Sayabouri to VTE via paklay
After a good nights sleep in Sayabouri we set of on what was to be a nice easy ride through the park and hopefully see a few working elephants along the route, but plans changed.
421 km
After grabbing some fuel and getting insurance in town ( N19.26183 E101.70674 ) due to the fact the insurance offices on the crossing had closed we had a late start but the morning mist was already clearing.
Still lot's of moist sections, this one had Steve rolling in the bamboo.
We hoped this wasn't the same for the whole day otherwise it was going to be a long one.
We had been told the trail was impassable two days before, luckily the tree's had been cleared didn't fancy hacking through this one.
Not much improvement.
A good part of this trail is almost single track with some pretty difficult rocky sections to come.
Steve on his 300 conversion enjoying the ride.
The slipping and sliding continued.
Gate access near the army camp.
Steve emerging from one of the more difficult sections the 300 with the Ohlins setup eating it up.
A wrong turn had us poking around in a village.
We arrived in Paklay around noon to consider our options over liquids at the Saykong Restaurant.
Our intended GH directly opposite.
We both agreed to push on, Steve was on a tight deadline to leave for the UK and both felt we could reach VTE and catch back a day.
The Paklay ferry
New bridge slowly coming together, spelling the end of another nice ferry crossing.
Around 5.30pm we arrived in VTE to meet up with Don Duvall and Sergio who had booked rooms ahead hoping we would make it, an enjoyable day, the stretch along the Mekong is still a pretty good graded surface and nice river views. A night of food and drink at the Bor Pen Nyang was in order, tommorrow Long Cheng and a different route.
GH location N17.96504 E102.60424
