Overview
This Pokhara adventure tour gives you a full day at The Cliff and a full day of Pokhara's own activities, bookended by the drive from and back to Kathmandu. You travel west to Pokhara and on to Kusma, where The Cliff hangs over the Kali Gandaki gorge. The next day is yours there: a 228 m (748 ft) bungee, a swing jump with around eight seconds of free fall, and a sky cycle on a wire 255 m above the river. On day three you return to Pokhara for a half-day raft on the Upper Seti and a tandem paragliding flight from Sarangkot. Day four begins with sunrise at Sarangkot before the drive home. It suits fit, adventurous travellers who want several thrills in one short trip.
The itinerary
- Early start west on the Prithvi Highway, six to eight hours to Pokhara
- Domestic flight to Pokhara available instead, around 25 to 30 minutes
- Continue 57 km beyond Pokhara to Kusma in Parbat
- Overnight near The Cliff, ready for an early start at the gorge
- Report by 9 am for the safety briefing and weigh-in
- Bungee jump from 228 m (748 ft) above the Kali Gandaki
- Swing jump with around eight seconds of free fall, solo or tandem
- Sky cycle on a wire 255 m above the river, then a second night in Kusma
- Morning drive back to Pokhara
- Half-day raft on the Upper Seti, about 90 minutes of grade 3 and 4 water
- Tandem paragliding flight from Sarangkot, landing near Lakeside, weather permitting
- Evening free by Phewa Lake in Lakeside
- Pre-dawn drive of up to 30 minutes from Lakeside to Sarangkot
- Sunrise over the Annapurna range and Machhapuchhre on a clear morning
- Breakfast back in Pokhara before setting off
- Six to eight hours on the Prithvi Highway to your hotel in Kathmandu
Things to carry
- Sports shoes with a firm fit, required at The Cliff
- Quick-drying clothes and a swimsuit for the rafting
- River sandals or old trainers with a strap for the raft
- A windproof layer for the paragliding flight and Sarangkot sunrise
- A towel, change of clothes, sunscreen and sunglasses
Good to know
Complete guide
This is a four-day loop from Kathmandu built around the Pokhara area's big adventure activities: a full day at The Cliff in Kusma, then rafting and paragliding back in Pokhara, and a Sarangkot sunrise before you head home. It is for people who want to try several thrills in one trip rather than just one.
What the Pokhara adventure tour covers
Day one is the long one. The drive from Kathmandu to Pokhara on the Prithvi Highway takes six to eight hours, and you then continue 57 km beyond Pokhara to Kusma in Parbat, where The Cliff sits above the Kali Gandaki gorge. If you would rather save time, we can book the domestic flight to Pokhara instead, which is around 25 to 30 minutes in the air, and drive on from there. Day two is spent entirely at The Cliff. On day three you drive back to Pokhara for a half-day raft and a tandem paragliding flight. Day four starts before dawn at Sarangkot, the hill above Pokhara at 1,600 m (5,249 ft), and ends with the drive back to Kathmandu.
A full day at The Cliff
The Cliff is an adventure centre at Kusma, built above the Kali Gandaki gorge. Its bungee jump drops from 228 m (748 ft) above the river, and the operator bills it as the second-highest in the world. The swing jump uses dynamic ropes and a pendulum arc and gives around eight seconds of free fall, and there is a tandem version for two people. The sky cycle is slower but no less nerve-testing: you pedal a bicycle along a steel wire 300 m across, 255 m above the riverbank.
Activities start by 9 am, and jumps run in weight groups, which is why The Cliff asks guests to set aside the whole day. That is exactly why this trip gives it a full day rather than squeezing it in. The operator's limits are 45 to 95 kg for the bungee and 40 to 145 kg for the swing, and the bungee is for people aged 14 and above, with written parental permission for anyone under 18. Sports shoes are required, and sandals and jewellery are not allowed. Nothing runs in heavy rain, lightning or strong wind.
Rafting and paragliding around Pokhara
Pokhara sits at about 800 m, with the Annapurna range close to the north. The rafting is a half-day run, usually on the Upper Seti, about half an hour from Lakeside. Operators describe around 90 minutes on the water through continuous grade 3 and 4 rapids, so it is short but busy. The paragliding launches from Sarangkot and lands near Lakeside, flying tandem with an experienced pilot. Standard flights last roughly 15 to 30 minutes, and all you do is run a few steps at take-off and sit back.
Both activities depend on the weather and the river on the day, so we set their order in the morning. If cloud or wind grounds the flight, we look for a slot early the next morning at Sarangkot before the drive home. Nobody can promise flying weather, and we will not.
How hard it is, and who should skip parts of it
None of this needs previous experience, but it does need reasonable fitness and a clean bill of health. The Cliff advises anyone with heart conditions, high or low blood pressure, back or ankle problems, recent surgery, epilepsy, asthma or pregnancy to take medical advice before booking. The Upper Seti is livelier than the Trishuli, and some rafting operators set a minimum age of 16 for it, so tell us if teenagers are travelling.
You do not have to do everything. Many groups include someone who jumps and someone who watches from the Sky Cafe. The first and last days involve long drives, so this trip suits people who are happy to spend time on the road in exchange for a lot of action in between.
Choosing between this and the Nepal Super Adventure tour
Our five-day Nepal Super Adventure tour also visits The Cliff, but it gives you one jump there, adds an ultralight flight and canyoning in Pokhara, and finishes with Trishuli rafting on the way back. This four-day trip keeps you at The Cliff for a full day so you can combine the bungee, swing and sky cycle, then adds Upper Seti rafting, paragliding and the Sarangkot sunrise. The best seasons are October to November and March to May. If you want a gentle walk after all the adrenaline, the two-day Ghorepani Poon Hill trek from Pokhara is the natural add-on.
