HRG on the Sun Kosi River in Nepal
Epic is one word used to describe the first ever Himalayan River Girls (HRG) decent of the Sun Koshi River where 30 female kayakers from Sweden, Norway, Wales, USA, Nepal and New Zealand embarked on a 270km, 10 day white water kayaking trip in Nepal. Other words could include frantic, a world first, inspirational or just straight up crazy. But it was definitely epic on many levels.
All the kayakers on the HRG trip... theres another 10 women in the rafts as well
The idea for the HRG kayaking club was originated over a year ago by Swedish paddler Inka Trollsas, who after spending 8 seasons in Nepal had never met a single female river guide. In an industry so huge that ‘Rafting’ is given as an option for why you are entering the country in your customs card – it seemed crazy that not a single woman worked in this industry. Something had to change, and this is where the HRG club came in.
All the HRG women together at the base of the waterfall
The initial idea was to teach some Nepali women how to kayak, but this idea quickly escalated into a huge scale month long programme with 9 Nepali women who participated in kayaking, rafting, river rescue and first aid components, with 21 women from all over the world volunteering to help with the project and 2 film crews joined the party as well!!!
Team Kiwi consisted some of my favourite people Sofalofa Hoskins, Hessie Hilbink, Malaika Davies, Emi Earle, Hayley Segal, Kelly Blayney!!! and I came along too.
Kelly, Malaika, Hessie, Hayley, Sofa, me, Spanna and Emi representing Aotearoa
Team Kiwi rocked into Kathmandu with the aim to donate their skills, time and over $10,000 worth of kayaking equipment that they had been generously donated by the NZ public or sponsored by companies such as Canoe and Kayak, Keen, Macpac, Bivouac, Hydraulics, Icebreaker, CPIT, Shewee, Day Two, Fergs Kayaks, Hybrid Care and helped out by Singapore Airlines.
Just a tiny amount of the gear that was donated to the HRG club by team kiwi
The Sun Koshi River is an amazing 10 day kayaking trip, which starts off with flat water and easy grade 2 rapids and then builds up progressively to peak with 3 days of quality high volume grade 3-4 sections and then settles down again to the finish. This meant that the Nepali girls could be in kayaks on the easy stuff and then jump on the raft for infamous rapids like Huckapor, Dead Man’s Eddie and Jungle Corridor.
Im loving chilling on the rock with Komila (Little Ant), Emi, Hayley and Radha
The trip started off in typical Nepali fashion with horrendous road blocks, hours and hours of delays and general chaos, as well as so much media attention at the put-in that we ended up getting on the water hours later than planned and arrived at camp in darkness.
Emi, Malaika and Hessie riding in style to the put in
Home sweet home while on the river... me, Sofa, Kelz, Hayley, Hes, M*, Spanna and Bruno
The first few days flew by, with the majority of the time being dedicated to teaching the Nepali girls everything about life on and off the water. Everything on this trip was new to them; most of them could not even swim 2 weeks before the trip, but half way through the Sun Koshi they were fearlessly throwing themselves into rapids that some of the foreign girls even swam on!!!
Inka, Radha and Malin enjoying the beautiful river, outstanding weather and great company
Occasionally there would be a big hole or wave train that was dotted between kilometers of flat water and the Nepali girls wouldn’t even blink an eyelid or even think about portaging. One of the local girls Radha was such a natural kayaker that she surfed out of a massive hole that she got caught in on her 4th ever day on the river.
Radha showing us how to kayak on her 4th day in a boat!!!
They learnt how to read white water, build toilet tents and look after foreign women knocked out with the D&Vs (Diarrhea and Vomiting). They amazed us all with their natural ability, positive attitudes and determination to be the first Nepali women to break into the white water industry… and this is from girls as young as 18 who had never even seen a drybag before!!!
