The first descent of the Tawang Chu

I'm having major issues with the internet conection right now, and can't download further images. For a written report of our trip so far, visit www.riverkore.com

The road from Kathmandu

After leaving Kathmandu we had 7 days driving, crambed in the back of the truck, to get to our goal, Arunachal Pradesh.

People fight for place on the roof of a local bus.

A local woman in the border town in Nepal.

An indian man watches us as we set up camp on the side of a busy road.

One of the indian made Tata trucks, which fill the busy roads.

Working elephants enjoy a luch break.

The team are woken by locals, fascinated by the strange aliens.

Andy and Mike fight for shoulder room in the back of our truck.

Not just the rivers are class 5!

Mike tries to get a fire started to cook our breakfast, after a night in a tin hut.

Mission 2, Arunachal Pradesh

On the 18th we will set off for another long drive, to get the 1500km on bad roads to Arunachal Pradesh, in the far North East of India. This is a region set aside from the main bulk of India, sandwiched between Bhutan, Bangladesh and China. Arunanchal has only opened up for travelers in the past few years, and with only short term permits available, the area is still largely unexplored. Not much travel information is available about this large province of India, and the Lonley Planet guidebook only dedicates a single page to it.







There is the most concentrated number of rivers anywhere in India in Arunachal Pradesh, and it is believed there is enough Hydro-power potential to power the whole of india. This of course means there are already plans to Dam many of the drainages, so time is short for exploration here.

Our team for this trip will be Sam Hughes (UK), Zak Shaw (NZ), Shalabh Gahaut (India), Mikey Abbot (NZ), Al Ellard (UK) and Andy Phillips (UK).

Uttaranchal mission completed

JJ shows us his North Carolina style by paddling as close to a log jam as possible.

Our team has just arrived in Kathmandu (Nepal), for what is the end of our first leg of the trip.

Since being detained we have managed to cover some good ground and knock of some more classics as we have headed east. This time we put in some extra effort to make friends with the police in the region before hitting the rivers!

We spent some time exploring the Pinda and Sarju drainages, but our main achievments have been to paddle what we believe to be the first descent of the Eastern Dhauli Ganga. This is one of the major tributaries of the Maha Kali, (which forms the border between India and Nepal).

Zak Shaw, Dhauli Ganga

The Dhauli proved intense from the word go, running at aproximately 30 cummecs and a continuous gradient of about 60m/km. Big, fast rapids lead relentlessly into one another, often forcing the team to run large sections of difficult water blind. We managed to complete an 8km section from the road head to the dam, but unfortunately as we were running out of time did not have the possiblity to trek above the road head the explore the upper river.

Ben Jackson, Dhauli Ganga

With only one day remaining we ran a known classic section of the Ghali Ganga (another tributary to the Kali), before making the long 3 day drive to Kathmandu.

We now have 4 days in Nepal to eat as much as we can at the rodeo event, before we start on our second leg of the trip in Arunachal Pradesh.

The road is long as slow progress. A road crew work to clear a landslide.

A local man in Pitthoragh.

Shalabh and Zak try to get some information from the locals on the Pindar.

Dhauli Ganga

JJ, Ghali Ganga

A buzz of activity cooking dinner out of the back of the truck.

The most important part of the trip. Sweet milky tea.

Zak cooks up porrige on one of the tea house's stoves.

Team detained, and face 2 month prison sentence

Our team has just been released after being held in detention by armed guards for the past 24 hours, with little food or water. At one point we had been looking at a drawn out court case, with a possible 2 month prison sentence. Early this morning we managed to ‘negotiate’ our release for $500.

Zak hands over the cash to one of the officials.

Our offense! Kayaking a in the protected area of Nunda Davi, without a permit. This has thrown up a heap of beauracy, and contradictions within the Indian legal system.

In Uttaranchal, no ‘kayak’ permit exists, so it is not possible to be in possession of one. On entering the Nunda Davi region we enquired at the local tourist office, and were told we did not need a permit to enter this area, as we had done in other national parks we have been paddling in. On the way up the Dhauli Ganga drainage, we passed only one check point which was unmanned.

However in the afternoon of 31st October, we were picked up from the river, our equipment confiscated, and were escorted under armed guard to a military base in Joshimat, where we have been held.

One of our offences was for environmental damages caused to a protected biosphere. The irony is that the forestry commission are overseeing dozens of Hydro power projects in the very area they are suposed to be protecting. The environmental impact we have seen from these, by the destruction of natural habitats, displacement of local communities, and destruction of the forest, (which has been cut down to provide fire wood for the migrant work force), is huge in comparison to that of 6 kayakers floating down the river!

The Dhauli Ganga.

We are now back on the road, but with many of the official in the region having been informed about our presence, we are unsure if we will be able to continue exploring this region as hoped.

Uttaranchal week 1

After finally getting all our kit together and getting out of Delhi, we have had an eventful week.

Our main goal for this trip is to explore the unpaddled headwaters of the main drainages in Utturanchal. The region is currently undergoing major developments in Hydropower. Not only will many of the rivers be lost for future generations, but also the upheaval to the ancient communities will be devastating.

Utturanchal is in Northern India, just west of Nepal. It is a region of pristine forest clad mountains, and 6000m snow capped peaks.

We began by heading up the Yamuna valley, and straight into a first descent. Due to low water levels at this time of year we managed to spend 2 days paddling the classic steep upper stretch of the Yamuna River between Phoolchatti and Saynachatti.

