Rafting in Bhote Koshi River

• The Steepest Rafted River in Nepal: Roughly fifteen metres of drop per kilometre, in a continuous staircase of class IV.

• Two Days, Three Hours from Kathmandu: Serious whitewater without a week off work or a long drive.

• Frog in a Blender and Liquid Bliss: A run of named class IV+ rapids in quick succession through the gorge.

• Riverside Resort, Not a Beach Camp: A night in a permanent tented resort above the gorge, with hot showers and a bar.

• Pairs with the Bungee: The 160 m jump from the gorge bridge is on the same road and can be added to the trip.

The put-in is above Barabise and the river never lets up. The Bhote Koshi is a pool-drop river in theory and a continuous one in practice: the pools are short and the drops come immediately after each other, with named rapids including Frog in a Blender, Liquid Bliss and Fault Line running class IV and IV+ at normal autumn flows.

We ask for either previous rafting experience or a genuinely good level of fitness and confidence in water. It is a shorter trip than the Marsyangdi and slightly less relentless, but the individual rapids are as hard as anything in the country. Everything significant is scouted, the crew portages what it does not like, and a safety kayaker is on the water throughout.

Every trip runs with Nepal Rafting Association certified river guides and a safety kayaker on the harder water. Rafts are self-bailing, and the standard kit is a helmet, a coastguard-approved life jacket, a paddle and a wetsuit or splash jacket where the water is cold. A comprehensive river first aid kit and a throw bag travel on every boat.

Before the first rapid your guide runs a full safety briefing on dry land: paddle commands, what to do if you fall out of the raft, how to swim a rapid feet-first, and how to help someone back in. Nobody gets on the water until that is done and understood. Guides carry the authority to portage any rapid they do not like the look of, and on a rising river they will use it.

September to early December and March to May are the seasons. Autumn runs higher and pushier; spring is lower and more technical. The Bhote Koshi is a small, steep catchment, which means the level responds to rain within hours — a wet night upstream can change the river by the morning, and the guides check it before every launch.

The 2015 earthquake and the landslides that followed reshaped parts of the gorge and closed the river for a period, and the Araniko Highway alongside it is still repaired in sections. The rapids have been re-scouted and the run is fully operational, but the geology here is young and moving, and your guide will re-inspect anything that looks different from the last trip.

Provided: raft, paddle, helmet, life jacket, wetsuit or splash top where needed, dry bags for your kit, all camping equipment including two-person tents and sleeping mats, and every meal from the first lunch to the last breakfast, cooked on the riverbank by the crew.

Bring: quick-drying clothes you do not mind soaking, a swimming costume, river sandals or old trainers that will stay on your feet, a warm fleece and long trousers for camp, a towel, a sun hat with a cord, high-SPF sunscreen and lip balm, a head torch, and a change of dry clothes sealed in a bag. Sunglasses need a retainer or they will end up in the river. Leave anything valuable in the Kathmandu or Pokhara hotel safe.

• Rafting the Bhote Koshi: The Complete Guide — The steepest river commercially rafted in Nepal — 26 km over two days at fifteen metres per kilometre.

• Bungee Jump in Bhote Koshi: The Complete Guide — The original bungee in Nepal and still the benchmark — a straight 160 m drop from a purpose-built suspension bridge over the Bhote Koshi gorge.

• Rafting the Marsyangdi: The Complete Guide — The hardest river we run and the one experienced rafters come to Nepal for — four days of steep, technical, continuous class IV and IV+ below Manaslu.

• Rafting in Nepal: Every River Compared — Snowmelt rivers dropping off the Himalaya make Nepal one of the best whitewater destinations on earth.

• Trishuli River Rafting, 2 Days: The Complete Guide — Fifty kilometres of river over two days, and a night camped on a sand beach in the middle of it.

• Bungee Jumping and the Zip Flyer in Nepal — Nepal has one of the world's highest bungee jumps, one of its steepest ziplines, and a canyon in Parbat that has become an adventure hub.