Visited Wat Mai Suwannaphumaham which had some old temple pieces and a newer temple. It also looked like it was a Monk school as there were some classrooms there.
From there I went on to visit Wat Pathouak which is set just below Phou Si Mountain. In the temple the walls are covered in a mural which is said to date to back to 1860
I there I climbed Phou Si Mountain and visited That Chomsi and got some great views of the surrounding countryside and Luang Prabang. There was also an anti-aircraft gun from the Vietnam War perched on the hill
Visited Kuang Si Waterfall, they are well worth a visit, cost 2000 Kip to park the bike which was watched by the guy who took the money and it cost 20,000 to visit the falls, worth the money, there is also a bear sanctuary which was good also, there bears were out and about and playing when I was there. Just before the falls there is a Butterfly farm but I did not visit it.
Then went off road, met a guy from Denmark, forget his name, and we rode a great track, the track started off quite wide and then went into a really narrow close in track, this we followed for a lot of kilometres before coming out in Muang Nan and went our separate ways after a well earned rest and drink in the village. It made a really nice change to ride with someone rather than doing it on your own.
I didn't do a lot during the day, walked around in the town and chilled out. Everyone was setting up the the nights festivities .
New Years Eve was spent with the family who owned the Guesthouse I was stopping in, it was a good night, lots of Laos food and lots of Laos beer, they made me feel really welcome as we ticked off the hours. It was a good night. Their hospitality was great. There was a couple of younger lads there who spoke quite good English which was a bonus for me, and they were into their western music.
I traveled from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng today, I took the old road rather than the new, which was a longer route but the road was far better for bends and scenery
I set off at around 0815hrs and I took the 13N, The climbs and the valleys were great and the views wearisome of the best . It was about 150 mile but I took it nice and steady with lots of breaks and the obligatory stop for some food at about 1030hrs.
I stopped in one of the hill top villages for the Noodle soup of the day which was very nice, I also had a coffee as I was a bit cold, in fact is was quite cold and my hands were starting to get a bit numb
As I left my food stop there were a group of Malasian riders went past on there big bikes, I latched myself on to the back and was the tailend charlie for about 30Km’s till they went left and I carried on right in a little place called Phoukhoun. But it was nice for awhile to have someone to follow and I was acknowledged by there rider in front more than once.
Some of the views to be had are fantastic and I am getting close to saying that they are better than the views in Thailand.
Once I got to Vang Vieng I did the usual and stopped for a drink after a drive through and looked for somewhere to stop for the night.
I went for Dok Khoun Guesthouse which I got for 200,000kip, when I questioned his price he did say its New Year?! Ummm it finished yesterday?! Not a bad room but had better during my travels. Coords N18.92602 E102.44854.
I think I am going to stay for and extra day and have a bit of a play about in the local area, there are a couple of caves which might be worth a visit.
Zzzzzzzz, the photos have taken about 3 hours to upload on to flickr, not the fastest, been and had food and still not done, haha
Stayed local in Vang Vieng today and went on a bit of a ride, I took a track to the west of the town and just followed it. I eventually ran out of track at a village as I was trying to get round a big hill. so I turned back and took a fork in the road in another village and that took me on a loop. Great scenery and lots to see.
I stopped in one village where I had a drink and watched one of the village women weaving a skirt, it was good to see. They also made scarves and small blanket type things. She made it look so easy.
Sat with a beer in a restaurant whilst waiting for the photos to upload on to flickr. Its a good job I am thirsty as it may take awhile.....two and a half hours, not bad!!
Set off today at about 0730hrs travelling from Vang Veing to Phonsavan and I don’t have a clue what happened as I did not end up following the route I had planned on basecamp the night before.
I ended up taking the 13N, the 9308, 9303, 5 then the 1D
No Google map, its not playing on my Mac, tried a reinstall.
What a journey it turned out to be, blocked routes, 80km detour, and 200km off road. The first 15km was on tarmac then it went onto unpaved road/track, the first 67km was covered in 2hours.
At the 60 km I came to a military style check point, uniform and what looked like a single shot rifle, I wondered where the hell I was going, lots of sign posts in what looked like Chinese or Korean
The GPS was going mad, at about the 63 km point I came across a mine type area, didn't stop for photos as there were people about.
