Singha Laos Riding Expedition Part 1

Introduction

We have 11 bikes, 12 people, 18 days and more than 8,000km of dusty roads to cover. The vision clear and unmistakable; ride through Laos coasting through its borders with Myanmar, China, Vietnam and Cambodia. A new trip heralds a new adventure and much to look forward to. This is finally it - the Singha Laos Riding Expedition. We have all packed and are geared up for anything we can think of and all that is left is to ride into the depths of Lao’s rural and rugged landscape. This will be a great escape from the hubbub and routine drab of everyday life. The lure of the open road is a never-ending source of release for me. Any rider on the road will love the freedom and passion to live every mile to the fullest.

Rewind back to a year ago, our team leader and organizer Alex Quah was in the midst of planning his latest project. Another bike trip was on the cards, this time going beyond Malaysia or Thailand. Each passing year warrants a new location. After exploring much of Thailand, the Golden Triangle and even Cambodia, he is targeting Laos as his next destination. But this is no ordinary tour. Indeed, we will be giving the well-beaten tourist trail a wide berth. This will be a trip of discovery, uncovering the mysteries Laos and its people have to offer. A huge amount of legwork is involved in planning and organising any kind of long distance travel, especially a road trip by bike. After months of preparation and sorting out all legal and official documentation needed for the trip, he realized that funding was the real main issue he needed to overcome.

Sponsors were hard to come by given the short amount of time until we set off, not to mention other trip issues that needed our dire attention. The expedition was planned on a tight budget and our resources were just about adequate. Moreover, Alex found he lacked a writer/videographer for the trip. I was invited to join him and his team for this event initially. Due to my own personal commitments, I had to back out. However, just by a fluke, it was finally resolved and I jumped onto the last bandwagon and signed up for the ride.

DAY 1 – Set off

So here I am, at the day of set off at LC food court in front of all our friends and family members that came to support. Not to mention the publicity from Mediacorp Channel 8, for whom I have become their unofficial videographer. After all the media interviews and photo taking, we strapped on our gear and gunned our engines for the ride out of Singapore. Negotiating through a weekend jam all the way to the Tuas 2^nd Link, we pass Immigration and finally begin our 900km leg on the North-south highway.

Reaching Seremban R&R, we encounter the first problem before even touching Thailand. Uncle David our oldest rider of 67 punctured his BMW GS650 rear tyres on the highway and rode for a while with a flat before entering the rest point. It was the wee hours of morning and we were all contemplating changing his inner tube on the spot. Luckily, we managed to get a local 24-hour mechanic to ride over and change the tube for him. It was a fast and efficient service, as the tyre was fixed within an hour. The rest of the journey to Hatyai Thailand was uneventful.

DAY 2 – DAY5: Delay in Schedule

Our transit through Thailand starts from Hatyai. In an effort to save time and energy plus the unforeseen wear and tear on our bikes, we had initially planned to travel by train. Taking a train with our bikes on it, we will stop at Bangkok before heading all the way up to Chiang Mai. Nevertheless, things did not pan out as smoothly as we envisioned. Problems began through sheer miscommunication and confusion with the railway station staff and officials. Our 11 bikes were split into four different train schedules enroute to Bangkok and if that was not enough, one of the trains broke down. The wait for a replacement train head resulted in a one-day delay in our expedition plan. By the time we arrived in Chiang Mai, we are one and a half days behind our schedule.

We had to push off from Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong with haste. It was a race against time to cross over to Huay Xai, Laos’s border before they closed at 6pm. Although we made it on time to clear customs we were told that, the bike registration counter closes at 4pm every day. It was only around 3pm, but we cannot seem to make headway with the custom officials. Having no choice, we found a guesthouse to stay the night and waited until morning to complete our registration procedure.

DAY 6 – 1^ST Day Riding in Laos

After dealing with all the paperwork and a refreshing breakfast of eggs and toasted French loaves, we are at last beginning our expedition ride in Laos. Maybe it is the jitters and excitement of starting our actual journey or probably just the fact that the bikes were too laden by luggage. Chris, who rides a BMW GS1200 Adventure lost his balance while stationary on his bike at a petrol station just 100m from the main town of Huay Xai. He dropped his bike with a loud thud and marked the opening of being the first bike fall. A few of the team members rushed to his aid to pick up the huge bike. Due to the frame guards, his new bike only suffered minor scratches and nothing was broken.

