Day One
Well after little sleep in CK we rocked up to the crossing point at Chiang Khong at 8am to be greeted by hoards of Chinese drivers and their passengers who lined the ramp, not the best start. After queuing for an eternity the nice guy at immigration told we us had to go back into town for some paperwork (dont recall having done that last time but anyway) from the immigration office next to the police station, after the relieving each of us of 200 baht we got back to immigration and customs and waited.
We must have looked like aliens or film stars, not sure which, but anyway we had our pictures taken by most of the passengers on the ferry. Anyway to cut a long story short we entered, got stamped eventually with no fuss although it had taken us six hours to get this far and my brain was fried so an unscheduled overnight stop was called for since we could not make Hongsa before nightfall.
Day Two
After stocking up on baguettes to go, we finally hit the road on a misty morning in Houay Xai.
Wasn't long before we got to our first stream crossing to get everyone in the swing, here's Jay with a gungho approach.
Mark giving it a bit more respect.
This trail was great fun although dusty (thanks to Pounce for the gpx) in places and we reached the ferry point with no real problems.
I managed to get three of us across after careful negotiations with the skipper !
We stopped for noodles and chatted with a delightful young lady who invited us to her wedding later in the year.
Due to heavy traffic the trail got wider and dustier.
Wasn't long before it claimed it's first victim.
Looking at it won't help !
Some delays along the way.
Shortly before dark we arrived in Hongsa (check out the time on the clock in the last picture) and settled into the Soupaphone guest house followed by a beverage or two.
For some the day had taken it's toll and my promises of an easier day to follow would bite me in the bum......
Day Three
Since today's run was relatively short it was decided to wait for the morning mist to burn off before heading off on the 4B to Luang Prabang so i wandered the market for a while.
This route i had done a few weeks earlier and was sure my riding partners would enjoy it as much as i had, armed with candy i had packed for the village kid's, off we went.
With the sky's looking ominously grey it wasn't long before we hit our first of the stream crossings.
We stopped at the first settlement after this crossing as the sky's opened, although briefly we thought.
I was riding ahead of the other guy's and around 35k in i came to a downhill section which looked innocent enough as i descended but heavy rain must have hit this section and the topsoil was slick with subsoil still soft and dry. In no time at all my tyres had choked up and engine braking or any braking was not slowing my descent and i was simply skating down the hill. I decided to lay the bike down (honest) before the rate of descent got the better of me and hauled my bike up onto it's stand, nursing a badly sprained ankle.
Pictures, as always don't do justice to the conditions it was almost impossible to stand, i screamed up to the other guy's in an attempt to warn them of the state of play, but too late sooner or later all the bikes littered the track, It was beginning to look we may be stuck for the night on this hill but we finally got the bikes to the bottom.
We cleared our bikes to the side so we could help push this small bus up the hill followed by an old Landrover that only just made it, i had hoped the passengers of the bus would help us walk the bikes down the hill, fat chance.
After that workout it was on to the village and candy time for the kid's
One day i would like to spend a night in this place the kid's and the locals are a joy.
More crossing's ahead, as always the local kid's on hand to clap and cheer if you ditch your bike...
The rest of the ride that day was uneventful and we arrived at the ferry point to try and haggle with the ferryman, to no avail.
We settled into the Souksavong Guesthouse @ 80K kip a night.
Later we ate at "The House" restaurant near the Dara Market which is run by a couple of Belgian guy's and the food is always good. It was agreed to stay an extra day in LPB, my bike needed the front end realigning because the incompetent Thai mechanic in Chiang Rai failed to tighten up fork clamps after changing my forks seals plus Jay's CRF had electrical issues as well as some the aftermarket twiddly bit's had broken.
A walk around the local market while getting bike repairs.
I decided to take them up the road to the "Hive" and take in the ethnic costume show which is well worth a viewing if you have never seen it before. Several beers later we headed back and asked if anyone wanted to take in one of the local disco's near the guesthouse.
We strolled up and four rather attractive young ladies approached us and said "you want boom boom" i was of course shocked at this brazen advance and stupidly replied "i just want a beer" and left them looking slightly puzzled.
Inside would have been a real treat if you had night vision glasses, it was dark as hell and watching the girls line dance was something to behold indeed.
Sorry no pictures are available of these events but LPB is certainly changing.
After a day relaxing it was on to Nong Khiaw and the pocket torch trouser snake, that will forever stick in my mind.
