There were about 360 of us, including all the Class 12 students of St Xavier's College and the college principal, vice principal, and dean. We set off for Trishuli from our college premises in nine different buses. After an exciting two-hour journey, we reached the Trishuli River bank where we first settled down for a heavy breakfast. It was followed by a briefing session from the rafting experts, who thoroughly instructed us on what to do and what not to do after we boarded the raft. By the time we were each given a life jacket, the excitement had gotten the better of us. It took 39 rafts to accommodate all of us. I got into raft number 6, and our raft leader was Mr Prakash Gurung.The sound of happy giggles filled the air once the rafting began. In no time, we were already indulged in the exciting "water war", splashing water from one raft to the other. We were all soaked to the bone, and despite the not-so-warm weather, no one seemed to mind. Even the raft leaders and instructors joined in the fun, attacking us with water with their paddles and small buckets they had managed to sneak in to the raft. In the meantime, we also took heed of the instructor's commands and paddled forward and backward as per his instructions.
The river was calm in many places, but the same river grew furious and produced waves as we rafted further down. I had never imagined that a river could be so beautiful and deadly at the same time. We were really curious to know more about the river, so we kept shooting the questions to our instructor, who very patiently answered them all. He even told us the names of all the rapids and whirlpools of the Trishuli River.
While we were absolutely enjoying rafting, there were times when we were scared for our lives, too. When our raft approached a rapid named 'The Twins', I didn't think we could make past that hurdle without a scratch. I was pretty sure that the fierce wave would turn our raft upside down. But thanks to our instructor Prakash dai, we passed the rapid safe and sound.
After crossing our first rapid, we took a break. We "parked" our raft on the river bank along with other rafts and all of us started singing and dancing. There was a small cliff from where we could dive into the river, too. The Trishuli River looked like an open adventure land. A short while later, we got onto our rafts again.
We were continuously paddling backward and forward, and it was easier said than done. My arms had already started aching. But there were more rapids ahead to cross. There were times when I was so scared and tired, I wondered if the river was taking some kind of revenge with us. But these feelings would eventually pass and we would be happy and excited again.
By the time we neared "The Monsoon" rapid, we had already developed more confidence and were actually looking forward to dealing with the river's rage. And we decided that we would get across this one in style—we would cross the rapid standing, and whoever would sit down first would have to dive into the river as punishment. While we were practicing for it, another raft came on our side out of nowhere and as they hit each other, all of us fell into the river. One of my friends nearly drowned while two of them were sandwiched between the two rafts. It didn't take us long to get back onto the raft though.
We only had two more rapids to cross, and since they were nowhere near, we decided to have some fun again. Prakash dai then asked if anyone would like to pose like Rose and Jack in 'Titanic' on the raft. Excited, I volunteered. He asked me to stand on one edge of the raft and then put a lock on my lifejacket via a rope which was tied on the other edge. As my friends on the left side paddled backward and those on the right paddled forward, the raft went round and round while I held my arms open. I truly felt like the heroine of the film. But that feeling didn't last long as I slipped and fell into the cold water again.
When we reached the end of our three-hour-long rafting expedition, I had mixed feelings. On the one hand, I was relieved that it was over because I was really tired, but on the other, I craved for more fun.
Rafting on the Trishuli River was an amazing experience, to say the least. We were totally exhausted at the end of the day, but the memories of that day reenergize me even today.
Renisha is a Class XII student at St Xavier's College in Maitighar, Kathmandu.
Related story
Rafting at Humla-Karnali (Photo feature)
