Sun Koshi River Rafting

Sun Kosi is one of the 10th best whitewater rafting rivers in the world. Big Volum River with some big rapids’ warm water, beautiful scenery, cultural interaction, and camping makes this a classic multi-day river trip. A great trip for intermediate and advanced kayakers. At its best in medium to high flows.

Sun Kosi means “River of Gold” – perhaps named after the gold that is sometimes panned from the river gravels; alternatively, it refers to the orange color of the water in the monsoon when it is thick with alluvial silt. The river rises near Tibet and is joined by Bhote Kosi just downstream from Barahabise. Kathmandu Adventure’s Sun Kosi river expedition starts at Dolalghat navigate some of the biggest and most challenging fun rapids, and finish our Sun Kosi river expedition at the Chatara, closer to Dharan city. WE paddle on the Sun Kosi River for about 270km 7 days in the high water in September, 8 to 9 days in October, and Nov – December it takes a minimum of 9-10 river days because of water flow and upstream head wind.

The Sun Kosi River flows near Kathmandu to eastern Nepal Nort -west to South – East leaving a huge fertile valley where people live and cultivate grow maze, rice, wheat, and many other crops. Sun Kosi River is one of Nepal’s whitewater rafting destinations many people have been paddling through this river since the early 70s – 80s. Sun Kosi watershed is mainly generated by Nepal’s Himalayan glacier and streams from Ganesh Himal east to Kanchenjunga mountains it has the biggest fresh water and glacier and big range in Nepal. 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 River Ganges to the Bay of Bengal.

Sun Kosi is a large volume river where most of the major rapids are formed by monsoon debris brought in by side streams and loose rock fall so the rapids change from year to year depending on the severity of the monsoon. One of the nice things about the Sun Kosi River is that, except for a few big rapids like Harkapur –II ( that can be walked around if wanted) rest of the rapids are runnable and fun and challenging. Kathmandu Adventure always proactively practices risk assessment & management we’ve our system, and our guides are always informed and transparent about the river and other subjective factors that can be unpleasant experiences for anybody. We do land scout rapids and discuss making appropriate decisions with our team & clients before we run them like; No Exit grade 3, Harkapur –II grade 4+/ 5, Jaws grade 4; Rhino Rock grade 4, and Big Dipper grade 3-4. Several rapids can flip your raft anytime anywhere some of the wire pools make your raft flip which is on the flat water section in between the jungle corridor and the waterfall beach.

During the low flows will be perfect for those who want to learn guidance and progression on Kayaking. Kathmandu Adventure organizes guide school/ kayaking learning opportunities for the adventure enthusiastic every year please contact us at info@kathmanduadventure.com.au for more details and dates.

Depending on your time and interest we can always run two extra days on the lower Tamor River which is a perfect little smaller-volume river with continuous class 3-4 rapids and some land scout rapids “Ashram” and take out the same place of sun Kosi river. Tamor River comes from Kanchenjunga mountain the world’s 3rd largest mountain.

Day 01: Our Kathmandu Adventure staff will be at the airport to pick up and transfer to the hotel, we will brief you about the trip logistics, and other plans at your hotel it can be at our office too or over the dinner time.

Day 02: Half day sightseeing around the Kathmandu and preparation for your expedition i.e. packing and organizing your personal items/clothing and gear for the trip.

Day 03: After breakfast our guides/river crew will come and meet you at the hotel help to load luggage and head to the River it will take 2 ½ hours, when we reached at the put-in unload vehicle, pump rafts, and prepared for rafting expedition it will take quite long time, we will have lunch, safety brief/risk management brief before start raft. Reach the campsites around 3:30 PM - 4 PM, at the camp we will be teaching you how to pitch tent, tarps, and camp set up so we will follow every day when we reached the camp.

Day 04: Tea/Coffee at 6:30 am ready on the table you can serve as you like, after breakfast we start packing up, and load rafts and start rafting not later than 10 AM, we will stop around 12 noon and enjoy our lovely lunch prep by our guides. We will stop and scout some rapids depending on water flow one or two maximum land scout and continue paddle until 3 - 3:30 PM and camp at the Tamba Kosi river confluence. Set up camp, after dinner hangs out around the campfire and share the experiences, and highlight of the day.