After the petrol top-up, we rode northeast towards Luang Namtha. Laos’s vehicles are left hand drives which is the reverse from Singapore. I had to constantly remind myself that I am riding on the right side of the road as I unconsciously drift to the left. The initial roads were newly paved, as they were still sand and dust trails a year ago when our two person recce team came to check out the routes. These new roads are like unfinished projects as we came across numerous stretches with road tar caked on them. It was a splattering feast for our bikes as the tar was flung onto the framework and plastic parts. I even got tar flicked onto my helmet visor. It will be some task to clean off later.

Aside from the tar-laden roads lies the positive aspect to brighten any rider’s day. We got some good roads with wonderful corners and twists that formed “A” roads cut right into the mountain range. Not to mention the beautiful scenery along the way added a magical touch to the ride. We constantly stop to take pictures and videos of whatever that caught our fancy along the scenic route.

From Luang Namtha, it was a torturous and badly paved road to Muang Sing. It is a necessary route in order to cut west to Xieng Kok, which borders Myanmar. After Muang Sing, the challenge of this trip began in earnest. This stretch of road is predominantly grade 3 red earth tracks. The terrain is mostly flat and straight, but there is soft sand area on top of the red earth and stones that provided no traction for our tyres. Even so, I had a fantastic time riding through some rear wheel skids with certain impunity as I have the lightest and most suitable bike in the team. My Suzuki DR650 simple pranced around the trail with ease. It was most fascinating to see the incredible amount of red dust our tyres churn up as we ride by. Sajit, Ah Khong and Charlie faced a battering journey amongst our group as they are riding road bikes. Ah Khong had the worst of it because his bike is a sports-tourer with pretty hard suspension and low ground clearance. The three of them cannot afford to go into any potholes for fear of cracking their rims or worse, crash and fall.

Enroute to Xieng Kok, we pass through several topless tribe villages that are indigenous to the area. However, they are more civilised now and most of them wear clothes. Even so, we still manage to spot some of their women baring their top while doing everyday chores. It can be quite a distraction between eyeing the road and the next soft spots while abstaining from staring too hard at bare top women walking about along the villages. Nevertheless, the women are the least of our concern as the main danger is the perpetual danger of road kill. We need to be extremely cautious no animals like pigs, chicken, ducks or even buffaloes and cows cross into our riding path.

I had quite a few close shaves, with one right before we arrive at Xieng Kok being the most unnerving. This time, it was not some poultry standing in my way. There was a lot of dust churned up by the previous bikes riding off before me. The choking billow of soot and dust marred my vision and I cannot see a thing in front of my path. Suddenly, out of the smoke and dust, a big truck appeared and I was on a head on collision with it. I got a grip on my reflexes not to freeze and swerve my bike at the very last moment to evade the truck to the right. After that heart stopping moment, I rode out of the air of dust and reached Xieng Kok very dusty and parched from the off road action. It would seem that I am not the only one with a tale of two to tell. Robin and Eric made the first kill of our trip. Robin’s GS650 Dakar slammed into the side of a dog hard. The dog limped away, blood trickling out of its thin body and most likely will not survive. As for Eric, his bike’s rear wheel went over a piglet, killing it instantly. Both of them were lucky and did not crash in the process.

We all rest early that night after the tiring ride. The resort we stay in is eco friendly, which means no hot water to bath. After a freezing shower and a not very appetizing dinner, we discovered that the power generators shut down at 9.30pm. With only candles to illuminate, it sure leaves little else to do but sleep early.

Reality bites

Reality and what you want to do don't go hand in hand. Even so, no one can fault you to try and make the best of the situation. Work has been hectic since i came back from Laos. In between work, i have managed to get my videos of the trip aired on national TV and managed to complete my write up of the Laos Expedition. It is about time now to feature them on my blog. Oh yeah, i got a motorbike magazine to buy my story at a pittance and it will be printed as a few parts serial across a couple of issues. Rather than wait for the bi-monthly issues of this mag, you guys get the whole story in advance minus the long waiting.

