31 Jan. 2019 The 27-year-old Frenchman Arthur Fourdraine is, in the coming days, about to attempt to be the first in the world to traverse, from end to end and without assistance, the 4,500 km that separate the Mekong delta from its source. From maritime Vietnam to the Tibet peaks at more than 5,000 meters altitude. Beyond taking on an incredible personal challenge, this scholar, passionate about exploration narratives, wants to bear witness, unfiltered, to the environmental and human state of this "legendary river."

Kayaking up the Mekong. An expression invented and popularized by French soldiers during the Indochina War. The meaning? To exchange, share memories of the past. Arthur Fourdraine can smile at this figurative sense later. Today his objective is simple. To kayak up the Mekong, literally. Him, a former infantryman in the French army, an alpine hunter for more than five years. A lover of steep terrain. "Mountaineering is what I miss. I probably need to tackle some serious elevation gain right now," he smiles, currently comfortably settled at his seaside home in Kep. "I'm going to climb the equivalent of two Mount Everests in terms of elevation gain. " Arthur says it himself, "this is the longest expedition of my life." And how, 4,500 kilometers to cover alone, over nine months. A departure at sea level for an arrival above 5,000 meters altitude. By kayak as much as possible. Meticulous time management is essential. More than 18 months of work to train, solidify the project, and study the six countries crossed by the Mekong. A race across Vietnam, Cambodge, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, and China.

Arthur trains aboard a kayak for several weeks in the waters of Kep and Kampot. ©Instagram Arthur Fourdraine

Compass in the Eye

Arthur couldn't set out to conquer the Mekong without extensive and precise preparation. "I contacted the Mekong River Commission* (MRC) to ask them a tremendous number of questions. What is the overall flow of the river? Its force? What period is most accessible? Most dangerous? How many dams are completed? Under construction? What are the options for progression or bypass? Potentially dangerous species? I studied the climate, biodiversity, and political situation of each country*," he explains. The climate challenge is, in his mind, already methodically planned. He will depart on February 1st, right in the heart of the dry season, to avoid the violent monsoons characteristic of Southeast Asian countries. The Parisian hopes to reach Luang Prabang, in northern Laos, by May, and China by June. "I'll then have a window of three, four months to reach the source in Qinghai before it's buried under snow." October is the goal then. Nine months to defy the elements. But Arthur is confident, determined. Something he won't lose along the way. "I always want to go further, where people don't go. Show what the world can offer us." He is ready for that.

Eating Well Gets You to the Source

Courage he will need to face the ordeal that awaits him. Something to sustain himself on as well. No one doubts his ambition but even with the best will in the world basic problems will present themselves. How will he simply manage to live? Alone and without assistance, paddling for nine long months, 20 kilometers a day. "I'm not going to bring food rations. I'm crossing a zone inhabited by more than 90 million people, I'm really not worried. I'll feed myself with what the river can provide. For example, I'll buy rice and fish in the lower Mekong. I've planned 5 to 7.5 dollars of food per day," the explorer explains. The density of inhabitants along the river is nonetheless widely unequal. He knows that his "autonomy will depend on the people on the ground," that after entering China and the Yunnan region conditions worsen and riverside communities are sparse, they are nomadic. Very little chance for him to stumble upon a traveling store. "So downstream, I'm going to learn to fish and hunt. I'll set traps to feed myself." The old-fashioned way.

Eating well is one thing. Arthur has also planned to bring 25 kilos of equipment. He opted for an inflatable kayak that he can easily carry on his back in case of obstacles like dams or rapids. Because yes, he'll sometimes be forced to abandon the river. "For example, I plan to walk roughly ten days straight in Tibet. There are no dams there and the narrowness of the valley creates violent torrents, impassable by kayak." He adds to this six kilos of multimedia equipment and four kilos of various provisions, clothing and medications among others. He'll also have a satellite phone to stay in contact with his brother Valentin who, from France, handles the logistics of the expedition. He can also, in case of trouble, communicate with a doctor specializing in tropical diseases.

Over these 4,500 kilometers of adventure, temperatures could well be contrasted. Hot and cold. The intense April heat of Southeast Asia often approaches 40°C in the shade, while year-round negative temperatures solidify the humidity of Himalayan heights. But the brave navigator has thought of everything. "I have two sets of gear, one for tropical climate, and another for cooler weather. I'll abandon my hammock in Laos for a tent, then mountaineering equipment: a ground mat and a sleeping bag that will let me stay insulated in Tibet. There I'll have nothing to shelter me, there are few trees and the weather is arid. My tent will be my only refuge," he assures.

