Today we found what we came for, what I hoped to gain from this expedition.

Craig and myself headed off this morning on a 2 hour drive to the Xe Semens and the Tad Lo Lodge on the eastern front of the Bolaven plateau.

Just another hike in Laos

We found two great waterfalls, very technical and the price of heading off line was high. The first Craig got the first decent on, a multi stage drop with a number of must make moves to stop yourself from breaking either your back or ankles.

I have recently returned to my feet from 3 and half months of not walking from a very serious broken leg and shattered ankle.
Craig told me of the great force he felt on his ankles and I decided not to run this drop.

Craig running the first decent of the first drop

Paddling in this environment there are many other factors to take into count other then “does it go?”
If something were to happen to us, then we would be around 3 days away from the nearest semi suitable hospital in Bangkok and the expedition would come to an end. We both are being very careful we don’t hurt out self’s unnecessarily.

The second drop was the biggest we have fired up so far on the trip. It was a 30+ foot waterfall, with a must boof onto a small ledge on the top. The entry rapid also got the heart running with no room for failure

I snagged the first decent of this waterfall and could not be happier. Craig running second snapped his Werner paddle on impact but had a sweet line.

Myself after the first decent of the big one for the day

Tad Lo lodge is a great retreat in the remote regions of the Plateau, complete with two resident elephants.

Today was a filming mission for the up and coming Small town boys production but our driver “Mr Slick” got a few shots on a point and shoot.

Tomorrow Craig and I are planning to paddle the first decent of the very committing Upper Champi, this run starts off with a 45 footer that we scouted earlier and finishes at a small village where we put in for the lower running that we run last week. We will both be wearing climbing harness’s in our boats and expect a few big abseils with hiking through the jungle not an option for a number pre mentioned reasons.

Wish us luck! And check in tomorrow to see how it went.

Cheers

Lachlan Carracher

Today’s goal was to explore a number of accessible waterfalls around Pakse area.

The first waterfall we scouted was Champi falls on the upper Champi River. We are planning to paddle the whole upper section as soon as the rest of the team arrive. This waterfall is around 45 feet high and has two distinct spouts; the one on river left appears to be better suited for kayaking. While paddling behind the waterfall we came across a green adder like snake, its neon green stood out against the dead tree lying behind the falls. Unfortunately we were unable to get any photos of it because of the over powering misc caused by the waterfall.

Standing in the rain with Champi falls in the Background

While scouting the falls we would often find our selves covered in Leeches. They were generally about a centimetre long when they latched onto us, but rapidly the longer they go un-noticed. After spending the morning with a handful hidden in the gap in my booties I ended up with a couple that were over 6 or so centimetres long.

Fluid Solo. Waiting for the rest of the crew to arrive before becoming active!

We scouted Champi falls for a couple hours and decided that it is “good to go”, but decided that it would be best to wait for the rest of the team to join us for safety reasons. After being stuck in a typical Laos rainy-season down poor we got our Tuk-tuk driver, Mr. Slick (named so due to of our inability to pronounce his real name and the lack of treat on his Tuk-tuk tyres), to take us to another waterfall he knew in the area.

Lao kid at waterfall.

Lachie peaking out on a very scary walk through the jungle - we took turns walking in front

Lachie and I arrived at a monster 70 meter waterfall, known at Tat Yuang. Above this magnificent waterfall lies a little creek holding a number of small rapids. Lachie and I decided to take a walk on a very eroded path on the river right bank. We had to remain constantly on the trail to avoid all chances of unexploded ordinances incidence and had to keep a watchful eye out for snakes. We luckily saw another stunning little snake, which lay in our path. After paddle a rather uneventful walk which took us away from the river we concluded that we should paddle upstream from Tat Yuang to see what we could find.

