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Due to the nature of adventure trips, this itinerary has to remain flexible. The LiLi team have coached many thousands of people with a wide range of abilities and backgrounds on all styles of white water. This extensive knowledge and broad teaching base along with water and weather conditions will be considered to adjust the itinerary to maximise enjoyment and paddling time over the course of the trip.

Day 1: Arrive in Kathmandu, the LiLi team will meet you at the airport. Depending on flight times, we will have the opportunity to explore Katmandu. The hustle and bustle of the city mixed with Nepalese culture is an experience in itself. Katmandu is also a great place for some last minute shopping; camping / trekking gear – anything you need from sleeping bags to gore-tex jackets are better to buy here than in the UK. In the evening we will get food and drinks in Thamel and have a trip briefing, then stay at Holy Lodge.

Day 2: Today we leave Kathmandu early and drive to Pokhara – the adventure capital of Nepal and a beautiful lakeside town.  En-route we will stop and paddle a fun 10km section of the Trisuli River.  This is a great chance for a warm up paddle and a good way to break up the long drive.  This evening we will check into the Pokhara Palace Hotel and have an evening briefing over dinner for the following day’s departure to the Kali Gandaki.  Before bed we will pack our gear ready for an early start.

Day 3: An early start sees us drive to Beni - the start of our 3-day trip down the Kali Gandaki.  After a power-lunch at the riverside while we pump and pack the raft we head out for a 3-hour blast down to our first nights camp.

Day 4: After waking up to the sound of the river we pack up our camp and head on downstream.  Today we have a lot of time and only a short distance to cover so we have a great opportunity for lots of coaching and play.  By mid afternoon we will have reached our second camp ground and have plenty of time to set up camp and relax in the evening sun.

Day 5 :HALF DAY. Our third day on the Kali G. is short, so after breakfast we cruise some easy rapids and head for the take out.  Meeting up with our bus we’ll change, have a quick snack and head out on the long drive back to Pokhara.  Tonight we’ll have some beers and food in Pokhara and stay again at the Pokhara Palace Hotel.

Day 6: HALF DAY. After a late breakfast/early lunch we’ll drive to Tatopani and paddle the Upper Seti – a great 3-hour paddle with continuous read-and-run grade 3-4 water, finishing just 10 mins from Pokhara.
Once back to Pokhara we can enjoy our beers with the prospect of a full day off tomorrow.

Day 7: REST DAY. Today is a chance to go paragliding or micro lighting – Pokhara is the aerial sports capital of Nepal.  Alternatively you could take a boat trip on the lake, hire a motorbike and take in the sights, or just kick-back, relax and do a little souvenir shopping. Food and activities are not included today, you have maximum freedom to do your own thing! 

Day 8: The Madi Khola.  We leave early to Lamarket for a two-day paddle on the Madi Khola.  This is a fun section with enough rapids that will keep your adrenaline levels up.  Tonight we bivvy out in a small village by the side of the river.

Day 9: A few hours of good fun rapids mellows out into an afternoon of easy class 1-2 to the take out.  After packing up the bus we drive to Bhul Bhule where we spend the night in a hostel by the side of the Marsyandi River.

Day 10: After an early breakfast we hike for one hour up to Ngadi – the put in for the Marsyandi.  The Marsyandi is one of the true classics of Nepal.  Bigger volume and continuous grade 3 and 4, today is a super fun day on the river and will no-doubt be a highlight of the trip.  We paddle down to the dam and meet our bus that will drive us to our campground on the other side.

Day 11: Today we paddle the remaining section of the Marsyandi down to Dumre.  From here we will drive to Kathmandu and stay again at the Holy Lodge.

Day 12: HALF DAY. Today we head out East.  We paddle a nice half-day section of the Balephi and then set ourselves up at a beach resort called borderlands.

Day 13: The last river of the trip is the Bhote Kosi and it is a perfect chance to test out our skills.  The Bhote Kosi runs out from Tibet and is continuous white water the entire way.  Lots of big rapids and lots of fun.

Day 14: Another day on the Bhote Kosi.  If the group is feeling good we can head higher up and challenge ourselves with the gorge section (grade 4+/5+) – or we could paddle the same section for a second time, hit a few alternative lines and play some more.
In the evening we celebrate the last paddling day of the trip with a few drinks and some good food.

Day 15: Drive to Kathmandu and fly home.

The rivers in Nepal can be mostly described as continuous boulder garden style paddling.  However, whilst the overall style of the rivers may be similar, the difficulty of the sections vary greatly, there are perfect rivers to suit pretty much any ability.  The rivers also vary in size – as a general rule any river with the suffix ‘Kosi’ is big volume, and a river with the suffix ‘Khola’ is a lower volume creekier run.  The main style of paddling in Nepal is river running and multi-day river running.

There are only a handful of really steep creeks and waterfalls that are run-able, and while there are some great rivers to play on there is no-where you would describe as a great park and play feature.

A characteristic of virtually every river in Nepal is that at the headwaters you find really steep rapids and a huge gradient; often at the upper reaches the rivers are not paddleable.  As the rivers work their way down through the valleys they gradually mellow out and the lower sections are nice and easy – often grade 1-2.  So you can choose your put-in to suit your ability and thus virtually all the rivers offer something for everyone from grade 2 to grade 5+; yet another reason Nepal is such an ideal destination!

Anyone comfortable on grade 3-4 white water or 3+ alpine water with a good roll will enjoy this trip.
The LiLi guides will tailor the trip to suit the group and it will be possible to substitute easier or harder rivers with those on the itinerary as necessary to provide maximum enjoyment and progression for those involved. The more information you give us about your paddling ability and experience prior to the trip, the better we can adapt the itinerary to suit you, and the better trip you will have.

A reasonable level of fitness is beneficial to complete this expedition with maximum enjoyment as 12 days will be spent on the river. However, there will be flexibility, and should you find you need a rest, extra rest days can be taken. The trip has been designed with rest days and half days at certain points in order to give your bodies time to recover from the stresses and strains of paddling the rivers.

If you have any questions at all about whether your ability suits this trip then please feel free to contact us... info@loveitliveit.co.uk

LiLi will rent a minibus or vehicle suitable to the group and a driver for the duration of the stay. This flexibility will allow us to maximise our time on the river, and remain flexible with which rivers we do and when.

The LiLi coaches are all highly experience kayakers and qualified guides. The trip leader, Will Clark, has extensive experience in Nepal and is responsible for running the first descent of the Seti Canyon and Nepal’s highest waterfall.

The LiLi coaches are also specifically chosen for their passion for kayaking and coaching. This passion, combined with general good humour, helps make paddling with LiLi a fun all round experience.

This package combines a wide variety of incredible rivers, and allows you to see as much of Nepal’s white water as possible with minimal hassle.
Love it live it has an awareness of the surrounding environment and culture. We believe it is important to support local communities and to preserve the places we visit. LiLi donates one percent of all income towards helping the local culture and community.

Logistics in Asia can be a headache at the best of times; we will make the arrangements, deal with the inevitable haggling and basically make every effort to make it happen in as smooth a way as is possible in Nepal.

Arriving in a new country can be intimidating. We will meet you at the airport and arrange for us to be taken directly to our accommodation.

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