After splitting up from the horserace enthusiasts, four of us decided to go on ahead and try to scout some of the upland rivers that looked promising from the maps. We headed up into the hills to two massive lakes. After a day of some pretty torturous driving we came across a river which seemed to have a good amount of flow to it. We decided it was worth checking out.

We hiked up the valley for a good few hours to discover that what looked like a fairly steep valley on the map was in fact quite open and the water level fairly low. Dismayed, we trekked down the valley again to the truck. We were even more dismayed later after finding out from locals that the river had been at a much higher level after some heavy rain a few days before. At least now we had something to compare other rivers on the map to. Armed with this new knowledge and after further study of the maps it was decided that most of the rivers in the area would be very similar and we were forced to retreat back down to the lakes.

The next day we met up the equestrian enthusiasts who had quite a story, which has already been told. We decided that the best thing to do would be to head back to Olgii and try out a new area. Rather than take the bumpy road back we thought that it could be just as fast to float down the largest volume river in the area, the Khovd. This didn’t have much of a gradient to it; however rumours of some possible gorges and the want for the multi-day practice with full boats made us get on. As it was late in the day, it wasn’t long before we camped under the stars.

The following day proved quite eventful. We floated past a Ger, when the family came out and made gestures indicating that they wished us to come to the side. They were very interested in our kayaks and we let a few of them have a go on the relatively flat section by their Ger. The family returned the favour by letting us have a ride on their horse! After some tea and yak’s curd, we headed off. The river flattened off a lot until the flow more or less stopped and the river appeared to head into a marsh. Before we knew it we were in the middle of a mosquito infested marsh and the river seemed to have been swallowed up. Being late in the day we dragged our boats for about an hour across what was to be later named the marsh of delusion, to the side of the valley where we saw an abandoned settlement.

Myself and Paul got to the side first and continued up the hillside to see to what extent the marsh continued and whether there was a passage through it. We were horrified to see that it stretched as far as the eye could see. We then consulted the maps to see what had happened. It turned out that the river actually cut through the mountains in a not-to-obvious manner and we had in fact paddled up a tributary into this god forsaken marsh. We slept in an old cow shed, desperately trying to escape the mosquitoes.

The next morning we had to cross the marsh again to get back to the river. The rest of the river was very flat but very scenic. We headed back to Olgii for a well earned rest and determined to find some real white water in Mongolia.

Back in Olgii we laid a plan to look for some rivers in another area further east due to the lack of water in the area previously planned (with 80% of the country dry, rain-fed rivers were not an option). We drove for two days across what seemed to be desert. Feeling totally disheartened we made one last attempt to find a river we could paddle. What we found was beyond what any of us imagined finding in Mongolia; a near perfect creek with large drops, steep slides and crystal clear water.

After a good three hour walk-in with the boats over a mountain, the day started off with an impressive triple drop. A few of the team decided to test their mettle with some impressive results, that can be best described in the photos accompanied.

More sections of quality white water followed with some clean drops and smooth slides, earning the river the name mini Brandset, after the Norwegian classic.

The river finished off by flowing through a very scenic gorge, after which it was swallowed up by another river at a confluence where we camped. Our first first-decent of the trip!

The next day we headed downstream from the confluence into a very large, impressive and beautiful gorge. The water itself was a constant 6km long grade 4 boulder garden with one walled in section that got the heart racing. We were all feeling pretty pleased with ourselves on what was our second first-decent in as many days; a complete contrast to feeling like idiots driving around the desert with kayaks.

We have LOADS OF PHOTOS, check out our gallery to see some!