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Ram Silwal undertakes the expedition of a lifetime: |
| From
source to sea! |
| This
is the story of Ram Silwal, a professional expedition kayaker
from the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal, and his dream to do what
no one has done before. |
| So
far Ram is the only kayaker in the world who has paddled all
the seven major rivers in eastern Nepal, draining from the mighty
Himalayas, the tallest mountain range in the world. Paddeling
the beautiful and wild white waters of the Himalayas for years
Rams dream has become to follow theese veins of the Earth to
the end, until the water from the high mountains drains into
the sea. Ram will be the first man to paddle all the seven rivers
of the eastern Nepali Himalayas and follow them to the sea -
this expedition has never been done before. |
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| The
journey covers 1500 km from the source of the most western of
the seven rivers, the Indrawoti, to the Bay of Bengal. The expedition
starts out with some of the most challenging white water in
the world and continous on the Sun Koshi - the river of gold,
where the other six major Himalayan rivers drains in, the Bhote
Koshi, Thamba Koshi, Likhu Khola, Dudh Koshi, Arun and Tammar.
When the last river, Tammar, has joined the Sun Koshi, the river
changes it's name to Sapta Koshi - "seven rivers"
in Nepali. Sapta Koshi then crosses the border between Nepal
and India and continous towards the Indian subcontinent, before
joining the holy Ganges river. The Ganges then flows east through
India and Bangladesh before spreading it's holy - and crocodile
infested - water into a hugh delta and reaching the Indian Ocean
in the Bay of Bengal. Ram calculates that the journey will take
him around 40 days in a kayak, from the source, to the sea. |
| Ram
was the first Nepali to paddle the Dudh Koshi, the steepest
river in the world, draining from Mt. Everest, he lead the first
descent expedition down the Likhu Khola and the film about the
descent of Arun Gorge is showing on National Geographic Channel
around the world. He has paddled the rivers of the Himalayas
for almost 15 years and every expedition has ended with a take
out where Sapta Koshi - the seven rivers from the Himalayas
- begins. But this once the journey will continue and Ram will
follow his beloved rivers to their end. |
| The
adventure will begin on August 20 in the Nepali capital of Kathmandu.
Since the first tourist arrived here in 1950 the town has been
a starting point for extreme adventures, not the least for expeditions
to Mt. Everest. Ram plan to start his trip in August, when the
monsoon season gives the rivers their highest waters in the
year. The expedition will start with a tough trek to reach the
source of the Indrawoti, in the mountains above Kathmandu. Ram
will put his kayak in the water at the source and then be the
first man ever to paddle the upper Indrawoti. To paddle this
white water will be a challenge very few kayakers would undertake.
The rest of the more then 300 km long journey through Nepal
in the high waters of the monsoon will continue to be a challenge
for the experienced paddeler. Reaching the Sapta Koshi a visit
to one of the oldest Hindu temples in the region, the Baraha
Chetra and a blessing from the priest, will be needed to take
on the next part of the journey. Here the white water challenge
ends, but instead comes the mental challenge of paddeling the
next 1200 km or so, to the sea. Paddeling, camping and be self
supported for this long journey is a logistic challenge as well
as one in courage, as the holy waters are filled with longnosed
Ganges crocodiles. |
| Ram
hopes to finish his once in a lifetime expedition by paddeling
into the Bay of Bengal in the end of September or beginning
of October. By hindus it is said that you should wash in the
holy Ganges river to step into heaven with a pure soul so with
all that riverwater washing over him Ram hopefully will have
the support of the gods making it from the source to the sea! |
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Articles
and film
Ram has participated in, and lead, several
major, international expeditions in the Himalayas. Some of
them have been filmed for international TV-channels like National
Geographic Channel and Outdoor Life Network. His expedition
articles has been published in magazines such as Playboating
UK, Canoest, Canoe and Kayak, American Whitewater, Action
Asia, the Nepali Times, Paddling Magazine of Sweden and others.
The Source to Sea expedition will be featured in articles
for paddeling- and adventure magazines and the journey will
be filmed and turned into an adventure documentary on this
unique expedition.
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www.ramsilwal.com
www.royalbeachnepal.com
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