I was well in the middle of no where, I now no what Dr Livingstone felt like, but the GPS says still on right road haha. At about 67km I came across another Military CP which again I passed with no problems.
Further on down the road I met 2 guys Fransiour and Craig they said I was riding through what was once a restricted area and was used by the CIA in the Vietnam War. It was a tough route but very enjoyable.
Then things went a bit downhill, the road I was following became impassable there was a land slide in the road so I left the bike to see if it was passable, nope, had to turn round and with that I had to make a long detour of about 80km. Managed to get fuel in a little village called Ban Nam Gnone as I had already used my reserve cache. The CRF was supping fuel like no tomorrow with going up and down all the steep inclines and decents.
I then got what I thought was a lucky break and hit some more tarmac, yeah, for all of about 18km’s then straight back into the jungle again haha.
On route the track was blocked yet again this time there were some excavators clearing the way so me and a load of Laos people were sat waiting for them to finish, it was about 30 to 40 mins before we got going.
I had drunk all my water in my Camelbak and was gagging for a drink so I stopped in this village in the middle of nowhere and they kindly gave me water and even let me take a pic before I move off again.
Visited Site 1 of the Plain of jars, coords N 19.42577 E103.15878. Very interesting to visit. They had a little museum to tell you all about the jars and a little bit about the Vietnam War in the area, they reckon over 270 million bonds dropped in Laos. There were still a lot of trenches visible when you were walking round and also plenty of bomb craters. MAG had cleared bit of the area and you are advised to walk between the markers.
I also visited the Vietnam War Memorial and the Laos War Memorial. The Vietnam one was in a very good state of repair but the Laos one had lots of graffiti over it. I would have thought if anything it would be the other way round
Set off nice and early, it was about 0745 after I had filled up and filled my reserve bottles. The route was the 7N the on to the 1C all the way in to Nong Khiaw.
It was a good steady road all the way except for the last 80km or so. Then it was very potholed and went from paved to unpaved every now and again. There were lots of nice villages to ride through, spent a lot of time waving when going through the villages. I think thats why I prefer being on a bike, in my opinion you are more attuned to the surrounding area. I got some great video of them and the surrounding countryside, yet again lots of stunning views to be had. Early on in the route I met with a lot of wet patches where the sun had not been on them and there was loads of diesel on the patch,in some places it was quite thick due to the trucks going slow up and down the hills.
Covered 372km today, but on the plus side I only have 110 to do tomorrow to get me to Oudomxay.
I got to Nong Khiaw at about 1715, after numerous stops to chill, get fuel and eat and after a ride through the town I opted for the CT Guesthouse and restaurant, clean room, hot water and wifi. The bike is park in the owners drive with CCTV, with disc lock applied, coords N20.57020 E102.61657
I then got to Pakmong, as I left there I went on to a really wide great piece of road, it was great for about 6k’s then I turned bad, through lots of roads works, chewing on loads of dust when trying to get past the lorries and buses which were on the route. Really narrow points where they are trying to build the road and a lot of heavy machinery, saying that I was surprised on how much was still done by hand.
Between 50 and 60 kms there is a large rest stop area with a restaurant and a small shop, also toilets. I stopped there and had a coffee in a tin and got talking to some Westeners who were milling about in the bus stop, it turns out that the bus they were on (which I passed about a 100 meters down the road) had broken down and they had been stuck there for 5 hours. They were not happy, but I was, the sun was out and had my trusty steed
The road stayed pretty much very bumpy and dusty till I started to drop down the other side of the mountain towards Oudomxay then I was blessed with damp mud, it make the road like an ice skating ring and I could feel my wheels wanting to tuck from underneath me all the time I was on it. Thankfully made it down in one piece
Finally the last 10 to 12 k’s was good tarmac again all the was in to town
After stopping for food and a luke warm Lao dark I had a ride through town and settled on the Dokbouadeng Guesthouse, wifi, best I have had in about 6 days, 30 photos uploads to Flickr in half hour, thats a record since I have been in Laos, hot water is very good, very hot with a decent pressure, bike parked out the front, only downside is it could do with a good lick of paint, but everything else is probably best, coords N20.68781 E101.98650
Took a walk into the town, the main road I am on is the town centre, visited the Phouthad Temple on top of a hill, not may good views of the town but the temple was ok
Now I have got some good internet I thought I would take the opportunity to post some videos of some on the roads/tracks I have been on.