Tibet corresponds for him to one of the two "hotspots" of his journey. These key moments that will for several reasons be the biggest difficulties of the expedition. Here, both for its glacial climate and its hermetic nature. "The zone is strictly off-limits to foreigners without authorization or a guide," Arthur notes. "I contacted Dutch guide Pieter Neele (editor's note: he already accompanied Swiss photographer Luciano Lepre in 2014 who accomplished on foot what Arthur is about to do by kayak) who will help me with this kind of issue starting from China. The previous Southeast Asian countries won't pose any problems in terms of passage."

Experience in Service of Conscience

The second major trial that awaits Arthur is found on the borders of Laos. The border shared with Thailand and Myanmar, called the Golden Triangle. "The world's second most active region in terms of opium trafficking." But this won't be his first time. Arthur has done Afghanistan. As an alpine hunter. He knows the Golden Crescent. The number-one commercial zone of Baudelaire's hypnotic favorite. "I witnessed it. Afghanistan is the hub. I'm aware of the methods, the practices, and the conflict risks. I informed myself about Myanmar: in terms of kidnappings, assaults, murders. Things have calmed down lately. We'll see what's on the ground now," he reports with military gravity.

He sets as a requirement to meticulously inform local authorities of his passage. He respects his itinerary and navigates from point A to point B. And his experience has allowed him to acquire real discernment. "My objective is to get the least escort possible. It happened to me between Pakistan and Afghanistan, where Pakistani authorities wanted to accompany me in their jeep equipped with a machine gun to pass through Taliban tribal zones. I lost them because their presence wasn't discreet at all. It was more dangerous than anything else." Arthur has no doubt whatsoever about his success but knows that the trials will be highly tedious. The longest expedition of his life. For now. Although he's unassisted, the explorer doesn't plan to trace this stretch of road alone. He brings with him the necessary equipment to widely document the human, ecological, and natural diversity of the Mekong.

A Transmedia Narrator

To pay for this pharaonic project, Arthur launched a crowdfunding campaign on the Ulule platform. More than 7,700 dollars were raised. Anyone who wished could contribute money to help him and his brother prepare for the adventure. "We want to make the expedition immersive for everyone who supported us financially. They'll have access to a private website where Valentin will post unpublished photos and videos that I'll send. The ones that won't be on our social networks (Instagram, Facebook, Youtube), or on our website ," Arthur reveals. He brings with him a GoPro Fusion camera "with the aim of producing, at the end of the expedition, a 360° format documentary, to allow viewers to move freely, contemplate what they wish." He wants to create an aesthetic work... that testifies to reality. By giving voice to fishermen, monks, farmers, villagers who live and depend on the Mekong year-round. To document the lives of Irrawaddy dolphins, Siamese crocodiles, Asian water buffalo, these endangered species. Passionate, he wants to cover all angles, all subjects, all initiatory or not situations he'll encounter along the way. Through video, but not only.

The Mekong, "this legendary river" as Arthur likes to call it, holds tremendous history. French history notably. Take Commander Ernest Doudart de Lagrée. Signatory of the treaty ensuring French protectorate status over Cambodge. He paddled up the Mekong in 1866, accompanied by a botanist, a physician, and a photographer to discover jungles, lands, legends certainly relayed by the past but which remained strangely enigmatic. He gazed in wonder at Angkor, Tonkin, Laos. But the explorer died en route, aboard his vessel, from a very real tropical disease. This while passionately unveiling stunning territories previously impenetrable. This enthusiasm gave birth to adventure narratives, which Arthur has devoured, absorbed. The embryonic dream of reviving the wake of de Lagrée, Garnier, and other seasoned explorers will today become reality. And he fully intends to tell it. "I'll keep a travel journal during my adventure," he concedes*. Without pretension, none. What matters to me is explaining my journey to my family, who today don't necessarily understand, are apprehensive.*"

An odyssey. A sporting, historical, narrative, multimedia project which, at first glance, seems senseless, even impossible. "I want to prove them wrong." And that's exactly where Arthur draws his determined smile and overflowing enthusiasm. To be the first on Earth to accomplish this mythic feat.

Thibault Bourru

Thibault BourruA great lover of literature and Asia, Thibault shares his experiences through his writing.