Day 53 - Pokhara and the Seti River, Nepal

Day 53 – Hers.

Tien and I both awoke early, packed up our things for our rafting adventure and went out for breakfast at a ‘German Bakery’ we had noticed in town.  I am not certain what was German about it – there were croissants, sweet breads, cinnamon rolls and apple Danish pastries.  Anyway, we were the first customers of the morning so everything was fresh - we sat at a garden table, eating cinnamon rolls and drinking coffee, trying to learn a bit of Nepalese from the back of the menu. (I must get a phrase book before volunteering....)

We all loaded into a small minivan for the hour long drive to the Seti River.  Even with our short legs, Tien and I were a bit cramped in the back seat, our chins nearly resting on our knees as we bumped along the rutted gravel and dirt road.  We stopped in what seemed the middle of no-where and met our rafting crew: Beemel  (the skipper) and his brother, the first mate.  We had a quick lesson in boat safety and paddling instructions, donned life jackets and helmets, put everything into tightly sealed water-proof drums lashed to the raft (This was starting to look a bit scary...), climbed aboard and set off.

It was fantastic.  After all the rain, the river current was quite fast – there was almost no need to paddle. The water was a murky white – filled with chalky clay sediment washed down from the hills we had trekked only yesterday.  Beemel steered into any rapids he saw, just to give us a bit of excitement.  He would steer the boat sidewards, taking turns port and starboard, to get us wet – as the waves broke over the gunnels.  Every once in a while he would shout ‘Ready.......Forward’ – and we would begin to paddle furiously until he shouted ‘Stop’.  Hardly a work out – but very pleasant in the hot sunshine with beautiful scenery on both sides and once again no sound but the rushing of water and chirping of birds.  We saw egrets, vultures and a few smaller birds – that nested in holes in the cliffs, just like at Reculver back home.

After an hour or so, Beemel asked if anyone wanted to swim; the first mate and Barry jumped in – it looked so much fun that I asked if anyone else would get a chance.  Beemel assured me that I could have a go after lunch.

We beached the raft on a natural shelf near a large cave for lunch.  There were scraps of brightly coloured clothing hanging from the trees.  Tek told us that they marked the location of a village, just up the ridge from where we were.  Later, a few local boys came down to watch us eat.  They were nearly the only people we saw – the only others were solitary fishermen in quiet pools across the way.

Our lunch was an amazing spread – cheese, salads, Spam, fruit, bread, biscuits, peanut butter, marmalade, lemon juice – all beautifully displayed on a tarp. We lazed around after lunch, Cindy and I looking for footprints in the sand in the caves, Barry snoozing with his tummy hanging out....

Back in the raft, we carried on – Beemel steering us into the small rapids and, once, under a waterfall from a mountain spring.  I got my chance to swim – with Beemel himself – though it came to a rather abrupt end as we approached some rapids and he grabbed my life jacket, almost throwing me back into the raft.  Barry grabbed me from the other side and pulled – dignified, it was not.

One more hour on, we turned into our campsite, three tents lined up on the shore – just in front of a posh-looking riverside lodge complex designed for the over sixties luxury tour.  I envied them at first – and no doubt would have been even more jealous had it rained – but I actually enjoyed our night in the tents.  The lodge staff dug us a latrine – the modesty curtain open to the riverside for a view (It was quite cute – you took the red helmet off its hook to show it was engaged and it was the first place in Nepal to provide plenty of toilet paper) and we were provided with a candlelit, open-air feast: curries, rice and dahl, vegetables and fruit – with a freshly baked cake for dessert.  We had a grandstand view of black-faced lemurs in the trees, butterflies dancing through the elephant grass and an old woman driving her goats and water buffalo home from the hills. We also played a bit with foliage – it may sound odd but there’s this plant that closes up its leaves when you touch it – very entertaining....okay, simple things for simple minds...  Anyway, the lodge-dwellers had cocktails in a dining hall.  I think they may well have ended up jealous of us!