Bunjee Jumping

When I first looked through VolNepal's website, I was immediately drawn to the 'adventures' listen on the column to the left. All of them sounded thrilling, but none piqued my interest more than bungee jumping. I have always loved thrills, and to jump off a bridge with only a cord attached at the ankles seemed like the ultimate thrill. Four volunteers all went to Kathmandu and arranged a trip to go to The Last Resort, run out of Thamel.

The ride to the resort was beautiful. Impromptu waterfalls fueled by the recently begun monsoon season and wispy mists flooded our senses.

When we reached the resort and got our first sight of the bridge, I was pretty unimpressed. The bridge looked like a standard Nepali suspension bridge, but didn't look like it was over too high of a drop. As we approached the entrance, however, I realized the gorge was so steep and so sudden that not until you were right on top of it could you appreciate its depth. Swaying above the dizzying drop, we caught sight of the raging river below. We were told that it was 160 meters to the river and that on the bungee cord we would be 120 meters from the bridge at full extension. The number didn't have nearly the impression seeing it did. Forced to cross the bridge to reach the resort, we all got a good taste of what was in store for us.

We were briefed on the safety information by the jump master and his crew then led out onto the bridge. We jumped in order of weight, the heaviest first. Certain of our group decided to canyon swing instead of jump, a 150km/hr ride that shot them through the gorge like a pendulum. The swingers went first, followed by the jumpers. After they called my name, it seemed like barely any time passed and they had me harnessed at the waist for backup and at the ankles where the cord attached. I was led out onto the platform and I felt like I was walking the plank. Told to, "1, 2, 3, Bungee!" I leapt out into oblivion. The first thought my brain had was directed at my legs and wondered what they had been doing! After four wonderful and agonizing seconds, the cord caught and I was rocketed back up toward the bridge. Bouncing around for a few minutes was great, getting to see the gorge and the river from a bird's eye view. The walk up out of the gorge was the worst part of the overall excellent experience. It was a great experience to have in Nepal, considering it's the highest bungee in Asia, second highest in the world. The volunteers and I all felt closer after finishing the trip and it was nice to have a break from the day-to-day that we had all grown used to.