Mae Nam Ping Kayak Tour, Thailand 2022

CONTENTS

Days 1 and 2: Arriving at Keng Ko, Mae Ping National Park, then Kayaking to Raft of Uncle Dten (This page)
Day 3: Kayaking to Bpan’s Raft
Day 4: Kayaking to Jai’s and Chat’s Raft
Day 5: Kayaking to Raft Southeast of Samong Village
Days 6 and 7: Kayaking to Bhumibol Dam, then Journey Home

Days 1 and 2: Arriving at Keng Ko, Mae Ping National Park, then Kayaking to Raft of Uncle Dten

I first heard of Chris Jedrzycki from his cycling stories posted on the Crazyguyonabike site https://cgoab.com/Spoke2010 in which he told of cycling challenging routes way off the beaten path. I got to meet him in 2014 on my first ride to Kanchanaburi Province. He and his Thai wife Areeya run Hidden Holiday House, a little guesthouse beside the Tha Chin River near the town of Nakhon Chaisri, just a day’s ride west of Bangkok; the website www.hiddenholidayhouse.com/index.php/en/homehhh-en-gb has a description and even a cyclist’s map of how to get here from Bangkok. I didn’t get to see them again until the end of my South Thailand ride in 2021, when Chris told me that he leads informal tours and would be offering a kayak trip on a remote stretch of the Mae Nam Ping River in January 2022, then a ‘soft-nut’ bicycle tour in East Thailand the following February. I asked to sign up for both!

The idea for this tour began with an exploratory kayak trip by Chris in November 2020. He’s always looking for new adventures, and a remote 200-kilometer section of the river Mae Nam Ping in North Thailand caught his eye. He did this trip solo by taking an inflatable kayak on a bus to the town of Hot, then paddled five long days south to Bhumibol Dam. Near the midpoint he passed the last road access before the dam. He found that dredging operations marred the northernmost part of river and thought the southern half the most scenic. So our little group did the latter half from Mae Ping National Park to Bhumibol Dam over five days in January 2022. Limestone mountains along the way form dramatic cliffs at many points and other stretches have picturesque granite boulders. The Ping River, along with the Nan River farther east, drains much of northern Thailand, then joins to become the Chao Phraya River in Central Thailand and flows on through Bangkok and into the Gulf of Thailand.

More people would have joined our group, but the Omicron variant of Covid-19 had caused the Thai government to further restrict entry to Thailand. Besides Chris, we had his wife Areeya (our “Entertainment Director”) along with Iew (a Thai lady), David (a Brit), and myself (from the U.S.A.). In addition we met up with Jai and Chat, a Thai couple from Chiang Mai who accompanied us in their little speedboat and spoiled us with their wonderful cooking! By chance Chris had met them at their raft holiday home during his 2020 scouting trip and they volunteered to come along on this trip.

11 January Keng Ko, Mae Ping National Park, Lamphun Province
I got a morning bus from Bangkok north to Thoen, where I met up with the other kayakers. Chris then drove us in his car the 92 kilometers west through the hills to the river, where he had reserved a national park bungalow. Because many of the people living in the remote area along the river had not received Covid-19 vaccinations, national park staff required all of us to show proof of vaccination. We dined on Thai food at one of the floating raft restaurants.


Areeya poses upon our arrival. We will begin kayaking from here tomorrow.


Raft houses upriver dot the Mae Nam Ping.


David reads his Kindle before bedtime in our park bungalow room.


12 January Raft of Uncle Dten (19 kilometers paddling)
Chris roused us for an early start, and we enjoyed an elaborate breakfast of grilled kebabs and fried eggs. Next Chris set to work to prepare the kayaks and lash our personal gear atop them.


Areeya and Jai fix our fancy breakfast.


Jai whips up some fried eggs.


Areeya cheers up Chris with a hug.


A bit of cloud diffuses the early morning sun.


We launch from the shore on the lower right.


Chris secures our dry bags atop the kayaks.


We had two inflatable kayaks and a sit-on-top polyethylene kayak, all with back rests for support. We found the inflatable kayaks to be a bit more comfy and stable, but noticeably slower due to their extra width. With just five of us, that meant one kayak would be paddled solo, so today David started out in the fiber kayak. I took the rear seat in an inflatable with Areeya in the front. Our entire trip would be on the Bhumibol Reservoir of the Mae Nam Ping, so we didn’t have any whitewater to worry about nor current to push us along. My only previous kayak tour had been in Glacier Bay of Alaska back in 1994, and I had done a bit of kayaking in South Thailand last year, so I wasn’t surprised to find my arm muscles out of shape. Nearing the end of the day my arms felt so tired it seemed they might fall off, but Areeya reassured me that if that happened she would get some string to tie them back on.

Mountains with steep hillsides towered high above on both sides of the river for our entire trip, making landing on shore difficult in most places. Villagers—who rely on fishing for both food and income—have adapted by living on rafts and even cultivating gardens and banana plants on rafts. This also made moving house easy—just hire a motorboat for a tow. Some house rafts lay kilometers from their nearest neighbor while others clustered together to form villages. Villagers also run cattle on the rugged hillsides, and we often heard the tinkling of bells. We saw rafts of hay passing by to supplement the meager grazing, while other rafts carried cattle to market. Party rafts also travel this section of reservoir, typically a raft with guest rooms tied to an open-sided raft for dining and dancing. One of these pairs pulled in just before we set off. First we paddled southwest through a narrow section, then south into a wide valley with bays where tributaries entered.


David admires the scenery after we push off on this bright sunny day.


We feel very small.


Twists and turns of the valley give us shady spots now and then.


Areeya paddles while I play with the camera.


Another of the every-changing views


Jai and Chat met us for lunch at a floating raft, where a steep path led up to a park ranger station and fine views of the river. Afterward we crossed to the far shore to visit Ban Ko Jadsan School, an elementary school on a raft that normally has five boys and one girl with one teacher, but due to the Omicron situation they had all gone home. A caretaker showed us around the well-cared-for building. Back in the kayaks we continued south to a primitive guest house raft, where we got individual rooms furnished solely with a mat on the floor. Curiously this raft had a wheelhouse on top, but the engine and steering gear had long disappeared. I jumped into the murky green water—pleasantly warm—for a wash. The toilet is also in the back as the river is “all purpose.” Jai and Chat fixed a tasty Thai dinner for us, then motored to a nearby spot to sleep atop their boat for the night.


In this view from the ranger station you can see the raft below where we had lunch, and the
blue-topped boat of Jai and Chat. Across the water the blue-roofed building center left is the school.


Iew joins David for the afternoon paddle.


A floating garden beside a house raft


Brush grows along much of the gentler parts of the shoreline, making landing a challenge.


Iew and David take in the grand scenery.


Getting in and out of the kayaks is the most risky part of kayaking! Luckily nobody on our trip fell overboard.


View downriver from the raft of Uncle Dten, where we spent our first night on the water.


Areeya tends to a scrape on David’s arm. You can see a cattle pen in the background.


Iew and I went swimming.


Jai fixes dinner


With help from Chat.

On to Day 3: Kayaking to Bpan’s Raft