Monday, July 31, 2006

Back Home

We ran a couple more rivers after the Nan-ao Pei, without incident (apart from the snake), and are all safely back in the UK. We would like to thank our hosts, Club 222, the Adventure Club and the people of Taiwan. A happier and kinder bunch of enthusiasts it would be hard to find.


The trip was forced into a few duck and dives due to the two violent weather systems that swept the country during our stay. We managed to get on the river for 10 days of the 21. As an exploratory trip, "outside the guide-book", we think that figure is entirely what could be expected.



We were astonished by the physical presence of Taiwan. The river environment in the interior is pristine and remote, offering spectacularly steep mountains, incredibly deep canyons and unsullied jungle scenery (including a multitude of strange beasty/creepy crawly inhabitants to fuel the imagination).



The conclusion we have reached is that Taiwan does indeed offer an abundance of world class white water, both single and multi-day, with a level of difficulty to match everyone's requirements. However, it is not quite ready to become a 'holiday' paddling destination as the level of information available is currently poor. We hope that the river notes we will soon publish will build a bridgehead and help the next adventurers to expand the knowledge base. In addition, we have exhorted Club 222 to write up the information that resides within their membership and publish the knowledge in both Mandarin and English.



We would like to thank our sponsors, whose products, quite simply, make this type of trip not only possible but as safe and comfortable as it is possible to be: Dagger Europe, Palm Equipment, Liquid Logic, IR, Werner, Pyranha, Alpkit, Ziggg. Also, thanks to the BCU's expedition committee for having faith in our idea and our abilities.



Further information on the trip will appear in UK publications, Canoe Focus and Paddles, and on the internet www.thamesweirproject.co.uk and the river notes will be available on www.kayaktaiwan.net