Back to Singapore and reality

Finally finish compiling my pics on the trip to laos.
This is a smile worth a million dollars.
After a dusty offroad ride, we reached Xieng Kok which is near the Myanmar border.

I got the award for the most dusty bike and rider.
how i wish for a compressor air gun now to blow away all the dust.

We have been screened on national tv and it was a good show. Very interesting blend of all the video footage during the trip. I would say that Mediacorp Channel 8 has done an excellant job editing for the current affairs show "Frontline".

Now i will try to feature some of the more interesting and magnificent photos shot on the expedition. Stay tune for it as it comes.

Vang Vieng

We did not make it to Vientiane tonight. Just made it to Vang Vieng which is 106km away from Phou Khoun.

After resting 2 nights at Luang Prabang, we set off for the Plains of Jars at Phonsovan. It was around 250km of ridingto reach the Plains of Jars. We only went to Site 1 as time was not on our side. It has become an archeological site protected under UNESCO. No one knows the origins of the jars. Looks to me like some granite material and they are strewn all over the site in a haphazard manner with sizes ranging from 3feet by 2 feet to as big as 6feet by 5 feet.

After taking some pictures with the mysterious Jars, we ride back to Phou Khoun which s the junction linking to Vientiane. It was near to 6pm local time by then and sunset is imminent. We have no choice but to push at a faster pace down south. Taking a dinner break at Kasi, we decided to push the last leg and rest at Vang Vieng for the night. After some 13 over hours of hard riding, all i can think about is to get down to the nearest massage parlour and unwind.

Today, the tally board of near hits and misses have some new addition. Our oldest member, uncle David slip on some diesel patch while negotiation a bend just before reaching Phou Khoun from Luang Prabang. The Bike skidded and fall on the left side, while Uncle David with quick reflexes for someone his age push away from the bike and slided a good 10 metres before coming to a stop. He was not injured as the fall was minor and he is well padded in his gear. The bike suffer a bent gear shifter and the left side box aluminium cover of his GS650 got totalled and came off. After a quick fixing and the bike is good to go again.

As for roadkill, from the few days of riding we had things like squashed piglet and run over chicken and even a dog was involved. Today's latest kill was a chicken as well. Why do the chicken cross the road you ask? Well, that now is a deeply confounding question we all can't quite figure out. By the way they love to run back and forth only when a vehicle approaches, i can only guess that they are just trying to get themselves killed.

Tommorrow, we will have another tough ride. We will attempt to ride all the way to Vieng Kham, then over to Nam Phao Vietnam border. It is a 600 over km ride which we hope will offer us lesser mountain roads and endless corners that really slow us down plenty.

At Luang Prabang

Today is day 8 into my trip. We have reached Luang Prabang. I was told this province use to be part of Thailand. But during the French colonizing of Laos, they sort of arm twisted Luang Prabang from the Thai King. It was either the whole Thailand or Luang Prabang.

Since we started our riding in Laos, we have a need to do changes to our trip iteniery due to time lost while transit in Bangkok. We went Xieng Kok as projected to hang our banner near the Mynmar border. Along the way, we also visited the topless indigenous tribe and took some photos with them. But, they are getting civilised so not all of them go around topless any more.
I was the 1st bike to crash on the off roads out of Xieng Kok. Nothing major except a bend left hand guard, pillion peg broke off and the block suffer some minor knock. Another bike suffer a punture by sharp stones. Then my bike broke down while heading to Boten, near Mohan China border. Charlie, one of the biker in our group toll me for 60km all the way to Boten. It was a scary experience to be toll so far and at some point we were pretty fast too.

Boten was chilly and it is a town very much run by the chinese. They deal in RMB and the exchange rate to pay in Laos kips or USD is horrible. We had a good night rest in a 5 star hotel. Apparently, Boten is being developed by Fujian businessmen. The hotel has a casino and act as a means for Chinese from China to cross over and gamble. We scrap the idea of going over to China as our bikes are not allowed to cross and there is no available transport to ferry us to and fro.

