Many a Superman has landed in Nepal seeking danger for a consort. And left, his bravado deflated by silent rock and rivers with icy, blue-grey eyes.

Rafting in the Trisuli (named after Lord Shiva’s trident), the Kali Gandaki and the Marsyangdi rivers takes more than just empty confidence. For the water jumps up and cuts you like a wickedly curved khukri knife.

Nepal gives you the option of jumping down cliffs – upside down, hovering in mid-air so you can almost reach out and touch the icy forehead of the Himalayas, climbing up gnarled rock and biking across the dirt roads that criss-cross the countryside. Whatever you choose to do will rattle you, turn you inside out and humble you. But if your spirit emerges unscathed, you will do it all again.