Wednesday night I returned to the hotel as it was getting dark. I braved the streets by myself and was trying to make it home before it got too dark since Niraj said after the electricity is turned off it can be dangerous. Yes, much of the electricity in the city was turned off at 6 although it seems like it was on later on Thursday night. Anyway, I completely walked past my hotel and had a moment of panic where I felt quite lost and vulnerable. However, after asking directions I managed to get back to my hotel and proceeded to almost fall asleep while waiting for my very delicious dinner in the hotel restaurant. I went to bed at 8 but woke up at 5 which is a trend I've continued while here.
Ok, onto rafting. Niraj met me at 6am and we went and picked up Jo at her hotel. He then dropped us off at a bus that was to take us to the rafting spot. The route involved the main highway in Nepal that runs the whole way to India. The Prithiv Hwy is a narrow winding 2 lane road that joins the Trisuli river outside of Kathmandu and follows it west to India. After about 3 hours we arrived and were met by our rafting guide and his two helpers (they just helped us to paddle since there were no other clients). Since it is the dry season the rapids weren't as good as they are during the monsoon season but there were still some fun ones maybe one or two class IV rapids and at least a handful of class III. It was nice to be outside on the river and we passed many small villages and people working/playing/bathing along it. The main industry is that of making sand and gravel. Young men with pick axes were breaking up large rocks in the river bed. On the side of the road you could see small children and elderly people with hammers smashing smaller stones into sand. Many walking bridges also spanned the river and led to good people watching. Anyway, it was a lot of fun. Back in Kathmandu we got massages and had dinner at the Kathmandu Guest House's restaurant. I then returned home and was back in bed just after 8 although once again I missed my hotel in the crowded streets. This time however they had closed up the front so it was completely indistinguishable from all the other closed store fronts.
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