VV to Phonsavan on the 9303:9308 by Wayne 66, on Flickr<script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script> VV to Phonsavan on the 9303/9308
Stayed in Oudoxmay for the day and just relaxed, had two massages as the first one didn’t seem like it had done the trick. Had the same girl twice and she was very good. I felt so much better after the second one. The remainder of the day was spent drinking Beer Lao and eating food.
I also took the bike for a good wash, the second of the tour.
I was travelling to Ban Chom Ong which is a homestay village. The route was very misty and I didn’t know what to expect and I didn’t even know where it was. I was following a map which was give to me by the tourist information people, and I decided to go the long way round which was through about 8 to 10 villages till I got to Ban Chom Ong. After getting a bit lost on the way as there were loads of tracks and in some places I was not even on a track according to the OSM mapping on my GPS, but its all part of the fun, so as and when I came across a different village I was asking the name of the village and then the way to Chom Ong.
I eventually got there for about 1130hrs, I was about 55 to 60 km the long way round, but I was not in any rush. Ban Chom Ong coords N20.70597 E101.78142.
Once I got there I stopped at a small shack in the middle of the village and started to ask about the homestay whist drinking a bottle of cold pop (soda).
The girl at the shack had a book with English phrases but nothing on the homestay, then all of a sudden she ran off, must have been the aftershave I was wearing, she disappeared into the village and came back with a young man, who I later found out was 19 yrs old and married to the girl who ran the shack. He ended up hosting me and spoke reasonable English. Sorted, time to go to my hut for the night. When I got to it it was a hut on stilts and inside were some thin mattresses and some quilts in a bag. Very Very basic and I was thinking what had I let myself in for…..
My host hung about whilst I unloaded the bike and got changed. Then it was back to the shack where we sat and drank cold beer Lao whilst his wife cooked some fried eggs with bits of chilli in them, we also had rice, the rice was just presented in a bamboo bowl and you just grabbed a hand full, literally. The egg was eaten with chopsticks.
Whilst we were eating a couple of the villagers came up to see who the foreigner was, one of them was a teacher (28yrs old) who spoke good English so we had quite a good natter, at about 1400hrs I said I was going for a walk and I was also going to secretly check on the bike and all my stuff because nothing was locked up, there were no locks on the doors at all, Ummmm, I was a bit dubious about leaving all the electronics laying about, but I had no choice unless I sat with it all the time. As I got up to leave thinking that this is going to be a long day as I didn't even have any comms, my host said that he was going to a farty, I later found out it was his pronunciation of party, as the villagers were celebrating something, he did tell me what but, after a few Lao whiskeys it was all a blur…….
So off we went further in to the village but closer to where I was staying, thankfully… When we got there it was packed out in the little area they were using, and I was shown to a wooden bench next to a table and sat down with all the other men. They made me feel right at home and involved me in all the days activities. The women served the men the beer and whiskey whilst the men ate, most of the food was in bowls but some of it was just on big leaves directly on the table, sticky rice, some kind of noodle thing, then a mix of pork and chicken soups with veg and other pork and chicken dishes, we all had a spoon each and the rest was just use you hands. I was quite taken aback by the way the women tended all the men, sorting the food, pouring the drinks etc. When the drink was being passed round you didn’t get your own cup, the cup started at the end of the line, the woman poured the ring, beer and or whiskey and you drank it, tipping the dregs on the floor and giving the cup back to the woman who then went to the next man. Once all the men had had their food they left the table and all the women and kids sat down to eat. By this stage I was in a group of about 10 Lao men of which a couple spoke reasonable English. I bought 5 bottles of beer Lao for the group which was well appreciated. Whilst we were eating men were singing and there was another guy on a key board. to be honest they sound really good, this continued all they way through the day/evening.
When the women had eaten all the tables and benches were moved off the the side to make a dance floor…Ummm…when in Rome! I was sat drinking and smoking with the men and a village woman, probably in her early 20’s took a bit of a shine to me and kept asking me to dance, and feed me alcohol, all the men and women who were there were dancing and singing and having a really good time. Then they brought out some big clay urns filled with what looked like wheat chaff and other stuff, I later found out it was rice particals, with long bamboo straws sticking in them, and the villagers took it in turns to sit and fill up the urns with water, and keep them topped up. The stuff was like a wine and the straw was passed round the group sat round the urns. Whilst it was kept filled with water, it was quite potent stuff. More sing and dancing until it started to get dark, which was around 1830hrs.
