Myself and my pal Darryl decided after a trip to Nan to skip over the border for a few days riding with no definite plan in mind other than to ride as much as possible, we covered approx 2,200 Km's in seven day's, entering at the crossing point at Huai Khon and spending our first night at Hongsa.
After spending the night and consuming some of the local beverage we headed off along the 4B to luang Prabang, this proved to be a great section with lots of picture opportunities along the way.
We arrived at Luang Prabang in good time even after Darryls bike died on the last river crossing (counted nine) for no good reason
After a relaxing night in LP we or I had the brain wave to head south and ride to Phonsavan on route 5 and then route 10 north of Nam Phao rather than Taking route 7, so off we went the next morning with some adventure in mind.
The road south from LP to Vang Vieng is the stuff of nightmares slick shining surface, pot holes on every apex and drivers on a death wish, it was no surprise when we weakened to an impromptu overnight night stop just north of Vang Vieng giving ourselves a good days ride to Phonsavan the next day.
After a chilly start we reached Nam Phao on route 5 in good time as the road turned to dirt and rocks and the occasional muddy section, the river was on our left shoulder at this time, all was well until we reached a logging point at the side of the river.
After consulting my GPS and scouting around we found this dirt trail.
Thinking we had cracked it we continued on, my GPS telling me to continue on route 5 and then saying continue to trail (this was a bad sign), we then came to this.
Something was clearly wrong, the GPS was showing a road in front of us that was just not there, after a bit of scouting around it was clear we had reached the road to nowhere and had either missed a turn or the river level had risen and the road was impassible. The thought of heading back up route 13N towards LP was not the favoured option, but since it was clear the day was passing us by we reluctantly headed back the way we came with our tails between our legs.
No time for many pictures on the next leg, although route 7 to Phonsavan was a delight from what i remember from a couple of years previous, arriving in Phonsavan as darkness fell, tired and hungry we checked into the fancy Chinese hotel the Xieng Khouang.
Next morning off to Nong Khiaw and a good days riding was had, checked into the Riverside, wow this small town has changed so much with many new restaurants and bars springing up.
Next morning with baguettes to go we hit the 13N to Oudomsay, nothing much to say about this section apart from my bum hurts
the road from Oudomsay is another great section of road which helped us forget about the earlier morning's bone jarring.
We did get some nice pictures of the Hmong festival.
We arrived a Luang Namtha with my mate scouting around town for his customary massage spot we settled into the Royal Star for the night in preparation for the mornings blast to the border.
For me the best road so far was route 3 to Houay Xai, forget the 1148, this road is amazing
We arrived at the border crossing around 12 noon thinking we would be home early, sadly the ferry operator on the Laos side had other plans and wouldn't leave until he had a boat full, we did try to commandeer couple of small boats bringing some bikers from Chiang Khong, the the ferry guy was having none of it. after three hours hanging around he decided it was time to go just as the food i had ordered arrived on my table
Arriving Thai side the immigration staff greeted us with warm smiles and off we went to the land of milk and honey, until next February when we will find that damn road
So that was it a great few days riding, some great memories.
