30 clicks East of the Cambodian Border

After our first successful mission in the North west, we decided to focus on the Central Highlands and on the possibility of some bigger drops and bigger volume. So, it was back onto the train ready for a 28 hour journey to the city of Nah Trang, followed by an invigorating 5 hours in a minibus to the town of Da Lat.

An exciting early morning portage

With our base set up, the team headed out to collect as much information about the surrounding area as possible employing scooters, taxis and mini-rafts to check out the flows. All signs seemed to point North to the Yok Don National Park.
Yet another lengthy drive delivered us, in darkness, to the Dray Sap Waterfall. Although the team couldn’t yet see the fall it sounded thoroughly promising, and as morning broke it became obvious we weren’t going to be disappointed.

Andy looks up at the mighty Dray-Sap Falls

Whilst chatting to the locals it became apparent that there were some more falls about 5km further up the river, a short tractor ride delivered us and the kit to another set of sweet looking drops.

Andy hitting his line

The guys ran various different lines on the top falls and then headed downstream, with some intrepidation and anticipation of Dray Sap Falls themselves. On reaching the falls, the team split up and explored the full width of the river. A couple of lines were decided upon and the rest of the afternoon was spent on various descents.

Luke on Dray Sap Left

Another mission completed, the team are heading back to the coast for a couple of days before beginning the lengthy journey back through Vietnam and China to Hong Kong.

Keep it Steep,

Luke and the Kayaknam team.

Meanwhile in Vietnam…..

The British Universities Kayak Expedition 2009 is well underway. A long, and somewhat convoluted journey across China (which turns out to be quite big), into Vietnam and ended with the team plus boats in Hanoi.

Chinese border crossing

After a few days of arranging logistics and acquiring information, the team headed north towards Ba Be Lake in search of ‘gnar’. Unfortunately the area turned out to be lacking in white water as well as being very densely vegetated, which made scouting almost impossible.

The team soon decided to head West to the area around Sapa, where the terrain seemed more conducive to white water. Unexpectedly the area revealed a collection of steep and technical granite based runs. Feeling more like the Italian Alps than South East Asia.

checking out a rapid on the ngoi Dum

Hitting the choss

Finding some world class rapids and super sweet moves, the team were finally satisfied on the choice of Vietnam as a destination.

luke on "broken dog leg"

After 10 days on the road, the team are back in Hanoi for a couple of days to prepare for the second trip down South to the area around Da Lat.

Tim on "blind leading the blind"

Read more about the Team’s adventures at kayaknam.com

Keep it steep,

Luke and the Kayaknam Team