IMG_1551 by Wayne 66, on Flickr Food, spoons and more importantly the Lao Whiskey
IMG_1552 by Wayne 66, on Flickr The guy in the blue denim jacket spoke ok English and the guy in the red sleeved shirt on the right was Ban Chom Ong's answer to Elvis when he got going
IMG_1557 by Wayne 66, on Flickr One of the solitary cups being filled and passed round
IMG_1560 by Wayne 66, on Flickr The woman in the pink jacket took a bit of a shine to me and kept asking me to dance (middle of pic)
My host then took me back to his home where I had more food, fish cooked on an open fire and sticky rice, only hands were used for eating, I was sat with his wife, brothers, and grandmother.
Once we had eaten he took me back to my hut as I didn’t have a clue where I was as it was pitch black by this time. Once at the hut he went back home and I grabbed my torch and went back to the party which was dwindling down, my female friend had gone, more rice wine was in order before I stumbled back to the hut where I went straight to sleep, alcohol induced haha.
What I thought was going to be long and boring day turn into an exceptional day/evening and I was made very welcome by all at the party. Well worth the time and very glad I decided to go.
I eventually got there for about 1130hrs, I was about 55 to 60 km the long way round, but I was not in any rush. Ban Chom Ong coords N20.70597 E101.78142.
Once I got there I stopped at a small shack in the middle of the village and started to ask about the homestay whist drinking a bottle of cold pop (soda).
The girl at the shack had a book with English phrases but nothing on the homestay, then all of a sudden she ran off, must have been the aftershave I was wearing, she disappeared into the village and came back with a young man, who I later found out was 19 yrs old and married to the girl who ran the shack. He ended up hosting me and spoke reasonable English. Sorted, time to go to my hut for the night. When I got to it it was a hut on stilts and inside were some thin mattresses and some quilts in a bag. Very Very basic and I was thinking what had I let myself in for…..
My host hung about whilst I unloaded the bike and got changed. Then it was back to the shack where we sat and drank cold beer Lao whilst his wife cooked some fried eggs with bits of chilli in them, we also had rice, the rice was just presented in a bamboo bowl and you just grabbed a hand full, literally. The egg was eaten with chopsticks.
Whilst we were eating a couple of the villagers came up to see who the foreigner was, one of them was a teacher (28yrs old) who spoke good English so we had quite a good natter, at about 1400hrs I said I was going for a walk and I was also going to secretly check on the bike and all my stuff because nothing was locked up, there were no locks on the doors at all, Ummmm, I was a bit dubious about leaving all the electronics laying about, but I had no choice unless I sat with it all the time. As I got up to leave thinking that this is going to be a long day as I didn't even have any comms, my host said that he was going to a farty, I later found out it was his pronunciation of party, as the villagers were celebrating something, he did tell me what but, after a few Lao whiskeys it was all a blur…….
So off we went further in to the village but closer to where I was staying, thankfully… When we got there it was packed out in the little area they were using, and I was shown to a wooden bench next to a table and sat down with all the other men. They made me feel right at home and involved me in all the days activities. The women served the men the beer and whiskey whilst the men ate, most of the food was in bowls but some of it was just on big leaves directly on the table, sticky rice, some kind of noodle thing, then a mix of pork and chicken soups with veg and other pork and chicken dishes, we all had a spoon each and the rest was just use you hands. I was quite taken aback by the way the women tended all the men, sorting the food, pouring the drinks etc. When the drink was being passed round you didn’t get your own cup, the cup started at the end of the line, the woman poured the ring, beer and or whiskey and you drank it, tipping the dregs on the floor and giving the cup back to the woman who then went to the next man. Once all the men had had their food they left the table and all the women and kids sat down to eat. By this stage I was in a group of about 10 Lao men of which a couple spoke reasonable English. I bought 5 bottles of beer Lao for the group which was well appreciated. Whilst we were eating men were singing and there was another guy on a key board. to be honest they sound really good, this continued all they way through the day/evening.
