Watersports: Canyoning in Nuwakot



Watersports: Canyoning in Nuwakot


Canyoning: The sport of exploring a canyon by engaging in such activities as rappelling, rafting, and waterfall jumping.

During the start of the monsoon season in Kathmandu we were invited to the 2nd Nepal Canyoning Rendezvous organised b Nepal Canyoning Association (NCA). The tagline “Come surrender your senses” seems overwhelming and exciting at the same time. A combination of words that was to create an internal excitement perpetuated by the continuous adrenaline rush.

 
Location: Chahre Waterfall, Thanapati, Nuwakot



After a bumpy journey through the breath-taking view of Nuwakot Valley we reached the village of Thanapati. Upon arrival we were presented with Khata and red Tika as a way of showing appreciation to the guests upon a safe arrival. What we expected next was unexpected to say the least. The whole village paraded alongside the enthusiastic and at time confused participants. The awkwardness quickly diffused into a mutual understating and everyone was seen dancing or at least walking actively towards the waterfall.





 
There is an almost quaint correlation between what is before our eyes and the thoughts we are able to have in our heads: large thoughts at times requiring large views, and new thoughts, new places. Nepal’s beautiful geographical advantage allows for such magnificent waterfalls to form in the most remote areas. It’s just humans who are able to defy and challenge what nature provides for us. Maybe we are fools; fighting waterfalls, scaling down slippery rock faces and plunging into waterfalls. 

There was a drum of anxieties that revolved in everyone consciousness as we approached the waterfall. Extending one’s neck towards the edge of the waterfall created new patterns of anxiety inevitably arising form the horizon of consciousness. I was to discover an unexpected continuity between the melancholic self I had been couple of minutes ago and the person I was to be hanging from the rocks, a continuity quite at odds with the radical discontinuity in the waterfall and the monsoon climate. 



There are few emotions about places for which adequate single words exist; we are forced instead to make awkward piles of words to convey what we feel. As we watch the nervousness on people’s faces in exciting unfamiliar surroundings that fade from bright to dark in contrast to the stillness presented from the pool of water near the fall. 

To describe this experience with words seems impossible, you just have to try it. A big thanks to Rajendra Lama and all NCA organizers. Well done to all the participants.
                                                                                                                      

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