Strictly speaking this post is a little out of sequence but Cambodia has very much felt like a tale of two experiences for me. On the one hand, the temples old and new(er) are spectacular, the people have been incredibly friendly and positive, always (I suspect in order to practice their English) asking what we’ve … Continue reading A sad history and a hopeful future →

After 24 hours in Bangkok (still managed to fit in a quick selfie-tastic trip to a golden buddha), we hopped back on a plane for the short (~35 minute) flight to Siem Reap. We figure we are back in Bangkok at the end of our 4 weeks in this part of the world and we … Continue reading Temples, Tuk-Tuks, Tourists and Tomb-Raiders →

The Karnali river is the last free-flowing ‘great river’ in Nepal. It flows down from Mount Kailash and, as such, is considered a holy river (Mount Kailash is the seat of the Hindu goddess Shiva). Unfortunately the river is under threat due to a hydro scheme which will see the erection of a dam just … Continue reading The Mighty Karnali →

We left the Pokhara region and, via a night back in Kathmandu, made our way over to Sukute village and the river-beach resort of the same name. Our bus from Kathmandu took us directly to the put-in of the Balephi River, our last river in the self-support section of the trip. The Balephi is a … Continue reading Sukute Beach and the Balephi →

We’d cooked on a camp fire the night before (or rather, boiled some water to rehydrate our expedition meals), and slept under our tarps. We’d gone to bed very early (it was dark and we were tired) and therefore didn’t have much issue getting up and packing up around 6:30am, ready to get on the … Continue reading My first multi-day – day 2 →

I was excited about the prospect of the Kali Gandaki. A 60km long river with fairly continuous class 3 and 4 rapids, and only a small amount of flat paddling to get to the take-out at the end. Wow! As a UK kayaker used to 6 or 7km sections at best, this seemed like a … Continue reading My first multi-day – day 1 →

Our little team of 4 strapped our kayaks to the top of a minibus, and settled in for the 2 hour drive to the put-in of the Modi Khola section we wanted to paddle. (‘Below the powerhouse’). The Modi is one of the increasing number of rivers in Nepal which has had the kayaking landscape … Continue reading ‘Below the powerhouse’ →

After collecting our rental kayaks we arranged transport to Pokhara with GRG adventures (a local rafting company). It’s a 6-7 hour drive through some pretty hectic traffic and it’s fair to say that it was shocking at times for me, as my first time in Nepal I was perhaps a little naive to the ‘rules … Continue reading Nepali Highway Code →