A wander across the river for some Irish Honey.
I had planned an overnight trip to Nan, but a mate from Nong Khai messaged me from Hongsa, asking if I still wanted some Bushmills Irish Honey whisky.
'Yes' was the answer. I'll take 2 bottles, please.
Ok, I will be in Houei Xai tonight, all being well.
Oh well, see you there. I guess I haven't had a night in HX for a year, perhaps, so it might be time for a wander over to test the waters & bridge formalities once more.
It's a hot sunny afternoon as I leave home at 3pm.
It's only a few kms ride to the bridge & over to the other side; "door to door" home to my fave HX hotel = 22 kms, and I set off just wearing a long-sleeved shirt & regular jeans.
However, 1 km from home, with heavy rain forecast, I ducked back home & picked up a rain jacket "just in case".
In an effort to get a move along, I got to the bridge with no cash money on me.
Oops, you will need to pay cash for border fees & a Lao visa.
Fortunately there's a Thai GSB ATM machine outside the arrival section, & I got a few thousand for the night.
Cashed up, I went straight into the immigration office to get the bike export docs.
The office is empty, & two young trainee gals with delightful smiles make the photocopy docs & complete the necessary forms.
100 baht, please, & a receipt is issued.
Docs completed, I had a surreal experience getting my passport stamped out.
It's the first time I've ever met an immigration officer who never spoke a word.
A young female, with just a soft grunt & a finger pointed here & there.
No hello, sawatdee, good luck, bye bye, or see you again!
NOT one word spoken!
It was the day before the full moon, so perhaps she could be excused?
Now, 3 days later back in CK, I see her in a coffeeshop, and she's still the same??
Oh well, best steer clear & keep your head down.
30 minutes from bridge arrival I'm riding across the FB4 in glorious weather.
Entering Laos was the same as usual. Slow & methodical, once you remember the right sequence of booths to go to.
It is a 4 (or 5) booth experience: foreign affairs, immigration, customs, bank, and police to get all the right docs. Then present your QR code sticker to raise the gate & enter the Lao PDR.
For the record, I was not approached for any 2,000 baht police tour permit, and I believe the naughty policeman is only there in the morning when most bikers rush to enter & ride on to Luang Nam Tha/Boten.
Go late in the day, spend the night in HX, & usually you don't get bothered for the 2,000 baht fee.
As I ride into Houei Xai city, light rain starts to fall.
It's a race to get into the hotel dry & check in.
The Riverside Houay Xay is the recommended place to stay.
Why?
Because of the excellent location, undercover parking, and a boiling hot water system – you always get a good scrub-up after a dusty or muddy ride.
(Houei Xai Accommodation)
Check-in at the hotel was a bit slow.
I couldn't find any staff.
Eventually, after hollering out a couple of times, an employee appeared from upstairs, registered me & handed me a key.
I dumped my gear & raced off for the Sunset Cafe and an ice-cold Beer Lao.
Beer Lao Big Bottles Are Not The Same?
I was seriously looking forward to a nice big bottle of Beer Lao, for the big bottle of Beer Lao tastes so much better than the canned or small bottled beer that, IMHO, has more chemicals in them for export, whereas the local consumption big bottles taste superb.
And I was less thrilled than I anticipated.
Have they changed the formula for the big bottled beer?
Has anyone else noticed a different flavour?
"The beer is less fresh?"
The Sunset is the place to be to watch the sun go down over Chiang Khong City.
It's also a place with live music in the evening that you can often hear at night in Chiang Khong, much to the displeasure of some CK residents.
But tonight was not the night for a sunny sunset or live music whilst I was there.
Before the darkness came, mate Peter turned up with 2 bottles of Irish Honey, sourced from the booze shop in Hongsa, of all places.
He'd been slow coming upstream along the river: 80 kms from Muang Khop to HX took 5 hours in his 4WD, through destroyed asphalt & mud!