When the women had eaten all the tables and benches were moved off the the side to make a dance floor…Ummm…when in Rome! I was sat drinking and smoking with the men and a village woman, probably in her early 20’s took a bit of a shine to me and kept asking me to dance, and feed me alcohol, all the men and women who were there were dancing and singing and having a really good time. Then they brought out some big clay urns filled with what looked like wheat chaff and other stuff, I later found out it was rice particals, with long bamboo straws sticking in them, and the villagers took it in turns to sit and fill up the urns with water, and keep them topped up. The stuff was like a wine and the straw was passed round the group sat round the urns. Whilst it was kept filled with water, it was quite potent stuff. More sing and dancing until it started to get dark, which was around 1830hrs.
IMG_1551 by Wayne 66, on Flickr Food, spoons and more importantly the Lao Whiskey
IMG_1552 by Wayne 66, on Flickr The guy in the blue denim jacket spoke ok English and the guy in the red sleeved shirt on the right was Ban Chom Ong's answer to Elvis when he got going
IMG_1557 by Wayne 66, on Flickr One of the solitary cups being filled and passed round
IMG_1560 by Wayne 66, on Flickr The woman in the pink jacket took a bit of a shine to me and kept asking me to dance (middle of pic)
My host then took me back to his home where I had more food, fish cooked on an open fire and sticky rice, only hands were used for eating, I was sat with his wife, brothers, and grandmother.
Once we had eaten he took me back to my hut as I didn’t have a clue where I was as it was pitch black by this time. Once at the hut he went back home and I grabbed my torch and went back to the party which was dwindling down, my female friend had gone, more rice wine was in order before I stumbled back to the hut where I went straight to sleep, alcohol induced haha.
What I thought was going to be long and boring day turn into an exceptional day/evening and I was made very welcome by all at the party. Well worth the time and very glad I decided to go.
Woke up with a cracking hangover, but had a good 9hrs sleep and sorted out my kit ready to pack the bike, this was at about 0630hrs, it was still dark outside, so glad I brought a torch with me
The plan was to ride to Phonsali today and then go further up north to the Chinese border. However when I went out side my initial thoughts came true as I could hear the noise on the roof of the hut, it was raining. In fact it wasn’t just raining it was lashing it down. Not good..
I had about 14km to do before I got on to some tarmac, what a hard 14 km it was. The track had turned to a slippery top surface of mud which yet again was like riding over ice. So very slowly and precariously I made my way along the track, had to do two river crossing, one of which was a straight ride through after a very slippery slope down to the water, how I didn’t end up in the river i’ll never know. The second was a wooden log bridge, the logs had been laid bank to bank and not side on, and there was big gaps in the logs, big enough for a tyre to fit between. So it was off the bike and keeping it in first gear I walked the bike across using the engine to move the bike along. Once cleared it was back on the very slippery track and heading for the 13N, that took me about and hour to do.
Finally I got to the main road and by this time I was well and truly drenched and extremely cold. Bearing in mind I am only wearing my motocross gear, glad I was, more to come…
I set the GPS to a road junction where I was then going to turn left and head for Phonsali, but… as I was going down the 13N towards the junction I was on a down hill stretch which was very twisty so I was only going very slowly as I could see diesel all over the place, any way I came slowly round this left hand bend and that that it the front went straight from underneath me, I went down quite hard but the bike used me as a cushion, thankfully, and we both slid down hill for about 10 feet before coming to a stop in a verge. Managed to get the bike off me and picked it up, Bike ok, just a scrapped clutch leaver, happy with that, I have got a bruised elbow, but the full body armour certainly did its job, the motocross shirt is a bit shredded so is off in the bin. So apart from a bruised elbow where it clattered against the elbow protectors, all it good.
So I was now wet, cold and hurting. Got to the junction of the 13N and a road near Namotay and looked at the road, not good and I decided against traveling it. I am here to enjoy it and not do any unnecessary risk. So I set of for Luang Namtha a few days early. It was still 50k’s before I got there, and it was a long, wet, cold 50k’s. Eventually got here for about 1045hrs and rode up the main street looking for a place to get a room.
I found the ManyChan Guesthouse and Restaurant N21.00251° E101.40943° on the main drag and went in to see if they had a room after having two coffees to try and warm up. I got a room, clean with luke warm water and wifi in the restaurant area. The poor lady in the Guesthouse was following me about with the mop as I was dripping water all over the place. Hot shower and food was in order. Then to plan what I am going to do next?
