The Bhote Kosi rises on the border of Nepal and Tibet and has upper sections of grade 5 and 6. The
commercially rafted section is from much lower down and has an overall grade of 4 with a couple or so
harder rapids that warrant a 4+ or 5-.
It is situated close to Kathmandu and so you can be on
the river the same day as you leave the capital. Indeed the Bhote kosi is the only river with such good
grades and rapids that is so close. The Trisuli is nearby but has nothing like the gradient or rapids
of the Bhote Kosi.
Trips that I have been with have left Kathmandu early and arrived at the river by lunchtime. A camp was
set up at the put-in and a section of river rafted the same afternoon. Everyone plus equipment was then
transported back to the put-in for an evening meal and beer.
The following day the first section
was run again and then the trip proceeded downstream to Lamosangu. From here the bus journey back to
Kathmandu made a tidy two day excursion.
Many operators moved on to permanent tented camps on
the river bank and one such project opened in autumn 1999 was David Allardice's Last Resort, offering
mountain related activities as well as rafting and kayaking.
Breakdown of the journey
Travel to the river
The bus journey from Kathamndu takes 4-5
hours and rises up out of the valley and drops down into the Sun kosi valley near Dolalghat (the Sun
Kosi put-in) From here the valley is followed upstream and is still called the Sun kosi. Close to Bahrabise
the Sun kosi turns east and the Bhote kosi goes north. Close to the Km95 marker the river can be accessed
an run. Further upstream the grades increase and they say that if you don't get scared, just keep going
upstream and eventually you will!
On the river Camp was set up at the put-in when I visited
in 1995 and a section of the river was run on the first day. Everyone was then transported back up to
the put-in for food, beer and sleep. The following day the first section was run again and then a
lower section down to the take-out.
This arrangement worked well and the trip back on the afternoon of the second day made a good, short
excursion from Kathmandu with a great taster of Pool-drop Whitewater.
It would now seem that permanent
tented camps and resorts save lots of equipment being transported back and forth unnecessarily.
Day by Day breakdown.......
Day 1 Bus to put-in from Kathmandu, camp prepared, lunch, run upper section of river, back
to camp for the evening. Day 2 upper section run again then downstream to take-out, bus
back to Kathmandu arriving pm day 2.
Often the river is not run early season (September) and trips
begin in Mid to late October depending on rain levels and the departure of the monsoon..
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