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The Marsyandi river has recently been affected by a hydro electric scheme. The original four day trip is no longer available due to the new dam, but this is still a fine river worth paddling or rafting.
Marsyandi means 'Raging river' and it's name couldn't
be more apt. It starts to the north of the Annapurna range initially travelling
south-east and then south below Chame. Under the shadow of the mighty Manaslu
the river put-in, close to Ngadi, is an amazing place with incredible views
on this, the early section of the 21 day Annapurna circuit trek.
The Marsyandi was first run commercially in October 1995 when the first permits
were granted to explore this holy river. Since then the amazing combination
of bus ride, trek, and full-on rapids have made it one of the most popular rivers
in Nepal. If we were to discuss rivers of lower volume in Nepal, this has to
be my favourite.
This river offers the adrenaline of the Bhote kosi with a similar length and
a short easy trek to the put-in.
Breakdown of the journey
Travel to the river
Based out of Pokhara the initial bus journey is to Dumre 2-3 hours away. Then
begins the bus journey from hell up the side of the river to Besishahar (Its
a bit better now due to better roads being needed for dam traffic). Expect to
arrive there at the end of the first day battered, beaten up and bruised - If
youre looking for adrenaline, ride roof-top and you'll get it! There is an overnight
stay here.
From Besishahar it is a pleasant trek starting next morning to Ngadi. You would
expect to arrive at the put-in mid to late afternoon, having had chance to see
many of the rapids on the walk-in.
On the river
The river journey starts just above Ngadi, some rapids having to be lined and
walked around near the start. Some days we counted 40+ good rapids, often blending
one into the next. Being honest much of the rest of the trip for me is a blur.
I know that kayaking I've never been back-looped so many times on any other
river and the amazing back drop of Manaslu made the atmosphere truly magical.
We had a combination of camping and lodges for accomodation on our trip which
lasted three days on the river and concluded just below Dumre.
Plenty of people swam from the rafts on the first and third days and if you've
not rafted before you must expect the likelihood of a swim is high if you are
on one of the early trips (mid October.)
Day by Day breakdown.......
Day 1 Bus for Pokhara to Dumre, then Besishahar.
Day 2 Trek from Besishahar to Ngadi,
arriving mid afternoon
Day 3 River day 1 to beyond Besishahar
Day 4 Similar section paddled again and return
to Pokhara
This was the timetable for a trip leaving early season and may take slightly
longer later in the autumn. A lot of companies are running an option similar
to the Bhote kosi where certain sections of the river are run twice on the second
day.