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Published: January 28th 2010
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After an early breakfast we met four other people on the kayaking trip, two Americans and two Danes, all of whom spoke good English (!). We were taken out of town in a truck to the company’s depot (a wooden shack) to pick up some kayaks and then drove about 50km out of town along the banks of the Nam Khan. Sammy kept everyone chatting on the way out, so I learnt that no-one had much experience of kayaking (apart from Sammy who kept that under her hat until we were a long way downstream), which was good because it meant we were unlikely to get left behind.
The guides gave us a brief safety talk and we took to the water. I’d decided to try my new waterproof camera during an aquatic but non-submerged activity, so that came along. Everything else apart from my flip flops (which were tied down) and my sunglasses went in a dry bag between Sammy at the front of the kayak and me at the back.
We started off along an easy stretch so we had some time to get used to it, and then some fairly tame rapids, which thoroughly soaked us. Fortunately
the sun was beginning to peek out from behind the clouds so it was quite warm. The second set of rapids were a bit longer than the first. The guides went first and the other three kayaks tried to follow. The Danes in front swerved off to the left but managed to recover. We then came to the same patch of water and found ourselves being swung around broadside to the direction of the current. Disaster! We were flipped over rather suddenly and ended up splashing around in the water. Fortunately the rapids were not particularly rough and we had almost reached the end anyway. The guides came back to right our kayak and we managed to save our flip flops which had come loose. At first it was just a bit embarrassing, but later I realised I’d lost my sunglasses. No doubt one of the many local people panning at the side of the river will one day recover them and try selling them at the night market…
Soon after our little escapade we stopped for lunch at a little riverside beach. The guides had been buying various foods along the road and set out various dips on
palm leaves and gave us each a ball of sticky rice. Not the usual fare, but filling enough. A canoe full of six or seven year old children (on their own!) pulled up nearby and the kids started mucking around until we’d finished at which point the guides invited them to finish off what we had left behind. Presumably it’s a regular occurrence, which is why they knew to come over, but it was amusing to watch this little hunting party row itself independently up and down the river in search of adventure and lunch. They eventually retreated with some plastic bags to share their catch with their friends who were raiding another Western canoe party on the opposite side of the river. It’s hard to imagine young children in the UK being given so much freedom to go where they want.
After lunch we continued downstream, stopping briefly to look at a vegetable patch but only because the guide mispronounced “peanuts” and we were curious about what he wanted us to look at. After that we came to a calm open stretch of water where we had a bit of a water fight with the guides. At first their superior skills with a kayak paid off as they splashed us individually, but then we ganged up on them and they got a bit wet.
Our group caught up with the tail end of another party, where a girl was swimming down the river behind her kayak. It seemed like a good idea so we all did the same thing!
We had paddled about 18km by this stage, and fun though it was, I don’t think we could have done the remaining thirty needed to get us back to the town. Fortunately the truck was parked on the river bank ahead so we loaded up and drove back, with one of the guides giving us a partial life history (which was quite interesting) as we went.
Sammy went to do a bit of internet surfing when we got back while I had a rest in the hostel. We visited a different venue for dinner that night, crossing the river we’d been paddling on using a rickety bamboo bridge. It was quite a bit nicer than the joints along the main strip, but the prices were still eminently reasonable - I had pork in a ball of fried rice, a banana shake and a chocolate (allegedly) pudding for about £4.
Unfortunately we left a bit late to make the most of the internet café and night market, as planned, but Sammy was still able to buy some bits and bobs and we booked a ticket for the next leg of our trip the next morning.
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