Northern Thailand. Part 5. The Tard Luang.

After not much luck in Pai we've headed out to the Nan region of Thailand, about six hours drive East of Chiang Mai. Nan is not really on the tourist map, and it's a much smaller place with a totally different vibe to everywhere else we've been so far. A small town with some of the best food we've had on our trip, Nan is set high in the mountains with 80% of the land on a 45 degree angle or more. Our travels through the region brought us to heaps of small villages where the local people still live a traditional life.

-Josh on the Tard Luang-

Our time in Nan was to bring us some of the first real rain of our trip, Four more first descents and a multi-day expedition.

-Will on the first slide of the Tard Luang-

-Josh slides on the Tard Luang-

The first river we checked out was the Tard Luang. A local guide in Nan had told us he thought there were waterfalls there. We parked next to the river and looked around - we couldn't see much except that the was a steep gradient leading up the valley and a decent amount of water running past us. Then we were met by the park ranger who spoke no English, but pointed upstream and made excited gestures of waterfalls with his hands. Awesome!!

-Sam lines up for a sweet slot-drop-

With that we got our gear and started the hike. What we found was a sweet series of slides and drops, with just one portage in the middle.

-Sam hucks whilst Josh poses with the rangers (our guide is on the right)-

Our guide was invaluable. He led us up the path, across the river and up to the best whitewater on the section. Every time we thought we were at the best drop he'd just wave us on and keep heading upstream. The Tard Luang is a classic run and a beauty of a find.

Will

Sam

Josh

Northern Thailand. Part 4.

Pai. Hippies and dry river-beds.

Our run of luck was bound to run out sooner or later, and it managed to run out in Pai, a hippy hang-out North-West of Chiang Mai. We headed there to run the slides of the Mo Paeng, and to scout a couple more waterfalls in the vicinity. When we got there however there just wasn't enough water to paddle. A feature we've noticed on more than one river in Thailand is the diversion of water for irrigation and other such things. Had these pipes not been here, we may have had enough water to paddle.

-Sam and Josh hike up the Mo Paeng-

-Sam and Josh, not too happy-

With nothing to paddle we decided to stay the night and sample some of the other attractions Pai has to offer the traveller. I forget what happened after the 8th bottle of Sam Song, but I'm pretty sure a good night was had by all.


We got back to Chiang Mai last night and today we're on our way to Nan - hoping for rain.

Will.

Sam.

Josh.

Northern Thailand. Part 3.

First Descent number 2.

Yesterday we headed to the Jae Sawn National Park, two hours drive outside Chiang Mai. At times we weren't sure our car was going to make it - using first gear all too often to get up the mountain roads. But we got there eventually and weren't disappointed with what we found.

The Jae Sawn has a series of six waterfalls. We ran number 1 only. The upper fall (number 6)was runnable, but ran straight into number 5 which had a nasty log jam across it, and no way to get out before. Number 3 will definitely go with a little more water to beef up the landing - as it was it was a clean 40footer into 4-5 feet of plunge pool, and not worth the risk.

-Josh running number 1 on the Jae Sawn-

-Me on the Jae Sawn-

Number 1 looked good to go, and after 30 minutes of throwing logs we'd figured the landing was deep. We had to abseil in from above with our kayaks, then we could get out on the lip and have a final inspection. It certainly looked bigger from the top - and a little trickier too with a nasty fold that could easily send you off line from the start. By the time Josh was ready to go we had a bit of a crowd gathered below the falls, none of them really sure what we were doing - but pretty shocked by what they saw! We ran it a couple of times each, and got some nice video and photos. The last shot of Sam hucking has Josh hanging off the side of the falls getting a really unique angle of the drop on film.

-Sam Hucking-Josh Filming-

All in all it was an awesome day and an awesome drop, and definitely worth a second look if there's a bit more rain.

Will.

Sam.

Josh.

Northern Thailand. Part 2.

Sometimes you find the sweetest things right on your doorstep. This was certainly true for the river we found today.
We were searching on the internet last night for waterfalls and the like throughout the whole northern region of Thailand. We found a few possibilities. One of the falls looked pretty runable and only a 30 minute drive from Chiang Mai, so this morning we loaded the boats and headed out.

What we found was a gem. Immediately we saw the fall from the internet - and then another, and another and another! It turned out this river - the Mae Sa - had a series of ten waterfalls in a row, with a load of cool little rapids and slides in between. It's in a national park, and luckily for us there was a path and wooden steps along both sides of the river. We hiked up to see what we could run, and wern't dissapointed. This is what we're here for, and we were stoked!

The first couple of falls were a little bit sketchy - but will definitly go - maybe with a little more water. So we started with the third one down. Josh hit it first and stomped the line. I went up next and hit it sweet. This got us fired up for the rest of the run.

-Josh styles down number 9-

-Me on number 9-

Next up was a portage around a drop we wern't fully keen to run - but next time I reckon we'll hit it. A sweet little slide followed to the next drop. This one was pretty messy, with an awkward run in and a load of ledges all the way down. The photo doesn't quite do it justice, but Josh stepped up and again nailed the line.

-Sam below number 7-

-Josh on number 6-

After that we came down to the drop we'd seen the day before on the internet. A sweet 20footer to boof off. Sam hit it first with Josh following him down. Then I ran up for my go. Half way to the top I see a dude on a mo-ped carrying a Rescue-ring (those red and white ones you get on the side of boats). The word had gotten out that the crazy phalangs (White people) we doing crazy stuff on the river!! I was told to stop and that it was dangerous, but with Jedi-like powers of persuasion I got them to go watch me instead. They loved it!

