SAMAYA x NOURIA NEWMAN

 

 

In December 2023, Nouria Newman and her fellow kayakers Serguei Ilin and Kristof Stursa traveled to Nepal to descend three mythical rivers. Nouria recounts their bus journeys, unexpected encounters, and the tumultuous Nepalese waters.

 

"The idea was to go to Nepal during the autumn to paddle the rivers considered to be great classics: Thuli Bheri, Karnali, and the Dudh Kosi. The latter is the only one I had already partially descended by packraft the previous autumn.

 

With my friends, Sergey from Russia and Christophe from Austria, we wanted to refine our understanding of river morphology, specifically gradient profiles based on flow rates and watersheds. For me, it was about getting to know these key rivers before potentially going out to discover new things.

 

As a trio, we were able to do the Thuli Bheri and the Karnali, then I did the Dudh Kosi solo. It’s a beautiful Nepalese trilogy, what we call a 'Triple Crown' in the kayaking world, in reference to the pioneers who established the first triplet in British Columbia and Alaska with the legendary descents of the Stikine, Susitna, and Alsek."

 

"It's always hard to choose which rivers to do. Let's just say the first two were obvious. The Thuli Bheri is the most beautiful to navigate, surely the least difficult of the three but the highest quality. It's 5 days of truly continuous paddling of great beauty. The Karnali flows down from Mount Kailash in Tibet and carries great significance. The Dudh Kosi is known as the ruthless river of Everest, with previous generations of kayakers having tried to 'conquer' it by starting from the highest possible altitude and tackling unthinkable canyons... The 1990s guidebook describes it as a rock-infested channel full of bad gravel and rotting rapids. I wanted to restore the image of this river by doing the most navigable and pleasant section.

 

Historically, it’s interesting; it’s a beautiful place and it’s quite wild. The contrast between the upper part of this river in the Khumbu, with all the trekkers—a completely overpopulated area—and the descent of the river where there is no one left, where everything is wild and you can't resupply when you want to."

 

"Besides the trilogy, we set ourselves the constraint of doing it as cleanly as possible. Instead of flying, we did everything by bus. That allowed us to discover the country better, at a slower pace. Public transport is always a bit funny because you struggle. There will always be a bus, but you don't know when it leaves or when it arrives. Sometimes the trip will take a day or two longer. Sometimes the driver will stop the bus somewhere and decree that we are all sleeping here. We experienced some pretty incredible things: in France, when people throw plastic bags out the window, you're disgusted; here, when the Nepalese vomit into their plastic bags and throw them out the window, you're very happy it didn't land on your feet. We found ourselves holding babies in our arms and chickens on our laps. It was quite funny and at the same time very uncomfortable. The travel tired us out more than the days on the water in the kayak."

 

"Once the bus journey was over, we thought we would find a bit of calm by getting away from the crowds, but we were surprised to meet so many people while descending the Thuli Bheri and the Karnali.

 

We managed to string together the first two rivers without a hitch, happy to be paddling such beautiful rapids in the heart of spectacular landscapes. Often, we would find ourselves near villages and quickly find ourselves surrounded by all the residents who came to visit us. It was great because the young people were attracted and intrigued by the kayaks, but it was also quite complicated because we had very few moments of tranquility and therefore rest."

 

"Once the first two rivers were done, we went back through Kathmandu and I gave myself two or three days of respite and rest before continuing with my solo descent of the Dudh Kosi. Despite its tarnished reputation, I loved it! With a more delicate stretch between Basa and Waku, the descent was more committing and in an expedition style, more so than for the two previous rivers. This time, I had looked at satellite images and maps beforehand so I could go bivouac in isolated and quiet canyon areas, under the Samaya TARP. I was able to appreciate the calm of the place and complete this 'Triple Crown' as I had hoped."

©Photographs taken by Kristof Stursa