Kayaking, hammock camping and torrential rain! 100km down a remote Thai river, North Thailand. 2/3

If you saw my last post, you will already know a little about the planning and expectation of this 100 kilometer kayak trip. If you didn't and would like to check out what went into the planning of this trip over several months, here's the link:

https://hive.blog/hive-163772/@thinkit/preparing-for-an-epic-100km-kayak-trip-through-dense-thai-jungle-and-hammock-camping-5m-up-in-the-trees-the-nan-river-north-tha

Continuing on from part 1, my friend and I had just arrived in Wiang Sa. It is a small town in Nan province, North Thailand, where the River Nan flows right through the middle of it. We found a local guest house on the river bank and negotiated a price to park the car up for several days rather than actually staying as guests.
Our exit stop, 100km down the river would connect with small local roads and circle round the mountains back onto the highway and allow us to return back to Wiang Sa to collect the car.

In total the trip took 4 nights along the river. Due to flooding and a very high water level, the river was flowing very fast and we were flying down without really having to paddle. So that we didn't reach the end too early, we made sure to follow our waypoints and stop at each preplanned camp spot, or rest stops along the way, just to enjoy the location even if we didn't need a rest.

• Start to Camp 1 - Town, farm fields and the start of dense jungle.
• Camp 1 to Camp 2 - 2 sets of rapids (rough and very rough) and small single lane road bridge.
• Camp 2 to Camp 3 - 2 sets of rapids (rough and moderate), jungle and more jungle.
• Camp 4 to Camp 4 - Wider river, jungle turns to forest and some isolated farm land accessed by boat.
• Camp 4 to End - Isolated farm land accessed by boat, free roaming cattle, pier and local road/village.

As we found the perfect spot to load up and leave, we noticed just how high the river was and how much debris was being carried down the river. The power of the river certainly excited us but made us question the suitability of an inflatable kayak taking on flooded rapids.

A high water level provided an easy launch but did mean the 3 plastic fins started scraping along the last concrete step as we both got in and weighed it down!

The first 7 kilometers took us passed small riverside settlements and farmland before we reached the mountains and pure jungle. It was also when the clouds came down and it started raining!

At this point we could appreciate just how big the river was and how small we felt.

We had planned to stop kayaking each day by 4pm at the latest to ensure we had time to set up camp, find the right trees to hang our hammocks and cook but as we paddled down stream we realised that all of the small islands and river beaches we saw on Google maps were of course flooded and the water level was up to branch level making a stop very difficult. It also meant looking for flat ground was much harder as well.

We covered around 9km in the first hour and felt like we had made good progress. We knew we were approaching the 4pm cut off to find camp so started to scout out the river banks for a potential camp.

It wasn't until kilometer 19, another 10 kilometers from our first preplanned waypoint that we found somewhere we were happy to stop. With a late arrival we quickly set up.

On a slow bend of the river we finally found a large flat river bank good enough for camp 1. It was very boggy and looked as if the water lever had recently dropped but at least we had space to move around and set up. There were also adequate trees to hang our hammocks.

The trees were not as tall as we hoped and didn't really offer the branch spread we were expecting. We estimated we were around 3 to 4 meters up and still within easy pickings of a tiger or reach of an elephant but at least we could have climbed higher if need be, assuming there would have been time!

Realistically, our main concern was the water level and just how boggy the ground was. With is still raining we half expected to be flooded by morning and glad we weren't in tents. All bags and gear were hung and 'carabinered' onto ropes in the trees, as was the kayak to stop it floating away.

I had opted to hang my blue tarp directly over the ridge line of my hammock and keep both sides angled quite steep. I was quite sure the rain would continue through the night and wanted to be sure the water would have easy run off.

My friend on the other hand decided to stretch his camo tarp out on 3 corners allowing greater airflow since it was very humid.

After a quick cook up on the gas stove in the rain we retired to our hammocks to get out of the rain. With bugs and rain there was really now sense in staying up in the dark, so as the sun dropped we climbed up. As I was hung in a slightly taller tree I used the single line rope ladder to climb up. It was made more difficult since many of the foot loops had backs hooked on but with a slight struggle I had made it up and I was in with the bug net zipped up.

Since it was still relatively early, we hadn't fallen asleep but started to hear thunder in the distance. Shortly after we started to see flashes on lightning and knew there was a big storm on its way! It didn't take long before we experienced just how bad that storm was going to be!

What can't be seen very well in the photo above is the sheer amount of water that was pouring off my tarp. Luckily the steep hang of the tarp was working well. I then managed to rig a kind of wrap around or tuck-in of the tarp corners up and under each end of my hammock. It would have looked like a cocoon from below but kept me and my hammock bone dry through the 3 hours of heavy rain.

While I was lying dry feeling the wind rock and swing me I could hear my friend yell out in horror as he was fighting to keep his tarp water free. His 3 point hang was acting as a water catchment pool and while he had no choice other than trying to lift and tip the pool of water to the edge of the tarp to drain it, the tarp finally gave way, it ripped and emptied a small bath size amount of water straight onto him and into his hammock with all his dry gear and sleeping bag, he was drenched!

With a ripped tarp now flapping in the wind he spent the remainder of the rain storm trying to shelter under his inflatable pad. Obviously his efforts barely made a difference to his comfort, but his ability to use the F word in every possible manner was quite impressive.

Unfortunately for him, he didn't sleep a wink all night and stayed very cold and wet. He was up at dawn wringing out his wet gear. As I stirred and climbed down, I realised that I had hung all my bags, handle up and this allowed the water to get into all my bags and fill up! My friend wasn't the only one to have everything soaked through.

We were surprised that the water level hadn't noticeable risen and we were still able to walk on dry land.

With little to no enthusiasm to cook much for breakfast on the first morning, I settled for muesli, dried mango and water! It wasn't great and I wasn't all that hungry. Most of it was left for the ants.

One breakfast topic other than all our wet gear and the storm was the noise we both heard just before sunrise. A crashing, dashing noise in the bushes just behind where we were alerted us that we may have been visited in the night. There wasn't much we could do in the darkness while in the hammocks so just listened it out and waited.

In the morning we looked for footprints in the soft mud and sure enough, we had been visited but by what looked like, an innocent deer.

To find out what happens next on our kayak trip and as we take on the rapids, please be sure to check out my next post coming soon!

I hope you enjoyed this post and please follow for more like it in the future.

All content is original: the photos (unless stated), the writing and the adventure!