Day Five
Day five kicked off with the usual baguettes to go, leaving Jay to rest up for another day in LPB, well he is 70 (yes 70) and you have to make allowances.
We planned to meet up in Nong Khiaw the next day as we rode to Phonsavan on a new trail for me, i had two options planned, one heading south before the Nam Teu crossing and the other heading up towards the old airstrip.
This track was a blast with more river crossing than you could shake a stick at and for me the direction was perfect allowing us to ease into the trail following the power pole guy's and eventually passing them and riding the original trail.
We did have to stop a couple of times while the road was cleared.
Nice to see these guys still working.
Quick snack.
This was the only wooden bridge we dared cross.
Wonder how long how long this toll bridge will last.
New bridge already near completion along side.
First of many crossings.
Well as least the bikes and our kit had a good wash, finally it was beer and baguette time.
Some shots in the village.
It soon became apparent how remote our location was.
Candy time in another village.
Interesting faces and people.
We finally got beyond the the power pole guy's.
But not the river crossings !
And the expectant audience.
Remote settlement.
We reached the small ferry crossing and was greeted by the buxom lady in red...
I asked her the price and at first i ignored her and we considered trying to ride the bikes across but it was too late in the day and the water was running pretty fast. I guess she's played this game so many times, i tried writing numbers in the sand in an effort to haggle but it was a waste of time she had us by the ball's and she knew it.
Having crossed, dry for once we thought we had seen the last of river crossings but no.
Quick gas stop.
This section proved to be the deepest riding across the river and then downstream and back across.
What proved to be the end of the water in this colourful jungle area.
Soon after this we emerged into a totally different landscape.
The temperature had dropped dramatically and it was blowing a gale, it was like riding across the Pennines back home, we came across the old Air American traffic control tower.
We soon hit the highway after this point and onto Phonsavan in almost darkness and checked in the Dokkhoune Hotel on the main street for the night.It had been a long day but one i shall remember, so many smiling faces along the way, sadly the coming of the power lines will change things, maybe for the better. I doubt it.
War scrap display.
Day Six
After a cracking Indian meal at the Nisha Indian Restaurant it was time for a day on the Tarmac on the fast road to Nong Khiaw to meet up with Jay at the Riverside.
But not before a hearty breakfast at the Bamboozle it was baguettes to go and off we went.
It was a cold morning and pretty misty on the mountain tops spoiling the view.
Wasn't long before the sun broke out and we watched some of the locals gather river weed.
The ride was uneventful until we came to a small village and was flagged down by a group of exuberant locals, and was persuaded to stop for a small drink.
Apparently it was the house blessing of the guy in the lime green shirt.
We finished our drink and bid them farewell although we would have been welcome to stop the night.
Interesting faces along the way.
We arrived as darkness fell on Nong Khiaw and pulled into the Riverside to check on our friend Jay who's bike was parked up. We tried to call him but his phone was off, the security guard informed us they were almost full and only one room left so we went off in search of rooms.
Tired we checked into the Vong Many GH 80k kip a night and got ready for a well earned beer.
It turned out our pal had booked us two rooms in the Riverside but couldn't contact us to confirm, we called to see the manager to explain we had checked in elsewhere and he reluctantly agreed to forget the matter, although the following morning he charged Jay half the room rate for the two rooms which i though was a piss take and told him so.
Anyway we headed to the CT restaurant for some food and beer, later Jay and i headed over the bridge to the new bar called the Hive. As we walked along a Laos guy on a motorcycle passed just by us and pulled over for a piss. He called over to us and we both looked around to see the guy holding a small torch pointing in the direction of his exposed manhood, we both laughed like school kid's and walked on to the Hive !
The next morning the other guy in our group explained he was trying to unlock his room door last night when another guy (not the same one) grabbed his meat and two veg. Blimey what's going on with this place i always thought it was a sleep picturesque village !!!!
Morning in Nong Khiaw.
Next morning it was off to Luang Namtha and the dreaded 13N, i hate that road.
Hill tribe girl carrying grass for making brooms.
We arrived in Luang Namtha early afternoon, we had planned to head on to Muang Sing and do the trail back to Houay Xai but was Jay was not up for the off road section and since we had already split up previously we decided to play safe and stop in Luang Namtha, the trail would have to wait for another day.
The next morning was the short blast along the beautiful Route 3 to Houay Xai and the predictable three hour wait for the ferry, we made the crossing and bid our farewells (well some did) and over a coffee Jay and i reflected on the trip and both laughed at the nights events in Nong Khiaw…….