As some of you may know, I'm an Irish whisky man & generally Jameson's, but there are a lot of other nice drops.
That Bushmills Irish Honey is a superb drop but extremely hard to get.
I only discovered it by accident on a ride to Luang Prabang from Chiang Khong in 2025
(Chiang Khong - Luang Prabang a 2025 Meander)
Not available in Thailand, and I've asked the #1 liquor shop in Chiang Rai to ask the importer, but no go. We have other Bushmills & Irish whiskies, but no Irish Honey.
There's none in Luang Prabang or Vientiane either, or in duty-free shops, it seems.
It amazes me that it is available in that one liquor shop in Hongsa of all places!
(Hongsa Liquor Store)
This is a first-class liquor shop, serving the thirsty & well-paid workers of the Hongsa power plant.
Peter is a great friend. He has lived in Thailand for almost 50 years, I think, & now lives in Nong Khai after previously living in Bangkok & Pattaya as a restaurateur.
He knows his food & hooch.
He is also a Laoophile & never hesitates for a trip into Laos if there's one he can do.
In 2019, when I got hit by the Chinese 22-wheeler container truck, Peter came to pick me up in Luang Prabang & ran me & the bike back to Chiang Mai for "something to do."
(R13n - Hit By A 22-wheeler Chinese Truck)
This time it was to source 2 bottles of Irish Honey for the old GTR fellah.
So we celebrated in Houei Xai for the night, and only 1 bottle made it back to the Thai side.
One bottle was sponsored by Chris Corbett of Lao Adventure Tours in Luang Prabang, in appreciation of sending him a few tour customers for off-road tours in Laos.
The one bottle that crossed the border to CK, is probably the most expensive bottle of whisky I have ever bought.
Coupled with the border & visa fees + hotel, 2800 baht was gone.
But it was worth it.
Swapping tales & discussing Thai / Lao tourism, plus regional politics, we closed down the Riverview restaurant in HX at midnight.
(Houei Xai Restaurants)
To be continued...
I had planned an overnight trip to Nan, but a mate from Nong Khai messaged me from Hongsa, asking if I still wanted some Bushmills Irish Honey whisky.
'Yes' was the answer. I'll take 2 bottles, please.
Ok, I will be in Houei Xai tonight, all being well.
Oh well, see you there. I guess I haven't had a night in HX for a year, perhaps, so it might be time for a wander over to test the waters & bridge formalities once more.
It's a hot sunny afternoon as I leave home at 3pm.
It's only a few kms ride to the bridge & over to the other side; "door to door" home to my fave HX hotel = 22 kms, and I set off just wearing a long-sleeved shirt & regular jeans.
However, 1 km from home, with heavy rain forecast, I ducked back home & picked up a rain jacket "just in case".
In an effort to get a move along, I got to the bridge with no cash money on me.
Oops, you will need to pay cash for border fees & a Lao visa.
Fortunately there's a Thai GSB ATM machine outside the arrival section, & I got a few thousand for the night.
Cashed up, I went straight into the immigration office to get the bike export docs.
The office is empty, & two young trainee gals with delightful smiles make the photocopy docs & complete the necessary forms.
100 baht, please, & a receipt is issued.
Docs completed, I had a surreal experience getting my passport stamped out.
It's the first time I've ever met an immigration officer who never spoke a word.
A young female, with just a soft grunt & a finger pointed here & there.
No hello, sawatdee, good luck, bye bye, or see you again!
NOT one word spoken!
It was the day before the full moon, so perhaps she could be excused?
Now, 3 days later back in CK, I see her in a coffeeshop, and she's still the same??
Oh well, best steer clear & keep your head down.
30 minutes from bridge arrival I'm riding across the FB4 in glorious weather.
Entering Laos was the same as usual. Slow & methodical, once you remember the right sequence of booths to go to.
It is a 4 (or 5) booth experience: foreign affairs, immigration, customs, bank, and police to get all the right docs. Then present your QR code sticker to raise the gate & enter the Lao PDR.
