Sunkoshi River Rafting

Rapids name:
Meat Grinder, Punch & Judy, Valentino, High Anxiety, Jaws Ei Wasto, Rakshi Roller, Dead Man's Eddy, Big Dippe

One of the ten best white water rafting trips in the world. Big rapids, warm water beautiful scenery and great camping make this a classic multi-day river trip. A great trip for intermediate and advanced kayakers. At its best in medium to high flows.

A new road is under construction down a small part of the top section of the river and o completion (around 2005?) this should allow a 6-day trip.

The River

Sun Kosi means 'River of Gold' -perhaps named after the gold that is sometimes panned from the river gravels, or alternatively it refers to the ornate colour of the water in the monsoon when it is thick with alluvial silt. The river rises near Tibet and is joined by the Bhote Kosi just downstream from Barabise. Most raft trips start below here at Dolalghat -the section above here is normally ran as a one day trip and we describe it briefly in our section on other rivers.The Sun Kosi flows eastwards in Nepal through the great valley between the Mahabharat Lek Mountains and the Himalaya. It forms the watershed for most of eastern Nepal and gathering strength from tributaries draining the highest mountains in the world it emerges onto the northern plains of India where it joins the Ganges.The volume increases considerably with the flow from these tributaries. In November, the flow at Dolalghat is about 100 cubics: lower down the river, through the big rapids of the 'jungle Corridor', it would be about 400 currents which is approx. 11,000 cfs-a typical low flow on the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. At the take-out, at Chatra, the flow is a mighty 800 cubic- still only a fraction of monsoon levels!This is a large volume river where most of the major rapids are formed by season debris brought in by side streams, and loose rock fall so these rapids change from year to year depending on the severity of the monsoon, for example El wasto', a big class 4 never existed as a named rapid until 1993. Most of the rapids in this guide will be there, but expect new ones and some to disappear.

Difficulty in Nov :

Class 4-(4+)

From :

Dovan (Alt. 635m)

To :

Chatra (Alt 105 m)

Distance :

131 km (82 miles)

Days :

4-6

From Kathmandu :

4 days or fly

Av. Gradient :

4m/km (20 ft a mile)

Most Attraction of the trek :

Close Mountain View, Sherpa villages

Volume in Nov. :

150 cms (3500 cfs.)

Best Season :

Oct-Nov, April

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