Rapids name:
Freight Train, Touching the
Void, Snapshot, Flip 'n' Strip, Juicer,
inversion, Jailhouse Rock, Humans
for Lunch, Shake, Rattle and roll,
Sweetness and Light
One of finest big volume
rafting and kayaking trips in Nepal-
spectacular, remote, jungle-clad canyons,
BIG white water and abundant wildlife.
The River
He Karnali is Nepal's
longest and largest river and with
its tributaries, it drains most of
the Far West of Nepal - the 'Wild
West' as many people call it. This
bottom section of the river definitely
lives up to that name - the area that
it flows through is wild and relatively
unpopulated some of the most pristine
jungle scenery in Nepal, an abundant
wildlife.
The rapids are also pretty wild, with
the river building to its climax in
these lower canyons. Shortly after
the sharp bend in the river 'the elbow'
by the Lohore khola the valley narrows
into a series of canyons, the river
speeds up and there are big rapids,
one leading into another, almost continuously
down to the Seti River. From the 'Elbow'
down to the Seti the gradient is 3m/km
(15ft a mile), but after here, the
gradient eases, as the river winds
through some magnificent unspoiled
scenery, eventually emerging onto
the plains and flowing through the
Royal Bardia national Park to join
the Ganges.
In terms of volume, the rivers are
comparable to the sun Kosi, but the
Karnali is more constrained by its
Canyon walls; giving bigger, more
continuous and serious rapids. This
constrained nature of the river means
that any increase in volume has that
is best run at low and medium flows-
in higher water the Karnali is a serious
commitment. Highest extreme instantaneous
discharge measured at Chisapani was
as incredible 21,700 cumeces (760,000
cfs).
The high flows and gradient of this
lower river has made it a prime contender
for Hydro Electric Power Schemes.
The proposed large dam at Chisapani
will hopefully never be built but
a diversion tunnel is planned through
the elbow with a powerhouse upstream
of jungle Ghat and work on this project
is likely to commence during the life
of this book