For the record, I was not approached for any 2,000 baht police tour permit, and I believe the naughty policeman is only there in the morning when most bikers rush to enter & ride on to Luang Nam Tha/Boten.
Go late in the day, spend the night in HX, & usually you don't get bothered for the 2,000 baht fee.
As I ride into Houei Xai city, light rain starts to fall.
It's a race to get into the hotel dry & check in.
The Riverside Houay Xay is the recommended place to stay.
Why?
Because of the excellent location, undercover parking, and a boiling hot water system – you always get a good scrub-up after a dusty or muddy ride.
(Houei Xai Accommodation)
Check-in at the hotel was a bit slow.
I couldn't find any staff.
Eventually, after hollering out a couple of times, an employee appeared from upstairs, registered me & handed me a key.
I dumped my gear & raced off for the Sunset Cafe and an ice-cold Beer Lao.
Beer Lao Big Bottles Are Not The Same?
I was seriously looking forward to a nice big bottle of Beer Lao, for the big bottle of Beer Lao tastes so much better than the canned or small bottled beer that, IMHO, has more chemicals in them for export, whereas the local consumption big bottles taste superb.
And I was less thrilled than I anticipated.
Have they changed the formula for the big bottled beer?
Has anyone else noticed a different flavour?
"The beer is less fresh?"
The Sunset is the place to be to watch the sun go down over Chiang Khong City.
It's also a place with live music in the evening that you can often hear at night in Chiang Khong, much to the displeasure of some CK residents.
But tonight was not the night for a sunny sunset or live music whilst I was there.
Before the darkness came, mate Peter turned up with 2 bottles of Irish Honey, sourced from the booze shop in Hongsa, of all places.
He'd been slow coming upstream along the river: 80 kms from Muang Khop to HX took 5 hours in his 4WD, through destroyed asphalt & mud!
As some of you may know, I'm an Irish whisky man & generally Jameson's, but there are a lot of other nice drops.
That Bushmills Irish Honey is a superb drop but extremely hard to get.
I only discovered it by accident on a ride to Luang Prabang from Chiang Khong in 2025
(Chiang Khong - Luang Prabang a 2025 Meander)
Not available in Thailand, and I've asked the #1 liquor shop in Chiang Rai to ask the importer, but no go. We have other Bushmills & Irish whiskies, but no Irish Honey.
There's none in Luang Prabang or Vientiane either, or in duty-free shops, it seems.
It amazes me that it is available in that one liquor shop in Hongsa of all places!
(Hongsa Liquor Store)
This is a first-class liquor shop, serving the thirsty & well-paid workers of the Hongsa power plant.
Peter is a great friend. He has lived in Thailand for almost 50 years, I think, & now lives in Nong Khai after previously living in Bangkok & Pattaya as a restaurateur.
He knows his food & hooch.
He is also a Laoophile & never hesitates for a trip into Laos if there's one he can do.
In 2019, when I got hit by the Chinese 22-wheeler container truck, Peter came to pick me up in Luang Prabang & ran me & the bike back to Chiang Mai for "something to do."
(R13n - Hit By A 22-wheeler Chinese Truck)
This time it was to source 2 bottles of Irish Honey for the old GTR fellah.
So we celebrated in Houei Xai for the night, and only 1 bottle made it back to the Thai side.
One bottle was sponsored by Chris Corbett of Lao Adventure Tours in Luang Prabang, in appreciation of sending him a few tour customers for off-road tours in Laos.
The one bottle that crossed the border to CK, is probably the most expensive bottle of whisky I have ever bought.
Coupled with the border & visa fees + hotel, 2800 baht was gone.
But it was worth it.
Swapping tales & discussing Thai / Lao tourism, plus regional politics, we closed down the Riverview restaurant in HX at midnight.
(Houei Xai Restaurants)
To be continued...
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