-Josh lines up the boof on 5-

-Sam on number 5-

The last section was a mix of portages and some cool slots and drops with a fun slide thrown in for good measure. And then we were off the water and back to Suzy Suzuki for some much needed water and a quick drive back to Chiang Mai.

-Sam on number 3-

-Me on number 1-

So right now, me and Josh are sitting back in our favourite coffee shop updating our blogs and trying to make some plans for tomorrow, while Sam's headed off for a massage. Our trip is getting off to a good start - The Mae Sa, from what we can gather is a first descent and that always makes us happy. Chiang Mai is a cool place to hang out, and there's always things going on to keep us busy. Thailand is not a bad place!

-Chiang Mai nightlife-

-Traditional Thai dancing-

We're off to do some more exploring tomorrow, so we'll keep you posted.

Happy paddling and Safe travels!

Will.
Josh.
Sam.

All Photos (c) Will Clark

Northern Thailand. Part 1.

Hey everyone - I'm sat in a coffee shop in Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. We've pretty much set up shop here for the last few days - enjoying the air conditioning, iced coffee and free internet.

-Thailand Chopper-

I got to Thailand on Thursday. Travelling from Uganda with Sam Ward, and hooking up with Josh Neilson in Bangkok airport. We're here for six weeks - exploring white water and searching for waterfalls. We met up with Pete Buick - a friend of ours out here in Thailand and began our travels north. We took the train from Bangkok up to Chiang Mai, and got some rest as we travelled 15 hours overnight.

-Weighing in at Bangkok Train Station-

-Buffalo Carts-

Now in Chiang Mai we've got ourselves a couple of apartments in the North of the city to base ourselves for our adventures. For the last few days we've been studying maps and getting in-touch with friends and Thai paddlers to get all the info we need to set out on some missions. We've got ourselves a cool little Suzuki to take us around, and yesterday we got on the water for the first time.

-Buddhist Temple in Chiang Mai-

We headed out of the city for a couple of hours to paddle the Mae Taeng River. It's a nice grade 3-3+ boulder garden style river. It was a nice little warm up and good fun to get out in the boats and on to a new river. We were on the water for about an hour and a half - and it was an awesome experience to see elephants bathing in the water and thick jungle hanging from the banks.

-The road to the Mae Taeng-

-Sam boofs on the Mae Taeng-

-Local Transport-

After the Mae Taeng we went to check out a couple of local waterfalls we'd spotted on the map. The driving out here is awesome - either solid tar roads, or fun offroad adventuring! So even if we couldn't paddle we had a lot of fun and saw some really cool places. The first waterfall - just 3km from the main road was a local chill-out spot and the perfect place to hang-out for a BBQ but unfortunately unrunnable. The second - called 'Mae Hon Lae' - we renamed the 'invisible hard to find in the bush waterfall'. After an hour of offroading through the jungle and no sign of it we cut our losses and headed home.

-Our Suzuki in the Jungle-

Now we're getting ready to hit the road again, in search of some big waterfalls and some multi-day kayaking. Next stop is the Nan province - North East of here.

Check back for the next update on what we find.

Will Clark

Sam Ward

Josh Neilson

A River of Change.

It's sad times for the Nile. We knew it was coming and now it's here - at least the beginnings of it anyway. They are building the Bujagali Dam on the River Nile. What does this mean? Well that depends on your point of view.

For all us boaters out here and around the world it's a tragedy. We have already lost some great white-water. Ugly Sisters has gone. No longer does our favourite local play wave exist. The effect of this has meant a back up of the river and that in turn has made 'Total Gunga' a grade 1 bimble instead of what used to be (in my opinion) the best big Grade 5 on this stretch of water. So now we have huge amounts of water heading down Silverback. And I've got to say it's made it interesting!! A huge wave train with confused, messy, boily water. It is not a good idea to swim here as you will go down for a long time!!

Total Gunga? Not any more!

For Uganda this project is welcomed. 250megawatts of predicted power, really will be a saviour for the country. However we'll have to wait and see the real political impact of all this. With oil up north in Lake Albert - renewed conflict with the DRC - and heaps of other things going on in preparation for CHOGM this November, who knows how Uganda will fare.

Silverback, new and improved?!

All I know is some of my favourite white-water is being destroyed, and a noisy dirty building site is now on the banks of the Nile. Check out the photos - Total Gunga in the first and Silverback in the last.

I'm heading to Thailand this week for some creeking action up in the North. Myself, Sam Ward (UK) and Josh Nielson (NZ). We're hooking up with some of the local boys and it all looks set to be an epic adventure. Check here and www.dkayaking.net for updates on our travels and the rivers we find.

Happy paddling and Safe Travels!!

Fish Eagle

Ugly-Sisters first to go.

We've been told dynamite blasting of the Ugly Sisters channel (next to Silverback/Big Brother) is due to commence in two weeks.

They're going to start blasting the bedrock and also begin to fill the mouth of the channel to block it off.

Anton Imler (NRE's fearless video boater) has been hitting it hard lately and the DKayaking (www.dkayaking.net) French boys have just headed that way from the Hairy Lemon. I'm off the water with a bust up shoulder at the moment but I'll try and get some photo's of their antics - maybe the last ever ugly Sister sessions!

I'll be sure to let you know more news as we get it and let you know when it finally happens and what the other channels are like with twice the volume of water heading their way.

If you haven’t seen Ugly Sisters, it's an awesome wave - dependent on water level - twenty minutes paddle from the NRE campsite. It's the evening run, it's sick and it's about to disappear.

Nile Special Sunset Sessions.

It's been a while in the making. But it's finally here. New moves and a lot of the old. Paddlers - Sam Ward, Billy Harris, Jon Best, and more.

Sam's been down on the wave for months - perfecting his skills and inventing some new moves. This is the result. Enjoy!