Welcome to our expeditions page! This is where people can contribute their expedition information to share with family, friends and the general public. If you would like to send us information on your own expedition. Pictures, text, itinerary and GPS tracklogs are all useful information. We’ll create the maps for you and post your expedition online for all to see.
Mekong River Expedition - Ho Chi Minh City to Jinhong
Follow the progress of a team of explorers as they voyage 2500 km by boat from Vietnam to Yunnan Province in China, following in the path of an historic voyage attempted almost 140 years earlier. Read the expedition log
"On 5th June 1866, 6 Frenchmen lead by Commander Ernest Doudart de Lagrée left Saigon aboard 2 steam- powered gunboats to find a trade route to China on the Mekong river. Accompanying the 6 principal explorers were 3 interpreters, 4 French and 7 Vietnamese soldiers. To meet the costs along the way, there were gold bars, Mexican dollars and Thai coins. Packed into 150 cases were more than 500kg of hard rations, 300kg of flour, 700 liters of wine and 300 liters of brandy. After an unbelievably hard journey they finally arrived in Jinghong, southern Yunnan, China on 13 September, 1867 some 15 months after leaving Saigon."
From River Road to China – The Mekong River Expedition, 1866 by Milton Osborne
