Important Notice for Kayakers visiting Nepal

There is a new permit situation in Nepal about kayaking in General. Basically it means that a kayaker or group can not go with a local guide but will have to go through a company to book or hire the guide. additionally, when going without a guide, the group will have to apply for a permit for the river they want to kayak. This is neccessary for all the rivers in Nepal and a small fee of roughly 50-100$ (depending on group size/river) will be charged. Obviously NARA (Nepal Association of Rafting Agencies) will handle this new rule with care and there`s no need to be worried or even scared away. After speaking with members i got assured, that the main idea behind it is to have a system taking care of people moving into remote areas. There is also a thought to maybe involve an insurance when purchasing the Permit. Issuing of the permit will take about 5 working days and you can apply for it through companies or direct with NARA. For this you need to mention the river and the group size. As this regulation is new be prepared that there will be some changes happening throughout the year to fully adjust to the demand and needs. I personally think, that it is a good idea to have a permit if it also gives you some local insurance for helicopter rescue or similar. Otherwise i am a little bit opposed to it, as i usually don`t like the permit idea (not only for kayaking) of restricting movements. Overall i hope that things will change to a way that you will be able to collect the permit within a day. Let`s see how/when this is going to happen.

The new news

According to the newest informations, the permit will (for the moment) be necessary from the 1st of October onwards. Costs have not been fixed as yet and vary from group size and river.

Most important is, that the permit will represent more an arrival and counting system to track tourists similar to the trekking permits.

Basically you will/should report upon your arrival before you go to head out for a river. This procedure wont take to long and i guess that for the main rivers this is not necessary at all (for the time being).

Basically all the headaches do not come from the river comunity here in Nepal but from the Government which wants to have statistics and reports of groups heading out to lesser known areas.

To obtain the permit you can go to any rafting operator or directly to the Ministry of Tourism (which will take more time and more headaches).