Travel in Trishuli River

Trishuli is a river, not a town, and on our trips it is a stretch of one driving day rather than a place you stay. It runs west of the Kathmandu Valley, beside the road our itineraries take towards Bandipur and Pokhara. Two of our six Nepal trips name it. The other four do not.

The two are Impressions of Nepal – culture and nature, 17 days from EUR 1,640, where the river falls on day 7; and Majestic Himalayas, also from EUR 1,640, where it falls on day 6. On both, the day is the drive west out of the Kathmandu Valley into rural Nepal, ending in Bandipur.

The river itself appears in one line of each itinerary. Impressions of Nepal offers an easy white-water rafting trip on the Trishuli; Majestic Himalayas calls the same run gentle. Both mark it optional and at an additional cost. It is not in the trip price, and it is arranged on the day rather than booked as a fixed item. Majestic Himalayas also puts a village visit on the same drive.

What the itineraries do not give is detail. No put-in or take-out point, no river grade, no length of run, no duration, no price, no named operator. There is no overnight on the water anywhere in our catalogue — no river camp, no multi-day descent. If the rafting matters to you, say so when you enquire and we will pin it down before you travel. Every trip is tailor-made, so the day can be built around it.

The night is in Bandipur, a town on a narrow ridge at 1,000 metres, with narrow lanes, traditional wooden houses and a local market. The afternoon there is free. Both trips then start the next day early, with the walk up to the Bandipur viewpoint for sunrise over the mountains, before continuing to Pokhara.

The four Nepal trips that do not mention the Trishuli split two ways. Temples, shrines & Himalayas, 14 days from EUR 1,350, drives the same road to Bandipur on day 5, but its itinerary offers a village visit and the narrow suspension bridges between the hill settlements instead — no rafting is listed. The world of Nepal, Trekking tour through Nepal and Culture and Himalayan hiking reach Pokhara by way of Chitwan and the Terai, and do not mention the river at all. If rafting on the Trishuli is the point, it is the two named routes that carry it.

Both trips are private and guided. There are no scheduled group departures, so the dates and the party are yours. Hotel accommodation, breakfast, a bottle of water on arrival and someone reachable 24 hours a day for the length of the trip are included on both. International flights are not. There is no five-star or luxury tier — the grades are Standard, Deluxe, Superior and Executive — and the rafting, if you take it, is paid on top.