Spent it in Luang Namtha, it rained till gone 1200hrs and it was really cold, to top it all there was no hot water and we had a power cut till 1330hrs.
Went out for a walk and had a pizza across the road and he even had hot coffee on, bonus! So coffee and pizza whilst I watched the guys fix the power cables
I met a couple from the UK, Russ and Emma, they were very nice and we ended up spending the evening together in the guesthouse, chatting, eating and drinking. They didn’t know where they were going to next so we discussed where I had been and their options. It was nice to have a good light hearted conversation.
Gloves still drenched, glad I have another pair with me, nowt worse than soggy gloves, boots still wet also, Seal Skinz it is then, although the body armour has dried out.
Set off for Muang Sing via the NamDi (Dee) Waterfall N21.01496 E101.44214 and the That Phum Phuk Stupas N20.97172 E101.38046
Visited the Stupa first which was on top of a hill, looked for the road that went up to the top but couldn't find it so I ended up climbing the stairs to the top, not the best idea in Motocross boots. There was the old stupa which I think was partially destroyed when it had a bomb dropped on ti, and the new stupa in the usual gold colouring.
Next up was Nam Di, I was a bit disappointed in it after the Kuang Si Waterfall, the water looked clear coming down but then was a bit murky as it started to flow again and there was a long rusting pipe which you can see in the photos, aint got a clue what it was for, cost was 10,000 kip and 2,000 kip for the motorbike to be parked
IMG_1621 by Wayne 66, on Flickr Doing the washing in the river just after the waterfall
It was good to get back out on the bike after resting my arm and sitting about for nearly 36 hours due to bad weather. The road (17A) was quite good all the way to Muang Sing and the Scenery was up to its usual standard, loads to look at.
I stopped for my usual in the middle of nowhere breakfast in Ban Done Xay
food was good, noodles with pork and veggies.
Although the sun was not out for most of the journey it was a lot warmer than it had been over the previous two days.
Just before I got to MS I took a bit of a detour to Ban Koum which is a distillery village, When I got there I had a ride round the village and as normal all the villagers were staring at me, I could not see any distilleries but thought I could smell it in the previous village I passed through, however I did meet a group of guys who where sat drinking some home brew at 1030 in the morning as I was riding passed the one with the home-brew beckoned me to stop, as I stopped he finished of his drink and poured me one, it was strong, thankfully I had only eaten an hour ago, so I got my smokes out and passed them round, much appreciated it was too, then we had more home-brew whilst taking about the bike, my GPS and the Go-pro, and they even passed for a photo
Got to MS at about 1130hrs and had a coffee after the mediatory ride round, whilst having a brew I look for some accommodation, After riding around again I opted for the Anousone Guesthous at coords N21.19140 E101.15479. Wifi which is quite good, hot water which is luke warm but bearable and the bike is parked out front.
There was not a lot to choose from in the town IMHO, it is a bit of a one horse town and nothing like the other places I have stopped. It is predominantly Chinese in the town with it being close to the border and most of the businesses are Chinese, including the Guesthouse I am in.
Moving on again tomorrow to Houayxai.
The road,17B, was Tarmac for about 18km then it went on to an unpaved road, it was good going with loads to see on route. Went through loads of Banana Plantations and then I finally turned left on to the 2483 and got my first sight of the Mekong River at 0920hrs,
Then it all went very hard for me indeed, the road, which I say in the loosest of terms went to a single track between point 1 N20.88651 E100.65087 and point 2 N20.81732 E100.52865. It was nightmare, I was literally having to fight my way through young bamboo plants, jungle, fallen trees and logs on the track, so much for it being a road. The mud on the track/road was very slippery and you could not use any speed at all, I had a bit of a slow motion moment where the front wheel went from underneath me, great, picked the bike up only to find the gear selector had snapped off, not happy, but on the bright side I could still change gear, thankfully. The rest of the horrible track i did with the broken gear selector.
