Domestic tourists seek thrill of bungee jumping

Nepal’s first bungee jumping site at Last Resort in Sindhupalchok has been attracting hordes of domestic thrill seekers lately.

The adventure activity had been badly hit by the 2015 earthquakes, landslides and floods that caused substantial damage to roads and other infrastructure in the area.

Once a popular adventure activity for foreigners, bungee jumping is now drawing more and more domestic visitors. “We have been receiving nearly 200 visitors in a week and majority of them are domestic visitors,” said Kumar Raut, resort’s manager handling the bungee jump.

“We have been serving 70 individuals daily.” The Last Resort located around 100 km east of Kathmandu provides jumping and swinging experience over the Bhote Koshi River close to the Tibetan border. The valley is narrow with steep hillsides towering over 2,000 metres from the river. It is situated at 160m above a gorge with the river raging below.

Besides the jump and swing, the resort offers other adventure activities like thrilling white water rafting, canoeing and rock climbing. The Bhote Koshi is the steepest river rafted in Nepal with a gradient of 15 m per km.

 “For safety purposes, it’s mandatory for customers to undergo a medical check,” said Raut. “From briefing to knotting the elastic cord, it takes at least 3 minutes to complete the jump.”

For the Nepalis, the cost is Rs5,200 while the charge for foreigner is Rs8,200 per person. The resort said that business is brisk nowadays, after being hit by several natural disasters in the area.

When it opened in 1999, the Last Resort was amongst the highest suspension footbridges in the world. Swiss designed, especially for bungee jumping with a 4x safety factor, the bridge is able to hold 4.5 tonnes. Over 6,000m of steel wire was used to build the longest suspension bridge in Nepal.

source: the kathmandu post, 14 May 2018