We have one truck with 6 paddlers, one driver, a dog

and a lot of kit. Here JJ and Ben a squeezed in the back.

Ben Jackson on the First descent of the upper Jamuna River.

JJ narrowly misses a strainer on the Yamuna River.

With expectation high we drove over to the next main drainage to the west, and the headwaters of the Tons River. However after a couple of days spent inspecting the Obra (Supin), we came to the conclusion that at a gradient of 80m/km, and several 200m vertical walled gorges, that at least at these water levels it was best to leave it unrun.

More optimistic about the other main tributary, we hired porters, and hiked with our boats up the Har-ki-dun (upper Tons). However the following day, after only paddling the first 800m, we came to the mouth of a formidable looking gorge, and after failing to walk around it, spent the next 6 and a half hours climbing the 400m out of the main canyon back to the trail, and from there back to the road head.

A porter carrying one of our boats up the Har-ki-Dun River.

Zak and Steve try to make out the river, deep invalley bottom.

Zak Shaw.

Hiking back up to the road on the Har-ki-dun

A local shepherd that joined us round our camp fire.

A local farm boy in the remote village of Jakhol.

Shalabh's truck. We sleep under a shelter built off one side.

JJ and Shalabh cooking up goat stew.

All hurting from these days of hard labour, we spent a well earned day paddling a known stretch of the Rupin River, and are now making our way towards the Bhilangana drainage. We hope to have more luck there, and will keep you posted.

The Team

This year we have reunited half of our team from last years ‘7 weeks in Tibet’ expedition, (www.athwak.blogspot.com), with the addition of some new members.







Me, Sam Hughes. http://www.paclandphoto.com/














Zak Shaw from New Zealand brings his smooth style to the team. Check out his blog: http://www.passion4adventure.blogspot.com/














Jason ‘JJ’ Shepherd, from South Carolina. JJ’s trademark style is cleaning rapids without a single paddle stroke. He describes himself as “…looking like Mr. Burns when I’m naked!”














Shalabh Gahlaut is a local Indian paddler that I met in Ladakh last year. His incredible knowledge of the region, and Hindi language is proving an invaluable contribution to the team. Much of what we are doing would be impossible without him. His best phrase so far is, “Don’t trust your judgment, trust mine!”. http://www.kayakindia.com/









Ben Jackson is another Kiwi, who has worked as a kayak instructor with Zak in both NZ and California. His good sense of humor and laid back attitude is a great asset to the group dynamics. http://www.jacksonoutdoors.blogspot.com/













Steve Bates, another Brit, met JJ in the states, and decided to join us for the trip. Known as ‘Scuba the wise’, he puts us all to shame with his vast knowledge!














Sangrup, from Ladakh, is our driver. As well as driving through the night on dangerous roads to get us to the rivers, he is doing a stunning job at road support while we paddle.













Finally, our trip leader and head of security. Kaia is a 2 year old street dog from Leh, and is responsible for taking care of our bags in the night.

India 2007. Arrival in Delhi

We have finally managed to track down all our various team members in the chaos that is Delhi. This has proved quite a feat within itself. Between boats going missing, wallets being stolen and the usual attempts to scam money out of travellers.

We are now almost ready to get out of the smog of the city and head to the mountains of Uttaranchal, north of Delhi.

The maps seem to promise a huge amount of rivers, many of which are still unexplored. We will spend the next month exploring this region before crossing over Nepal, to the far north eastern region of India called Arunachal Pradesh.



So far we have managed to avoid Delhi Belly. Here team member Jason 'JJ' Shepherd models a Frig beanie (www.frig.no). We promised Ana that we would get some uniquely 'India' images for her catalogue.

Getting around in Delhi is far more dangerous than any of the rivers we are likely to come across. Tiny rickshaws and tuck-tucks, at times packed with 10 people, battle for position with huge trucks and buses. Right of way goes to the first to use the horn, but this is often overridden by who is the biggest!

While waiting for Zak's boat to show up at the airport, we have made the most of our time by doing some sightseeing in Delhi. However after 1 day of inhaling car fumes, we are all quite keen to get out of town.

Now Available on DVD

Visit www.2at.com for more information

Follow an international team of 6 whitewater kayakers as they embark on a journey of a lifetime. Their challenging attempt to be the first to paddle the length of the PARLUNG TSANGPO river in Tibet takes them deep into the heart of the Himalayas. From there they have to survive an incredible 12 days on the river battling their way through huge whitewater rapids. Friendships, skill and nerves will all be tested to the limit.

I just starting to put this blog together as a web gallery from the past year or so. I will add to the posts that are already up, and add new adventures as they happen.

Sjoa July 07

After hectic running about, it was back with the usual suspects at the Sjoa Kayak Camp. This year saw monster water levels. The huge snow pack from the previous winter was still around after a relatively cool spring. This combined with unusually high level of rain led to record levels persisting throughout July.

2 guitars, 1 lute, 1 trampaline and 3 paddlers.

No drugs were required for this exercise to get messy!

A day out on the upper Jura with the Swissies!

Humplehurst's Wedding

The second Wedding of the year was that of James and Cara Humple-hurst, at Cara's family home just outside of Durham.

As the night moved on, and large quantities of liquid refreshments were consumed, the party relaxed into the usual post wedding debauchery. Thanks has to go the the genius of Cara's mother for providing 200 pee shooters!

It goes without saying the Brock danced like a fairy!

And of course Holly was the best dressed on the dance floor!