the river had closed in. I was about to enter a gorge; a rock filled gutter of concentrated white water. As luck would prove it was only a class 4, technical and remote (some might say a 5) but honestly it was only a 4. (1)

Performing boof after boof, pour-over dodging and siphon avoiding this technical adventure flowed on. First to appear on the horizon line was a presumed river wide rock choke. It looked, without a second glance, that the river had beaten me so soon. Upon closer inspection I found a little sneak on the river left just where the water squeezed through a break in the rocks. From this sneak the water refracted off more house size boulders. It was a boulder maze, the likes of which I had never seen before.

Flowing on through the tiny enclosed walls of the gorge, eddies became less frequent whilst the river vanished off the face of the earth. A steep fall on river left and a series of boulders hiding blind rapids on river right. (2) The choice had to be made, no portage was available. Skirting the first boulder on the right I was forced into a pinion, a miss placed boof making me land sideways on a shallow rock shelf. Whilst greater rock slaloms showed up all along the section. It was tight and heavily boulder infested; yet in or just after monsoon I fear that I would be full of the greatest stopper and be completely unnavigable.



On the flatter section of the river, when I had time to slow down and take a breath, I saw animals that I think even Darwin forgot to catalogue. Small hamlets few very infrequent and the sense of loneliness was always paramount. In front of me was the final section of the Budhi Ganga its steep creekiness receding as it joined the placid Seti Karnali. The descent was over. Other days (no matter how many) spent on this river were nothing new to the paddling community, although they were new to me.

So there I was on this confluence beach, huddled under a rock cooking my first meal of the day. I had paddled the river faster than expected but I knew that I still had a fair few river miles to go until I could reach the take out at Chisipani on the banks of the Karnali. Tucking into the smash and the noodles made of concentrated monosodium glutamate, I though about my little achievement, sure it wasn't the biggest, wildest or most dangerous river in Nepal. Although perhaps it could have been if things were different, nature had done me proud, she had been gentle. Then it dawned on me. Unlike the mighty Sun Kosi or the wide Seti (that the Budhi Ganga joins) and Karnali all great rivers but they had seem literally thousands of paddle strokes over the years, but the Budhi Ganga had only seen mine.

For the following 2 days I descended the Seti and Karnali. Resting one night by the village of Bijora. As the stars hung in the full moon sky, I lay half-asleep alone on this beach listening to the flow of the mighty river…

Many thanks go to Vagabond, Nookie, System X, Paddle. To. and the Hotel Batika for all their help. (3)

Notes
(1) Very Alpine in style although could be easily changed by high monsoons, I dont expect it to be the same on any return trip.
(2) A slip and slide kind of place, a place where canyoneers should flock in low water.
(3) Not all of these are featured in our profile at the moment. Nookie and Vagabond and the only remaining products used.

MOVING FAST

FUSION
www.pyranha.com

Over the last few days I have been charging the rivers in the FUSION. Whilst many think that its a long boat and will not perform, I have to say this is simply not the case. I have had it on my local river in Wales and it makes all the same moves as the Everest. The Fusion is shorter than the 1st boat I ever owned and getting in it its just like a trip down memory lane.


As the name suggests, the Pyranha Fusion is a cross-over kayak which allows the paddler to enjoy two great areas of paddle sport, white water and touring.
Super stable, fast and easy to paddle, the Fusion gives you the freedom to choose from some fun whitewater or checking out some estuaries or a sheltered bay.
The tried and tested Pyranha skeg system adds a great feature allowing you to track in a straight line and the drag reducing skeg box allows the water to flow straight out of the stern of the kayak.

I think this boat will be used for many trips, on many rivers.

WEB
www.purelandexpeditions.com

Some of you are having issues with the booking form on the website and we hope to have these fixed soon, but the gremlins in the server are hard to find. Please feel free to email us direct about the schedule or your needs for a bespoke package. We will be happy to show you around India, Nepal and indeed Europe with cost and packages to suit.

EXPEDITION WORKSHOP

It has been a very interesting weekend indeed. I arrived at the Plas y Brenin in Snowdonia for the Expeditions symposium (http://www.pyb.co.uk/courses/expedition-symposium.php) just to chat with some old friends and talk about boats and bits of kit for expeditions. I have been rocking the Pyranha Everest and its proven expedition history. I also suggest that the Fusion would be a suitable kayak for more placid runs, but this is another story.

On the sunday I assisted Spike Green with workshops about planning your own expedition. From Poland to Peru, Norway to Nepal we covered it all. Guided or DIY, river trip? lake? sea? options all around. DO you want to camp in the middle of the Himalaya or car camp all these options make the sport we do a different adventure every day.

It was a great weekend and the strangers in the morning were new friends in the afternoon. Those who missed the day or those who have any expedition related questions please just email info@purelandexpeditions.com and I will be happy to answer any question you have about expedition trips.

　

Areas covered, Team, Gear, Knowledge, Aim, Money and Location. We also talked about going down gorges and blind horizon lines.

See you on the water.

DAZ