My First Splash in the Tea-Colored Trishuli River

Hello everyone! Today I want to tell you about the most exciting day of my life - Day One of our field trip to Trishuli River. This was my first time rafting on Trishuli, and believe me, I will never forget it.

The Water Was Tea-Colored, Not Blue!

When I saw the Trishuli River for the first time that morning, I was shocked. I always thought rivers for rafting look clean and blue. But no! Because it was raining season, the water was brown, like tea. And there was SO much water. The river was fast, strong, and a little scary too. But that made it even more exciting.

Meet My Boat Team

We were divided into different rafting boats. I was lucky to be in a boat full of energy with my senior students (gap year students, who are a little older and stronger). Our boat team was: Rohan, Rohan, Amrit, Barshant, Bishal, Rhythm, Rochak, and me! Our guide was Yashu Magar, a very fun and confident man. He also had a GoPro camera fixed on the boat, so everything got recorded. Ha ha ha!

Me and Rohan Thapa became the "engine" of the boat. That means we paddled the hardest and first person to show the direction for rafting, and the rest of the team followed our rhythm. We all followed Yashu dai's instructions carefully, because in rafting, listening to the guide is very important.

The First Big Rapid - So Much Fun!

When we hit our first big rapid, everything changed. The boat was jumping up and down, water was splashing everywhere, and my heart was beating so fast. It was thrilling! Full of adrenaline! Everyone in the boat was shouting loudly not because we were scared, but because we were having so much fun. Every single student enjoyed that moment. I will never forget those screams and laughs mixed together.

Cliff Jumping Under the Bridge (Dhading-Gorkha)

After some rapids, our boats stopped under a bridge near the Dhading and Gorkha area. Here, something crazy happened  cliff jumping into the river! All my students jumped one by one. Students from other boats jumped too. I was standing there, confused, not sure if I should jump. Then my students shouted, "Jump sir!" And then Rabin sir also said, "Jump sir!"

So... I jumped😄.

The moment I hit the water, I swallowed some water through my nose (it was not a nice feeling, haha). But right away, a kayak came near me to help. When I came back up to the surface, I felt like, "Oh my God, I survived!" That feeling was amazing. It was scary and fun at the same time.

Here is a funny fact, I don't actually know how to swim well. But I still jumped directly into the Trishuli River during rainy season, when the water is at its strongest. Even now when I think about it, I just say... wow. What was I thinking?

More Rapids and a Game Break

After the cliff jumping, we continued rafting, and more rapids came, one after another. Later, the guides gave us a small break for fun games on the river. The winners were Shreeya and Sachin. Congratulations to them!

Hanging on the Rope Like a Crazy Man

After the games, I did something a little wild. I held onto the rope on the side of the boat and let my body hang in the water for a few minutes, just floating and enjoying the river. At that time, nobody else was outside the boat  only the guide and me. Everyone else was safely sitting inside, holding the ropes. Then Yashu dai shouted, "1, 2, 3... jump!" and we all jumped back inside the boat together. 

During the rafting trip, we sang the famous song "Rafting Bisaune." Not only our raft, but also Mr. Bagdash's raft joined us. We also had a fun water fight with the other rafts by splashing water at each other. Everyone enjoyed it a lot.

While rafting, we paddled together by counting "1, 2... 1, 2... 1, 2..." to keep the raft moving. I still remember Rohan saying, "1, 2 ruh... 1, 2 ruh..." But after a while, everyone was only shouting "ruh!" instead of paddling. It was really funny, and we all laughed.

That guide is a crazy, fun man! And honestly, I believe every person should raft at least once during the rainy season in their lifetime. The speed is high, and you will always meet small or big rapids  never a boring moment.

A Natural Shower at Hugdi Khola

Finally, we reached Hugdi Khola. Here, we all got a natural shower under the khola (stream) water. Everyone enjoyed it so much after the tiring but exciting rafting session. We had a changing tent set up beside the highway, and we rested there for about an hour.

Arrival in Bandipur and the Chudka Dance

After that, we travelled to Bandipur and arrived around 7 PM. We gave rooms to all the students, and everyone had dinner. Then, we went to see the Chudka Dance in the old bazaar of Bandipur.

Fun fact this dance happens only once a week, every Friday! I had already told my students about this special detail during our itinerary briefing before the trip. Our students also joined in and danced along with the local performers. We enjoyed the dance until 10 PM, and then we went back to the hotel, tired but very happy.

That was Day One my first rafting experience of Trishuli, my first cliff jump, and my first time tasting tea-colored river water (accidentally, through my nose!). It was scary, funny, thrilling, and unforgettable, all at once. Stay tuned for Day Two, where our adventure continues in the beautiful hills of Bandipur!