Hessie enjoying an early morning venture to the beautiful toilet tent
And then there were the sicknesses. With a group of 35 people on a multi-day kayaking trip in Nepal with no access to clean water and minimal hygiene standards - we were destined to get sick. It seemed like everyday there was a new casualty who had to be confined to an oar boat as there was no way that they could paddle due to D&Vs, exhaustion, dehydration and the inability to hold down food or water.
It looks innocent and delicous... but its cooked in water that has run through China, Tibet and half of Nepal before it got to us and our bellies... it quickly come out...of both ends...not so cool!!!!!
Then Huckapor rapid loomed upon us. We guessed that this was the first Grade 4 rapid that the Nepali girls had ever seen, due to the expression on their faces when they stood on the bank looking at it!!! Huckapor intimidated more than just the Nepali girls, as only half of the foreign women paddled it, but everyone who chose to paddle the rapid styled it.
Scouting Huckapor
Then there was Dead Mans Eddie which is another big rapid notorious for the accident that gave the rapid its name. It is a long rapid that in higher water could be real knarly but at the flow we had, it was big and fast but super friendly. All the foreign girls jumped in the kayaks and styled it with ease. 
Sweet line and good times
With these two rapids out of the way everyone sighed with relief thinking that the hardest rapids on the trip were over… but then Rhino Rock and Jungle Corridor came upon us and hit us hard!!!! Rhino Rock is a really long sustained rapid with massive waves, big holes, and about 5 different runable lines. As we thought the major rapids were over we just boat scouted this rapid - but then the paddle signals changed with almost every paddler who ran the rapid. There were so many lines that you could take but impossible to know which one was best and what feature was in between them. All of the Nepali girls were in the rafts but a few of the foreign women explored some interesting lines and took some good beat-downs along the way. But what a beautiful rapid!!! We all could not believe that it did not have a reputation that preceded it because it was one the classiest rapids on the whole river.
Huckapor rapid
And then there was Jungle Corridor, a section of 5 beautiful big volume rollercoaster rapids which always ended in flat pools and about 20 women smiling from ear to ear and screaming with laughter about how fun that rapid had just been!!! None of the Nepali girls were ready to run a section like Jungle Corridor so they were all on the raft which meant that we able to take off our teaching hats and be let loose on the river!!! Jungle Corridor was definitely a trip highlight, and some of us mulled over the idea of hitching a lift 20km upstream to do it all over again!!!
Team extreme always trying to find a challenge...
Hasellah is always smiling... but this time because she was getting into the boat after the major rapids
And then all too soon we were on the flat water heading to our final destination. The last few days were focused on getting the Nepali girls back on the water to develop their kayaking skills, but before we could say ‘Namaste’, we were at the take-out ready for our 20 hour drive away from the river we had called home for the last 10 days.
When the river opened up and turned into the plains
The Sun Koshi trip may have officially finished, but the river training programme had just started for the Nepali girls as there was still the Peak UK Himalayan White Water Festival to enter, 2 weeks of river rescue, raft and first aid training to start and another kayaking trip on the Seti River with most of Team Kiwi and USA. 
Emi leading the pack at the get out
The HRG Sun Koshi River trip will be remembered for so many reasons by those fortunate enough to be part of the journey; For the scenery, the local villagers, the generosity of the people and companies that supported the HRG club, the attempted macaroni cheese, the illnesses, the 2 films that are going to be made about it, the flat water, the white water, the yoga, the fact that 30 women were on the river at one time, and that after the trip all the Nepali girls got offered jobs from 5 of Nepal’s leading raft companies… and this is just the tip of the ice berg to why this trip was pure and simply EPIC!!!
Sofa feeling the burn after the steepest hill of the whole trip
Cheers... to free accommodation as long as we buy their food!!!
The entire team at ABC (4200m) just before our decent, with Annapurna Mountain behind us. 
Noone really pictures the Himalayas as having a tree line... but it is lush and beautiful 
Malin struggling with the Altitude
Team Xtreme loving being at the top
Me and Sofa reminiscing on the trip we had just completed from view at Pohkara 