On the single track I had to negotiate two landslides, the first was a small gap which was on the edge of a 100/150 foot drop straight to the Mekong, the only thing breaking my fall would be the trees on the way down, and the only track which had been used was a Scooter track about a foot from the edge. Wet slippery mud, paddled may way across that, and got across ok, then came the next one about 2k’s down the track, this was an uphill climb of about 4 feet, I stopped and had a look at it, thankfully there was a bit of a flat top on the landslide so at least I could compose myself before going down the other side, another bad time, I was beginning to think why the hell am I doing this on my own, one wrong slip/move and i am in to the Mekong after and long drop. But thankfully I made it ok. Would I do that stretch again on my own…No. But saying that it was better than sitting on a boring tarmac road. After about 10k’s plus i came across and excavator which was clearing the track and making it wider, great, about time, haha. This made it a little easier going as the track was a little bit wider but it made it harder on the sloppier muddy sections due to him churning it up. Didn’t take any photos or video as that was the last thing on my mind. Eventually the track became a lot better and more free flowing. I had passed a couple of villages on route and was asking about getting the gear selector fixed, one of them being Ban Xiengdao N20.81468 E100.52652 which had a really nice Stupa and Temple
In all the villages I stopped at I kept hearing Meung Meung, and didn’t have a clue except it was a village. I eventually got to the village and got it welded back together at a bike place, N20.73103 E100.46026, great, at least now I could change gear properly.
Once I left Meung ( as it is on the map) I followed the 2203 which was a nice unpaved road with a number of bad sloppy mud sections all the way to the 3, once on the 3 it was a good tarmac road to Houayxai.
Once I got to Houayxai it was time to stop and have some food as I was in need of some sustenance. Whilst eating I got talking to some Lao men and one of them spoke a bit of English, so I asked him where there was a good place to stay with good wifi, he pointed me in the direction the the place where I am now, Friendship Guesthouse 2, good wifi, 43 photos uploaded to Flicker in about 45mins, and the hot water is ok, bike parked at front under the CCTV, coords N20.27176 E100.41343, 125,000 Kip per night
Stayed around Houayxai today and went for a walk in the morning.
In the afternoon I met up with Snakeboy from the site and we sat, drank coffee and had a good chat. We have arranged to go out riding tomorrow, going to the Laos side of the Golden Triangle.
After he had left I went and visited Fort Carnot, it was good to go and visit although it was getting bit overgrown as you can see by the photos. There was quite a commanding view over the Mekong River and the town. It was a Legion Fort and was built in 1900 following the acquisition of Laos into French Indochina in 1893.
On the way up to the Fort there is a bit of a Laos Military Barracks thing going on including the Bokeo Army Hospital and as you walked down the road the doors to the patients rooms were open and you could see people on drips and laid in their beds.
Up quite early as normal, was feeling really hungry so went and had some breakfast whilst waiting for Kurt, from Norway who is riding around the world on his XT660z, to arrive, which was going to be at about 0900. I had just finished my Hot Mocha when he got to where I was staying, we were in no rush so he had a brew too before setting off.
The plan was to have a steady ride out and try and find some interesting things I had researched in the local area and discussed with him.
So off we headed, first stop the Laos side of the Golden Triangle, I thought it would be good to have a look over the Mekong River at somewhere I was stood not many weeks ago looking at where I am stood today. It was The Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone, coords N20.35484 E100.09054. We stopped outside the hotel/casino in the area and one of the guys outside was not very happy and was telling us both to move on ….we did…once we had taken some photos. Next up in the Zone was the Golden Triangle International Border Zone, where we had a look in the arrival and departure areas, duty free got some money from us also, cheap booze, great…. Then it was time for some food. Once we had eaten we decide to leave the Zone and start heading back towards Houayxai and look for some of the other places. However we ended up seeing some Tigers so naturally we had to stop and take a look, they were massive, also had some young Tigers there, then we saw lots of other animals in a bit of a Zoo, there was Bears, Peacocks, Monkeys and some Deer looking type of animal. It was a nice surprise. On the way out we also checked out the Ampi-theatre on Done Xao, coords N20.32689 E100.09773.
On the way back we were looking at trying to find the Souvannakhomkham Stone Budda area, so with a bit of gesticulating from me and quite good Thai/Lao from Kurt we eventually found one of the Budda’s. Only the one mind as they are situated in a massive Banana Plantation which is a maze of tracks and even the one we found we would have ridden past if I had not had one of the locals sat on the back of my bike showing us the way. Souvannakhomkham, one of the Stone Budda’s coords N20.24970 E100.16522. The junction we took to the Budda is at coords N20.30186 E100.16099
Next up was to try and find the sculpture of a Lao princess, daughter of the Lane Xang King Chao Anouvong, who is believed to have died at a certain point in the river and the Kings then did the shrine for her. Bonus, we found it, you have to go down some step to get to it and it is nearly right on the edge of the Mekong. There is also a great view of the river and some seats to sit on. coords N20.38180 E100.35274.