Horizon Line of Tad Yuang

The walk upstream was exhausting with very tight rapids and no paths on the side of the river, we almost lost both our kayaks on two different accasions as it was virtually impossible to hold onto them while traversing upwards over rocks and exposed trees. After hitting at a dead end caused by a 10 footer we decided we should pack up and head back to camp so we paddled the 50 or so meters back to where we put in and walked back to our awaiting Tut-tuk.

Lachie running one of the drops we climbed up.

Sam and Benji should be arriving tomorrow. The doubling of the team will mean that there are more hands to set up safety and thus make us better suited to paddle harder missions. Tomorrow, before they arrive, Lachie and I will probably head out to explore a couple more waterfalls.

It was been awesome driving around this magnificent country. Laos is likely to be the most beautiful place I have ever seen. Lush forests grow wherever you look and swarms of dragon flies cover the evening sky. The people separate this country from all the others I have been fortunate enough to paddle in. The locals always seem to be happy and, despite not being able to communicate in English, always want to help. The cultural shock mixed with the extreme surroundings following its natural abundance and war torn past makes Laos a unique destination to visit let alone kayak and explore.

Gear drying at the hotel

Craig

Day 1 of Laos White water.

This morning Craig and I loaded up the three wheeled motorbike known as a  “Tuk-Tuk” and headed to the lower section of the Champi.
The Champi is a fairly simple river consisting of a number boulder gardens. The section we completed finished with a very “manky” 20 foot waterfall called “Tat Lo”, which accrodring to the locals has been run before.

Shuttle Laos Style

First impressions of the river were great;
The Topography in the area consists of steep mountains causing sheer riverbanks.
The countryside is lush and beautiful.
It;s Hot! Wearing a shorty rash top is still too hot.
The jungle! The jungle is super thick, there is no way you can hike out the river gorge. Once you on the river you boxed in by jungle until you get off. (Slightly intimidating)
UXO’s: This is a major issue that we could only find the full extent of until we got here. Maimed people walk the streets, clearing of land mines is still a major task for the UN in this area. Info from a local couple this morning shared that the majority of the larger river systems were heavily bombed by the US because of their use for the movement of supplies in the Vietnam War. This inevitably means that the group will try to target the smaller creeks and try to stay away from major rivers in the area
Hiking out is not an option as we can only “walk were other have walked before”.

Craig On a Laos Bridge

On the river Craig and I came across many river crossings, put together from barbed wire likely from the war. One of these river crossings, in particular, was built with heavy duty climbing rope and was resting on floats on the river surface. This bridge, which appears to have been built for moving heavy loads from bank to bank had, a number of men seated around it. We both started to get out of our boat’s to climb over the bridge and hopefully, without reading in to the situations, take photos. The men suddenly approached very quickly, shouting the word “NO”. They seemed very rattled by the idea of us coming close to their “bank”.
We very quickly got onto our kayaks and headed downstream. Laos is renowned for its Opium plantations and coincidently we watched local footage of poppy fields being burnt by the police this morning. We cant help wandering if the suspicious bridge, the uncharacteristic behaviour of the locals and the fields of an unidentified produce on the hill have anything to do with the Local drug trade. It wouldn’t surprise me if it did!

Lachie Running the Manky 20 footer

Laos is a great country, the food is tasty, the people are very friendly despite its lack of developed. This lack of development, despite making it stunning, makes roads and other essential resources for getting to rivers safely very scarce.

Craig in the crux

Craig and I look to head into a 2 day trip to a series of water tomorrow, Sam Sean and Beni all will arrive in the next few days. Once they arrive we are hoping to paddle the, never before tackled, upper section of the Champi. This section look much more aggressive with searing cliffs and a steep gradient.

Lachlan Carracher…….

Laos is a very difficult place to get to. Craig and I both will meet in Bangkok, then train for 14 hours to the boarder of Laos then walk over the river boarder crossing from here we will find local transport (Bus) to take us to our accommodation in Pakse.

We are not worried about the situation in Bangkok, I am in Bangkok currently waiting for Craig to get in then we will leave straight away for the border.

Stay tunned for The first rivers of the trip.

Lachlan Carracher