Adventures in Nepal

Have you ever had one of those falling dreams where you are dropping to the ground below from a high-up perch, exhilarated yet terrified? Wel, Nepal is a land where "if you can dream it, you can do it." Rebecca and I took a bus from Kathmandu to the Tibetan border to a place called The Last Resort. They feature one of Nepal's highest and longest metal suspension bridges--a perfect place for bungee jumping and an even more wild activity--"canyon swinging." This involves a seven second free fall, followed by a graceful swing above a raging river at 90 miles per hour. As my harness was fastened, my heart began to race. I stepped onto the launching plank and my rope was connected to the harness. Without delay, the instructor counted down, "3, 2, 1...jump!" I leaped off into the chasm below and yelled in frightful delight as I dropped. The rope tightened and I swung past waterfalls and back again. That was scary! Rebecca jumped several minutes later and had a blast as well.




The next day started with a mountain sport called "canyoning." It involves repelling down waterfalls with climbing ropes. We started our descent with some natural water slides, splashing into the pools below. Then came the hard part--walking down a sheer vertical cliff with water splashing in your face. You are encouraged to lean back as far as possible as if in a sitting position while you lower yourself down with a rope attached to your waist with a clip. The dramatic conclusion was canyoning down a 120-foot waterfall as it crashed on top of me.




The final day of the adventure package was the funnest--white water rafting. The deluge of Himalayan Mountain snow melt gushes down the deep gorges south through Nepal and into India. Our raft had 8 people and a guide and I served as front paddler along with a burly Englishman. We bounced and flowed and got soaking wet. On a class 3 rapid, one of my smaller raftmates was catapulted out and had to be rescued by a kayaker. We survived the class 4 rapid with the crew intact, though took on a lot of water. To celebrate, we all jumped out and swam during a calm stretch.