• white and pink sand beach landscape

Sun Kosi

 

Sun Kosi World Class Whitewater River

Another of Nepal’s holy rivers, the Sun Kosi (Sun Koshi) is also known as the River of Gold and gets her name from the goddess Kaushiki.  The legend goes that after this virgin goddess created peace on the earth she took the form of the Sun Kosi river.  To us here at Adrenaline Rush Nepal the Sun Kosi is truly one of our favorite high water trips in Nepal.  It is always a whitewater adventure and a great way to experience the real Nepal.  It is river life at it's best. 

In length, the Sunkoshi is the longest river trip in Nepal covering 270 km through the changing scenery as it winds it's way toward the southern border. It begins after a 3 hours drive from Kathmandu and is 60 km from the Tibet border.  It is a true expedition in that we take everything we need with us on the river for cooking and camping.  Along the way we visit local villages to purchase fresh vegetables or local goods to support the river communities.  It is not only a excellent rafting and kayaking experience, it is an embrace of culture.   Most people choose this river because of the amazing whitewater but fall in love for all the aspects that make up this trip. 

Kayaking and Rafting High Water

This is one of the best times do this river and definitely our favorite.  In late September - October this river swells from the monsoon rain making for an excellent whitewater trip.   This river begins its journey slowly allow the rafter or kayaker to gain a feel for its ways.   As the river progresses through fantastic scenery and quaint villages, you can experience Nepal’s culture.   Sun Kosi's intensity picks up each day and by the last few days turns out some excellent whitewater.   During high water October trips it boasts some of the biggest waves for sure in Nepal, if not around from around the world.  This trip is listed as one of the world’s top ten classic river journeys and if you have the time and want to experience the real Nepal, it’s certainly a trip worth considering for not only rafters, but intermediate to experienced kayakers as well.


Sun Kosi Kayak Course and Rafting Low Water

During low water rafting the Sun Kosi is a perfect scenic relaxed trip with a few good rapids each day.   It is also the best time to learn to whitewater kayak on this great river.   As the river progresses in difficulty day by day you will have time to grow and work on your skills.   May is our favorite time to run this course but we offer it throughout the winter.   Find out more about learning to kayak at Kayak Course Nepal

 

RIVER TRIP DETAILS

Meeting Point: Adrenaline Rush Kathmandu 6:30 AM 
Start Rafting From: Dolalghat to Chatra
Rafting: 8-9 Days
River Distance: 270km
River Class: 3/4+
Season: Best time : May-June and September-October High Water           

RIVER TRIP HIGHLIGHTS

  • Remote Camping
  • Amazing scenery
  • Low Water Whitewater Kayak Course (December-May)
  • Evening Hike to Local Village
  • World Class Rapids

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RAFTING


The Sunkoshi is a superb river for rafting, with a few easy days warm up  before entering the bigger rapids. It’s a good solid rafting trip for all levels of rafter and one of the best long river trips for rafting in the world.



KAYAKING


Kayaking on this river can be done by the intermediate to the advanced kayaker. During lower water time it is perfect for a long whitewater kayak course.  The rapids are big and bouncy and make for a great fun kayaking trip with plenty of surfing waves and lots of kayak friendly hole to play in . Its an easy accessible trip for kayakers and displays nicely some fine white water and the lush jungle surroundings.

Sun Kosi Rafting Itinerary

Grab some fresh Bakery goods hot out of the oven for our 3 to 4 hour bus drive along the friendship highway to Dolaghat. The road takes us high above the river with awesome views of the Himalaya along the way. We take some lunch on the river bank in the bustling town and set up the rafts at which point your guides will issue you with the standard rafting equipment, a paddle, a helmet and a life jacket. We then head to the river for our safety briefing. Listen carefully for instruction and how to act upon the guide’s commands, not falling out of the raft and having a good time. Of course we will also tell you what to do in the likely event of you falling out of the raft. We head to the river for a gentle afternoon of rafting and a nice introduction to the rafting gang to get our coordination and team work up to scratch for the days to come.
Before us we have 270km of blissfully traffic free river to ourselves with plenty of world class rapids to keep us on the edge of our seats. The river carries us along at a nice pace through huge holes, rapids and past massive boulders in the river. At night times we will camp out on the lush white beaches where we can unwind after a hard days paddling. The course of the Sun Koshi offers up some world renowned rapids, such as Harkapur 2, Dead Mans Eddy and Jaws. Further down the river joins with the white  flowing Dhud Koshi which has tumbled its way down form Everest, the water gets noticeably colder as well. The 7 km of river called the Jungle Corridor looms up to us after this meeting of rivers. It’s a wild wild rapid ride through a steep sided jungled canyon from one pounding rapid to the next, that’s going to get your heart racing.
Just when you think its all over, the last big rapid of this trip is called The Big Dipper, after which the river lets up, we all let out a sigh of relief and make our take out near where the Sun Koshi joins with the Tamur and the Arun Rivers. It’s a short drive and flight back to Kathmandu where awe can all have a hot shower, let down our hair and celebrate our amazing trip on one of the world’s best white water rafting rivers.

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