Day 05: We will follow the same routine as above: We will not stops and scout any rapids from the land but we will still scout from raft as we float in the rapids we have some really fun and big waves rapids Punch Judy grade 3-4, Pre anxiety 3, high anxiety and camp on the River Right. Long day on the water.

Day 06: We will follow the same routine as above: depending on the water level or the situation, we will scout one of the biggest rapids Harkapur –II from river right and discuss with crew and our team and make group decision either running or portaging, whatever decision we make it will be very fair and transparent make sure everybody fitting. We will stop at the Dhudh Kosi river confluence and have lunch and continue to the camp at Raighat.

Day 07: we will follow the same routine as above: we will stop twice and scout two rapids first one is Jaws grade 4 and the second one is death man eddy (the biggest eddy on the river and it collect so much debris that’s its call death man eddy) and camp just below the Raighat bridge.

Day 08: we will follow the same routine as above: Star with big rapids Rhino Rock grade 4 and Jungle corridor rapids 4 rapids continuous one after other about 10km from Rhino Rock rapids after all this rapids we stop on river left to hike up to the waterfall and have lunch same area it’s a beautiful water I have ever seen on my rafting trip ever. Paddle about 2 hours to the campsite there is also a water you can hike and enjoy the beauty.

Day 09: Layover day wake up late and enjoy the whole day chilling out at the camp, or day hike to the village.

Day 10: Now we will follow the same routine as the previous day, will be rafting and hitting some of the big friendly waves rapids reach the Tamar River confluence and camp.

Day 11: We will start little earlier than our normal schedule because we want to reach at the take out not later than 10:00 AM with 30 minutes stop at the Baraha Temple area, once we reach the take out there will be the lot happening including carrying some heavy gear, and personal care. After pack and load on the vehicle drive 5 minutes for the lunch, and drive 2 hours to the Biratnagar airport and fly to Kathmandu and transfer to the hotel, our river crew they will traveling the gear and reaching at the Kathmandu next morning.

Day 12: Our crew will be reaching Kathmandu and finishing up gear clean up, and put away for the next expedition and get ready to meet with the group around 6 PM for the Post dinner and celebration of the successes.

On the river, we will be a paddle in averages 4- 5 to hours, and serve a variety of food Nepali, Indian, Italian; and many more Lunch will serve cold but breakfast and dinner will be hot with unlimited hot drinks at the camp whole day and morning and evening.

Day 13: Extra day in Kathmandu for your personal shopping and sightseeing Bhaktapur(optional).

Day 14: Fly to your next destination, transfer to the airport.

• All meals on rafting expedition.
• Domestic flight tickets Biratnagar - Kathmandu.
• State-of-the-art rafting equipment, all the rafts NRS brand and branding PFDs (NRS), Helmet Pro-tech, Wetsuits or paddle jackets for each client.
• Experienced world-class rafting and safety kayaker and first-aid trained crew.
• Comprehensive group medical kit with some emergency med, trauma kits, river-related meds.
• All essential camping equipment, Tents, cooking utensil, sleeping bags, sleeping mat, dry bags expedition big size 100ltr capacity sharing and one small day dry bag.
• Rafting permits and rafting fees.
• Clean treated drinking water (iodine/ chlorine) for both clean dishes and veg.
• Meals Dinner, Breakfast, and Lunch with hot drinks, tea coffee, and hot chocolate.
• 5-night hotel in Kathmandu with breakfast on twin/double occupancy standard rooms.
• Sightseeing in Kathmandu with the tour guide and private vehicle.
• Airport picks up and drops as needed.

• International flight tickets, visa fee, baggage fee.
• Lunch and dinner while you are in Kathmandu.
• Personal/health / travel/ adventure insurance.
• Personal clothing for your trips.
• Extra nights in Kathmandu/hotel & lunch and dinner in Kathmandu.
• Emergency evacuation fees and charges.
• Guide/crew tip.
• All bottle beverages i.e. coke/soda, beer/alcohol/ mineral water etc.