It all started in a confined room of my residence. A thought never practically accomplished combined with hydrophobia made it scary for us in its approach. On a wet monsoon day of June my wife and I made up our minds to give way to our fear and venture out into the waters of challenge and myth. As we had never tried our hands on this form of adventure heard a lot but never dared to tread around the vicinity where water had its upper hand. We carefully yet sensibly took a huge step to conquer this enigma called rafting. For this adventure we took a help of one of the best rafting organizer in the business. After gathering all the required details and fulfilling all the requirements we decided to take a plunge of a lifetime. The day finally dawned and with a deep breath we boarded the carrier provided by the company and set out on a daring journey. As we were passing by the bridges and roads, a thought kept on haunting our minds as what next. After a long drive we finally reached the mouth of the river Arun from where we had to commence our battle with the shimmering waters at our disposal. Noise of the gushing waters drenched deep into our heart and with the help of our rafting expert we stepped into the rafting boat. Although with no formal training and guidance we still had to achieve it, backed by our instincts one thing was pretty sure that we would make it. As we glided down the river we could experience lots of jolts and turns sitting on the rafting boat glancing each other’s expressions. For a while everything was calm and blissful, but the very moment a treacherous down trail was waiting for us once we reached the end of a narrow path the boat slowly but surely start to bend vertical we had our hands in our mouth and within a spur of a moment it glided like and eagle down the fall and we thought that it would be our last bend downwards. Luckily for us the person entrusted to deliver gave us immense strength and words of consolement and we overcame this hurdle. Ruggedness is at its best while going through this circuit everywhere you will find small boulders and small rocks blocking your way and you have to use your strength to get pass this. The best part while rafting Arun is the backdrop as you can experience soothing pieces of voices of flora and fauna not only that while rafting through this thick vegetation you can also get to know about the local ethnic communities and their intimate warmth which makes you feel warm under extremely trying conditions. It intermingles with the atmosphere and gives it a very special meaning to the voyage. Climatically this trail serves a mix and match sort of influence with its variations in climate which puzzles you all the time about its topographic and geographic diversity.

This was the first day’s encounter to a 3 day trip.

Second day dawned with all its glory and significance waiting to embrace us for our move on. My wife felt uneasy as she had a mild temperature and a swollen hand. We were a bit worried as the second day was a day to conquer the rapids and fall with rocks and boulders bounding the way and we had to get pass through it. Physical fitness was the order of the day as it proposed a huge challenge especially for my wife since she was unfit so she decided, to lay back and reluctantly approved me to go on. As I arrived from the point from where we had to commence I paused for a moment and took a huge breath gazed all around and set out along with other crew members. This day brought with it the unexpected challenge the rain, thundershowers pelting all around us made the river wild and difficulty reached at its zenith. Rafting expert briefed me some important instructions and asked me to be positive and stick to the basics and we would make it. All went all and turn after turn we match the challenges thrown towards us by the nature and finally reached the uptrail where we had to be. In spite of all odds we came out from it spick and span.

Final day was not too dramatic as we decided to cut our trip short and say adieu. It was not only emotional but a sad moment too, wanted to caress the waters one more time but unfortunately couldn’t as the climate went bad to worse which made rafting virtually impossible. However we had nothing to regret, although the trip was cut short we thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it most importantly we overcame our fear for water which had haunted our minds for a very long time. This trip was safe and sound too simply because the company had a systematic approach and its crew members were expert and best in their business. It was a long drive back again to Kathmandu and we came out successfully with flying colors and without a scratch. Arun river will always reverie in our memories till time immemorial. A lot of thanks to Himalayan River Operator Nepal and its wonderful staffs who made it all possible for a hydrophobic.