Bungee Jumping....

Well.... yesterday may have been one of the most thrilling days of my life. I woke up at 5:45am to catch a bus out to Bhote Kosi on the Tibetan border of Nepal where we got off at this massive canyon. I can't even begin to describe what this looked like, it was absolutely breathtaking. The canyon had water falls coming into it from way up in the mountains and was just absolutely incredible.... instead of just sitting there and admiring the view, I decided to jump into the canyon. Twice.

Bhote Kosi is the home of "The Last Resort." Which is a breeding ground for tourists and bungee jumping enthusiasts from around the world. A suspension bridge crosses the canyon at 160m in the air (an American Football field is 100 yards or 33m roughly) and dozens of people jump off each day. It is the largest bungee jump off a suspension bridge in the world and the third largest bungee jump period.... they also offer something called a canyon swing where you are bound by a waist harness and you drop and then a suspension cable out in front of you catches and swings you along the canyon at 150 km/h. It is the largest canyon swing in the world.

At around noon, myself and five other Projects Abroad volunteers (along with 20 random people) walked out across the suspension bridge. I got to go first. They put the harness on me, I jumped (feet first), and after a 5 second drop the cable caught me and swung me along the canyon. It was an amazing rush.... terribly frightful, but oddly I felt a lot like Spiderman. After a 10-15 minute hike back up (amongst the beautiful water falls and scenery that Bhote Kosi has to offer) I was back on the suspension bridge waiting for my turn to do the bungee jump. This is the more traditional jump that you all know, bound by your ankles and jumping head first. Unfortunately this style of jump was a lot shorter (3 seconds), but since you're falling head first it is much more thrilling and scary. The sudden rush of adrenaline you get as you free fall is amazing, but the bouncing around in the canyon is rather enjoyable.

Once again I got to enjoy the beautiful hike back up, unfortunately noticing at this time that leeches had made their way into my shoes, and had lunch. By the time I got to the top and took my shoes off, my socks and shoes were soaked in blood.... and they were only tiny leeches!!!! Turned out that everyone got bit my leeches at some point, what a nuisance!!!!

Anyhow, it was a great day full of exciting thrills and disgusting feet.... what an adventure!