From Boten, we head east to Nong Chiew to spend the night. We decided to skip Phongsali totally as the long boat ride we intend to take is too treacherous for bike bikes over long river distance. Aprojected 6 hours river ride is needed to cover the stretch we planned. Unneccessary risks for no cause, thus we scrap that. We took a short cut by taking an offroad stretch direct to Luang Prabang instead. It was some treacherous offroad riding today as there were numerous steep incline decent(12km worth of it). Not to mention the soft sand paving the path taking away any kind of traction. One side is cliff wall, and the other side the cliff drop. One wrong skid and its off into the ravine. Most of the time, we were going at 30-40km/h maintaining 1st and 2nd gears only.We were so glad to clear the whole 60km of killer offroads into normal offroads that we went at a really fast pace. One of the BMW adventure manage to rupture his front wheel tyre on sharp rocks in the process and had to get a worm patch to fix the hole.

It was a relieve to reach Luang Prabang in one piece. Now its time for some massage and relax from the hard riding. Tommorrow will be sightseeing and some easy riding. I will update on our progress soon.

Today is day 4 of our trip and we hav finally arrive in Laos local time 3.30pm.
Much have happened in the last 4 days after leaving Singapore.
On the first night, Uncle David in our group has a flat tyre from hitting a nail on the Northsouth highway jus before one of our petrol rest point. He is lucky it did not drag a long distance as it is a tubed tyre and will eventually crack apart.

The beginning of our trip was paved with more set backs then we expect. Upon reaching Hatyai, we found that there is a limit to the number of bikes allowed to be loaded on the train. We were also splitted into 2 train trips. As for the bikes, they were split into 4 train trips.

When we reached Bangkok, we were told our bike luggages were not loaded up with the bikes and the second group after us had to lug it into their cabins just before the train take off. To make matter worse, the third and fourth train did not load 4 of our bikes and were delayed till the next day. If we think its the end, more problems surfaced. One of the 4 bikes was on a the next day train which broke down half way resulting in more delay in our schedule. All this while, we were stuck in Bangkok waiting and wasting precious time for our actual trip to ride in Laos.

After all the hassle to get the bikes to Bangkok, we have totally lost trust in Thailand's train system totally. When we found that all the train tickets were sold out till 1 and half day later, we booked a bus ride from Bangkok to Chiang Khong. But due to the late arrival of our bikes, we had no choice and cancelled our booking and lost half the bus fare in the process.

For now, we are finally landed on the shores of Laos in Huay Xai. Tommorrow, our expedition shall begin in earnest. We will still proceed to Muang Xing and visit the Topless indigenous tribe leaving near the Mynmar border. From there we will ride east to Boten and stay the night. Due to the delay in Bangkok, we are expecting to amend some of the trips iteniery to buy back some lost time. One possibility is we will have to forgo heading south of Laos to visit the four thousand islands.

I will try to load some pics if possible. So, do stay tune to my blog and support our trip.

Final Prep

It has been quite a tiring last few days of prep. The trip will be tonight and yet it all feels so unreal. I am really going to do this. Just got up to the morning sun and i hope this kinda good weather will hold through out the day. The last 2 days was a battle with my body constantly. The impending trip and all the prep work or maybe just the erratic January weather has caused my body to break down. I had flu yesterday and it aint a pretty sight. Coupled with the fact that i still need to ride out and run my errands did not help me much. So i took an awefully strong dose of flu meds to knock myself out. The virus is at bay, for now.

My bike is all set and serviced for action, all i am left now is getting my final luggage in order.
Namely my AV equipment. As i am tasked to film for Channel 8, they have very kindly provided me with a pretty big video camera. The extra load has come with other gadgets not to mention my own devices like batteries for video cameras. Yes i have a few cameras, namely 3. One from Mediacorp, one which is my own, and one surveillance camera that is converted to a bike mount camera. Not to mention my walkie set which is a compulsory for this trip,thus i am running out of storage space to even load in my DV tapes for the video footage.

All the load does not include my clothes and bike equipment plus some spares which i brought along. Being quite encumbered, i will have to find someone in my group to help me share some of the weight. Who will be the lucky guy...hmm..

I can tell my map is not the most fantastic in the world, so i have decided to break it down in to smaller pieces for easy viewing. As for this blog, i will try my best to update the latest as and when on the trip for you guys.