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The day has finally arrived ! We are terribly excited about the prospect of going white-water-rafting in Tibet. Hopefully, we might even get a T-shirt to prove it. Chris, the Australian chap in charge of the company, came to pick us up in his lovely lime green jeep. He is a terribly nice chap. It took him three years to set up the company, get the permits and authorisations to operate. 51% of his business is owned by a large Chinese company. He has to renew his visa every two months, a scary situation considering the huge investment that it must be, importing the boats and all the kit from the U.S and Canada.<br />

White water rafting in the wilderness of Tibet

Degrubenc
2005-12-09 12:46:18

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about our constant threat of throwing him in the water but smiled throughout the adventure.

The white water rafting was extraordinary; it was easy enough to do with the highest and steepest rapids being grade IV, most being grade I and II. Ram was
an excellent leader, instructing us what to do and giving good and clear commands. Safety was very important and they had it all covered with Kayaks in the water to rescue those that fell in.

The views from the river were unbelievable: the river runs deep in a valley and we were surrounded by high, abrupt mountains with the occasional flat terrain. There were wild horses and Yaks drinking by the river, intrigued by our approach with their shepherds and families coming to see what the silly foreigners had now invented. They had probably never even seen a boat on the river before, let alone a large inflatable plastic one with 8 scary, screaming foreigners in it, dressed to impress. We made a brief stop for lunch and a few stops for hot drinks on the way. We got on very well with the rest of the crew on the boat and made a good assaulting team against the other boats, even managing to pull a few Americans in the water. As the day ended, all those that has not yet been in the water were pushed in. I managed to push Bene in but he got his revenge and got me later. My great triumph was getting Ram in the water; it was all fun until he got rescued by the other boat and we found ourselves guideless. He thankfully soon rejoined our ranks.

It was an incredible experience, which left us begging for more; sadly, the lime green jeep was keen to make the return trip to town.

It is an expensive sport but one that is rewarding and in countries such as Tibet we see things that we could not possibly see otherwise. We also have the privilege of entertaining the local population of Tibetans and Yaks.

On the way back, Chris entertained us with some facts of life in Tibet: he was not allowed to buy or rent a flat and had to stay at the hotel but he could stay in one hotel no more than one and a half months. He was allowed to buy a car or jeep but not a powerful one and, furthermore, he could not drive it. He told us of the new fire station which had 3 fire engines to cover the town of Lhasa but 175 people to fill in papers and apply stamps where they thought they could be needed.

Chris gave us (against financial contribution) a T-Shirt of his company, as we had hoped.

Evening in a local restaurant and bed early to have a night filled with dreams of rafting down the Tibetan rivers.