Back to my accommodation and have a drink then it was 30km in the opposite direction to have evening meal with a Laos family and Kurt’s Thai friend. What a great meal we had and I was made most welcome, then it was a ride back to Houayxai in the dark, that was fun, scooters, lorries and motorised carts with no lights on at all, all driving down the road. Thankfully no dogs, cows or kids etc running about in the road.
Set off back for Thailand after a good hearty fried noodles with pork for breakfast at a little food place across from where I was staying.
Then it was off for the short journey across the Fourth Friendship Bridge and in to Chiang Khong.
It was not far to the Bridge from where I was staying, maybe 12 km’s or so. When I got there I went to the Main Part of the Building and found the window for Check Out. The guy behind the window spoke really good English and he told me to get back on my bike and go to the lane for cars.
Once in that lane there was a queue of of about 6 people wanting to cross the border in their cars. As I got to the window the guy on the otherside of the glass didn’t seem to want to deal with me and he called another bloke over. This guy took my passport and paperwork (the Customs paperwork and Thailand acceptance sheet). He kept looking at it and then he put it down and just walked out of the hut. I thought this is going to be along process. I was quite wrong, after making a phone call he came back in and processed my paperwork and then asked me for 500 Bht for the escort to cross the bridge. I asked him if he had a receipt in case I was asked for it again, the answer was no. So I paid up. He then gave me everything back and said to me that I must go to the Customs window which was about 25 meters further on, on the left. He walked and I rode down to the window, at this point I had to hand in my Customs paperwork, no extra charge, just a stamp and he kept it then said I could go but had to follow this civilian car across the Bridge…..sorted
Once we got to the Thai side the guy in the escort vehicle point for me to go into the private car land and he drove back towards Laos.
I parked up and went to the window in the hut to my front and handed in my paperwork and passport. I was asked for the vehicle paperwork and told him I don’t have it as it is a rental bike and thats all I had.
Whilst I was filling in the arrivals paperwork one of the other guys went out and checked the paperwork with the bike registration number. He came back satisfied, I was then stamped into the country until the 13 Feb 15, not bad that, thought you only got 15 days, not that I need it all!
From that window I rode down to the Customs window which is about 25 meters behind the Arrivals booth. He took my Customs paperwork which I was given as I left Thailand, I signed it, and that was that, back into Thailand and on my way to Chiang Khong and all in less than an hour. Well chuffed.
I had to pay another 200 Bht at some point but I cant remember where, think it was the Thai side at the arrivals window
Found a place to stay in Chiang Khong, the Baan Fai Guest House, which is next door to the Nam Khong Riverside where I stayed last time I was here, Hot water, good wifi, nice clean room, bike parked on there grounds at the back, out of the way, 800 Bht, coords N20.26704 E100.40595
The penultimate day was was spent riding from Chang Khong to Phayao.
Had a good night before I set off, I went back to the Hub Pub to have a drinkk and see some friends which I had met there the last time I was in CK. Had a really good time and even ended up heading back to the main road to go and play pool. It was quite a late night but not too alcohol driven.
The road from CK to Phayao was initially long and a bit boring (1020) and very damp as it had just finished raining,but then I turned off and went on a few of the back roads which turned out to be about 20km shorter than if I had stayed on the main drags. Once I had left the 1020 I ended up going on the 1292, 4005, 1126 and the 1202 straight in to Phayao. On the 1202 I stopped off at one of the reservoirs for a bit of a chill
Once I got in to Phayao I had a bit of a drive through and found a coffee shop to plan my next move of finding some accommodation. There was a few places scattered about and decided to ride along the edge of the lake and see whats about.
I found The Cosy Nest, quite a nice place but a bit on the expensive side, they only had the large twin and kings rooms left, he was asking 1500 Bht but got him to knock 10% off the price, breakfast included. Awesome shower and great wifi, nice clean room. The bike is park on the front but there is CCTV and a security guard on as the hotel is open 24hrs. coords N19.16459 E99.89785
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