Day 3: Rafting Through the 'Foothills'
- Susanna Lacy
- Sep 25, 2018
- 2 min read
Long, bumpy, hot car rides and white water rafting are the perfect combination for an amazing day.
I awoke around 6 this morning and finished up packing my bags and then went downstairs for breakfast at 7. We were served the same thing as the days before. My favorites are the beans, potatoes, and sausage.
Around 7:30 we got on a bus and made our way to the rafting. After only 20 minutes of driving we were surrounded by what I thought were huge mountains, but the locals call them the 'foothills.' Compared to the Himalayas they are tiny, but compared to the mountains we have in America, they are quite big.
The view was remarkable and I spent the next four hours on the bus staring out the window and drifting in and out of sleep. Once we made it to the rafting spot on the Trishuli River we were given an introduction and safety briefing and set out onto the water. The rapids were a lot tamer than the times I have gone before, but it meant more time to gaze around at the view. It looked like something straight out of a Jurassic Park movie. I half expected a dinosaur to pop out of the jungle.
About an hour into rafting we stopped for a yummy lunch with a view of the foothills. An hour later we went back to the river to finish the rafting. We got to swim by the raft for a little bit and it was insane how fast we were flying down. We made some jokes about how instead of taking the Subway to work like people in New York, the Nepali people could just use the river.
We sadly finished rafting and changed out of our wet clothes. We got back on the bus and drove for about an hour and a half to the hotel in Chitwan. We were given an overview of the next two days in the jungle and keys to our rooms. Katy and I decided to share a room again.
I read out on our porch for a little bit then a group of us went for a walk around the local village before dinner. We had an early dinner around 7 and then everyone went back to their rooms and passed out. Even though a lot of the day was spent in a bus, it was still extremely fun.
The pictures don't do the mountains justice. If you hadn't said they were so tall, I would have assumed they were similar to what we have here or maybe in Colorado. Also, that's impressive that the water moves so quickly! Must not be many rocks in the river or else there would have been more rapids on your ride, as it was certainly doing fast enough!
And I still want to know the purpose of the blue bucket in your shower. The rooms look clean and well appointed. I assume not all locals live with running water and flushing toilets. Hopefully it works well in your hotels.