During our November 2013 trip to Nepal, we went for a three-day whitewater river rafting trip. The firm we chose was Paddle Nepal and the trip was Kaligandaki River.Â
Paddle Nepal offer trips from 1/2 day, 3 days up to 8-12 days. One of the best and biggest rafting firms working out of Pokhara, Paddle Nepal comes highly recommended and for a reason. Here are some points regarding our trip. This was almost six months ago, so bear in mind, some things might have changed. So, if your going river rafting in Nepal, I seriously recommend Paddle Nepal as your place of choice!
Positive points:Â
The PN guides and local personnel were absolutely marvelous and extreme knowledgeable and experiences whitewater rafters (former National Olympic Team members).
A pre-trip briefing was being held the night before, so as to familiarize the team (ca. 10 people) with all aspects of the trip
Great and fast catering. Exceptionally good food, especially considering it's the outdoors. Tent accommodations were very good (see pics) and friendly service overall.
Safety is clearly a huge issue for Paddle Nepal. This was shown during one of the more difficult rapids in which they decided, according to company policy, not to raft (but to carry the boats across) the rapid due to it's high risk and difficulty. Also, the rafts tipped over twice, during which the teams also showed a calm and professional manner.
Negative points:Â
The Kali Gandaki River is being dammed during the last 10 years. This greatly affects the river rapids, especially during the last day, when they were virtually non-existent. This is not a fault of Paddle Nepal or any other firm; it's a natural result of the damming.
