| I returned to set up rafting trips with a small company | | | | we say goodbye to roads and civilization, only coming |
| on a great 3-4 class river trip taking two days and | | | | across two or three fisherman over the next two |
| camping out in a purpose built fishing hut for the night. I | | | | days. You can kayak or raft down the river to our hut |
| first kayaked this river in a perception 3-D and loved it, | | | | where we spend the night in sleeping bags under |
| great forests great rapids with about 18 grade 3 and 4 | | | | mosquito nets, which is all stored at location which |
| rapids over the two days with each rapid followed by | | | | means we only take food and gear on the trip. |
| a long stretch of flat water where you can recover if | | | | On the second day you continue down through |
| things go wrong. | | | | several grade 4 rapids which can all be scouted and |
| The trip starts about two and a half hours from the | | | | portaged if you don't think you're up to it with relative |
| capital Vientiane which border Thailand, or 30 minutes | | | | ease. After the last grade 4 rapid we arrived at the |
| from Vang Vieng, a backpackers retreat. | | | | Nam Ngum Lake formed by damming the river in the |
| From the main road you cross through a restricted | | | | early 70s. At the lake we will have a fishing boat |
| area into Xaysomboun which used to be a Secret | | | | waiting to take us back to the nearest road this trip |
| CIA base in the Vietnam War. Driving two hours up | | | | takes about two hours. Of course there is beer and |
| the mountain we cross to the put-in-point. From here | | | | food waiting on the boat. |