Far more than just a wet rollercoaster ride, river journeys are the essence of escapism. On a river expedition there are no hassles, no stress, and only a very convoluted sense of time.
Life is dominated by the simple and basic necessities of food, sleep, sun, and travel.
The last part of a rapid is a brown chaos, frenzied paddling and screams of anguish and sheer delight. The transition into flat water is as startling as it is sudden and you wonder how you managed to stay on board. The Karnali's headwaters come off Mount Kailas in Tibet and slice through the Himalayas in a series of magnificent gorges and pristine forest. For 180 kilometres we won't see a single sign of the modern world. It's one of the last places in Nepal that you can see oldgrowth forest and have a real chance of seeing Nepal's wildlife.