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.
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Laos Map A11
24th Jan 2008. We will do a day trip down south to Veun Kham which is linked to Dong Calor Cambodia's border. We will also cover Pakxong and visit Bolaven Plateau fabled for their coffee plantation. 25th Jan 2008. We ride out of Laos border via Vang Tao into Chong Mek Thailand. From there, we will ride to Ubon Ratchathani.
Laos Map A10
23rd Jan 2008. From Thakek, we will push another long stretch all the way to our next stop point, Pakse.
Laos Map A9
23rd Jan 2008. This is the longest stretch we will cover. From Nam Phao, we will attempt one of the toughest off roads in Laos drawn in purple line, There will be a river crossing at Nakai which is often deemed impossible. If the route is not passable, we will have no choice but to back track out to Vieng Kham and take the West Coast road south to Tahkek.
Laos Map A8
22nd Jan 2008. As it is a pretty long stretch, we may choose to stop for the night at either Pakxan, Khoun Kham or Lak Xao.
Laos Map A7
22nd Jan 2008. We will attempt to ride across central Laos from Vietiane via Pakxan all the way to the Nam Phao which is linked to Cau Treo Vietnam's border.
Laos Map A6
21st Jan 2008. We will take the most commonly travelled route by bikers coming into Laos from Thailand. From Luang Prabang, we ride south all the way to Vientiane.
Laos Map A5
20th Jan 2008. We head to Luang Prabang to stay and sight seeing.
Laos Map A4
18th Jan 2008. Riding via Vieng Thong to Xam Neua, then we will do a back track down to Hou Lao and rest. 19th Jan 2008. From Hou Lao, we ride through Muang Kham and Phonsavan where we will visit the acclaimed "Plain of Jars". Rest the night in Phonsavan.
Laos Map A3
17th Jan 2008. From Nam Bak we will head east to Vieng Kham for the night.
Laos Map A2
15th Jan 2008.From Luang Namtha we will ride a day trip up to Myanmar border at Xieng Kok and ride back out to Boten which is the border town into Mohan of Yunnan China. At Boten, we will stay the night. 16th Jan 2008. Leaving Boten enroute Oudom Xai, we ride north into Phongsali to stay at Hat Sa. 17th Jan 2008.The next day we will choose to either take the alternative river transportation drawn with purple line down to Luang Prabang or back track down Oudom Xai to Nam Bak in the south.
Laos Map A1
14th Jan 2008. We will enter Huay Xai Laos from Chiang Khong Thailand and proceed to Luang Namtha for our 1st night's rest in Laos.
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