Trips To Laos

trips to laos="trips to laos"

Paddle Adventures in Laos

Having grown up on the placid rivers of Oxfordshire, gaining my three star award and basic skills with the BCU, I then moved to Newcastle University and was attempting the Wye, the Dee and some of the rivers of the North-East. After University I found a love for travelling and fell in love with the excellent climate the warm water the beautiful untouched forest and the people of Laos in South East Asia. I loved the hospitality of Laos, the weather and the slower pace of life and of course the cheap price of a beer

I returned to set up rafting trips with a small company on a great 3-4 class river trip taking two days and camping out in a purpose built fishing hut for the night. I first kayaked this river in a perception 3-D and loved it, great forests great rapids with about 18 grade 3 and 4 rapids over the two days with each rapid followed by a long stretch of flat water where you can recover if things go wrong

The trip starts about two and a half hours from the capital Vientiane which border Thailand, or 30 minutes from Vang Vieng, a backpackers retreat. From the main road you cross through a restricted area into Xaysomboun which used to be a Secret CIA base in the Vietnam War. Driving two hours up the mountain we cross to the put-in-point. From here we say goodbye to roads and civilisation, only coming across two or three fisherman over the next two days. You can kayak or raft down the river to our hut where we spend the night in sleeping bags under mosquito nets, which is all stored at location which means we only take food and gear on the trip.

On the second day you continue down through several grade 4 rapids which can all be scouted and portaged if you don’t think you’re up to it with relative ease. After the last grade 4 rapid we arrived at the Nam Ngum Lake formed by damming the river in the early 70s. At the lake we will have a fishing boat waiting to take us back to the nearest road this trip takes about two hours. Of course there is beer and food waiting on the boat. This is the main commercial trip run by Paddle Adventures (now known as Xplore-Asia) for kayakers or rafters.  There is also the Mekong fault line on the border between Cambodia and Laos which has given rise to a long line of numerous runable and unrunable waterfalls and rapids for the daring – this is some of the best water in the world.

These trips should be booked in advance as are not run on a daily basis Alex Aziz has been travelling and setting up tours in South East Asia since 2000 with vast experience and knowledge of many on and off the beaten places he now spends his time between the UK and Asia. A relaxing break takes him trekking along the Ho Chi Minh trail or Kayaking the rivers of Laos http://www.xplore-asia.com

About the Author

After traveling in South East Asia for several years and falling in love with the area in particular Laos. Xplore-Asia was formed with the aim of promoting tours to increase responsible tourism for the local people and show the world the beauty of this area. After setting up operations in South East Asia, Xplore-Asia expanded into the UK and is Directed by Alex Aziz.

Trip to Laos - Part 1 of 4.wmv


trips to laos
trips to laos
trips to laos