First Real riding experience – Laos Border to Luang Prabang

 So I was neither in Laos or in Vietnam I was on the border of the 2 jumping back and forth like a kid. Hey you got to try it sometime it’s a strange feeling being in 2 places at once (sort of).

The road also immediately changed from pothole bitumen to pure orange dust and sand. I had only been riding my motorbike for less than a week and it was hard. I slowed down to almost a crawl, you have to remember that unlike the bikes at home the bikes in South east Asia have a top speed of 80km a hour and that’s if your lucky to hit that. The dirt road made it slower than ever, the Vietnam side took me 5 min to the middle the Laos side took me 30 min. Then I hit the gate, Visa on arrival took 2 hours *sigh* I lost all the time I thought I had made up by getting up super early.

After the border gate the road got worse. It was pure sand in the corners and I was sliding through it. My grey bike turned to orange after a hour. I was glad I had the motorbike though, a group of Americans were riding road bicycles on the dirt… all with trucks working on the road and motorbikes flying past shooting up the dust. Poor people, I had a full face helmet and a face cover dust cover.  They had neither.

The road was amazing though, I had to concentrate on riding but it didn’t stop me from taking a peak at the views and they were amazing. The villages that I passed through had only recently been reached by road and most were still very remote. I stopped at a small village and had some lunch, I’m fairly sure the entire village walked past the door in the space of 20 min I was there eating 1 chicken and 1 rice bowl… (pointing at a chicken and saying 1 doesn’t translate well, I ended up with a entire chicken for lunch).

It wasn’t long before the road started to cross rivers. The bridges were nothing but bamboo and the first one I came across I could sware was only for people. It took me a few minutes to work out that it was ok for the bike and then I charged over. No worries! The next one was a bit longer, and again no worries. The villages I passed were amazing, the people waved and genuinely were happy to see me stop and say hi.

It was almost dark when I started to run low on petrol I was sure I was close to my destination of “Muang Khua” but I had been driving for hours on dirt and no idea of the speed let alone the distance (there was no signs or markers). I stopped at a wedding and asked the locals for the nearest place to get petrol. A young girl probably 12 or 13 walked up to me signing petrol to a older lady and said calmly “cross the river and up the hill”.
I was amazed she spoke so well English, the next corner I took (10 meters) was the river and on the other side the town I was staying at… I had made it! In 1 piece!

I drove my bike up onto the barge and parked it, then got out the old camera and was about to take some photos while the barge moved but the locals called me over and said “bike bike here” so I hopped back on the bike and drive it to the waters edge. 2 minutes later a tiny boat pulled up and the locals picked up my bike popped it on this tiny boat, then all my bags, and we were off to the other side. The locals got a good laugh when I got my shoes wet from walking in the water, but I didn’t really care they were wet from the river crossings anyways ;)

That night I stayed in a nice homestay by the river, no power no hot water but super nice and comfy the lady running the house was so warm and welcoming. Great start to my trip in Laos.

The next day I was up early, I wanted to get to Luang Prabang today which was some 300+km away. It was going to be a hard ask.

The road thankfully was getting much better it was all ashfelt now and I was able to really give my bike a work out. I was loving the freedom and the rush of riding around the endless corners.

The road snaked through a valley along a river till around lunchtime I reached a town called Udomxai. I had covered a lot of ground. I took some time out to visit the local monk monastery and chat with a monk at the temple.

 If you ever travel Monks seem to be amazing at speaking English and can always have really good conversations about the area and life. After some Lunch with my new friend, I moved on and down the road.

I must have missed a signpost or something as my nice ashfelt road turned back into dust and potholes. I wasn’t bothered though as the road snaked higher and higher into Hmong villages the views got better and better. It did get me worried when the petrol stations started to turn back into shacks in the middle of no where with moonshine bottles filled with petrol.



But the one “Shell” petrol station I stopped at was very advanced.

It was hours before I re-joined with a main road and the highway. The road seemed to get better if you could say that.

That night I pulled in at a town called Pak Mong and checked into a guesthouse. It was nearing dark and I had no intention on making the last 100 odd km to Luang Prabang in the dark.

I believe  I was the only westerner in the single street town that night.


I doubled back just on sunset for the view... ahh magical ;)

The next morning at the crack of dawn, chanting waked me up. The local monks had come to the town to give the shops there blessing for a “gift” (money). They were chanting the same thing for each shop with the owners on a rug next to there shrine out the front of there shop.

There was no point trying to get back to sleep as it was a long street and everyone was waiting. I set off on my bike again.

About 30 min out of town I came across a large tree that had some strange carvings that looked like idols underneath it.

This was located next to a large river that I followed all the way to Luang Prabang.

I spent the rest of that afternoon walking around Luang Prabang.

The town was sitting next to 2 major rivers, one of which was the mighty Mekong river. It was quite a sight to be seen all the boats and people living on the river. It’s the real heart of the people here.

I took the time to visit the local monastery, this town was a major tourist spot. There was sooo many tourists around it was a shock, I hadn’t been in a tourist spot in so long and forgot how annoying it was. The monastery was nice, it was very old and the temples had small pieces of mirror broken and placed into shapes on the outside of the buildings. It gave a nice effect.

From here I took a look through my lovely book… “the lonely planet”, everyone I had seen was walking around with one, so the obvious thing to do to find the “real” Luang Prabangs is go where the book doesn’t say.

I crossed one of the rivers on a small bamboo bridge and the town went from brick buildings to bamboo.

Finally no tourists and the locals were happy to see someone walking around again. I stopped off at a small “shack” the locals had a rooster fight going on, something’s that’s illegal in western countries. It was interesting to see the rooster owners actually cared for there pets well being. Calling a end to the fight if they were injured and tending to there cuts in between fights. Same as a boxer would in human fights.

I walked around the back streets of the town for hours visiting temples and monasteries that there were no other tourists at, they seemed more real and authentic. Run down but still used.

I started to work my way back to the Mekong to find my guesthouse when I came across a large group of people playing a game in a back street.

It was like lawn bowls in Australia, but they were throwing the lead ball up in the air and it had to land as close to the smaller ball. If it was too close to call they would use a small stick as a measuring tool. I must have been there was over a hour watching and even having a go for my self. It was a hell of a lot of fun and I was the only foreigner there, love it!

That afternoon with a beer in hand I watched the sunset over the Mekong river… What can I say, it was magical.

The next morning, I wanted to get out of the town. I hopped on my trusty motorbike, and picked a road and went. I found a group of dirt bikers that was doing a multiday tour on dirt bikes so I tagged on the back of them for as long as I could. It turned out the first place they were heading to was the 1000 Buddha statue cave. This worked out well as it would be a day trip for me.

The cave was across a river and no bridge so I bargained a boat and sailed over. The cave’s were great they were full of small and large Buddha statues. The cave also gave a magical view out over the Mekong river.

Following the cave I headed back down the road and stopped in at a small house that had elephants.

I had organised with a local elephant riding company for a  small ride on one of there lovely beasts. This ride was a bit different from the normal seat ride on the back of a elephant. I was aloud to sit up on the neck like the owners/keepers did. It was quite a experience and the 30 min flew past.

I headed down a small dirt road for the rest of the afternoon, it weaved its way through small villages and into the hills. This gave me a idea, I wanted to go trekking for a few days and see the local villages.

That night I headed to the local markets in Luang Prabang and had some dinner, and some rice wine with snakes in it… yeap Sankes!.

I also organised my next few days, I was going trekking with a friend of a friend of the hotel owners. Should be interesting?

                                      

Till next time, have fun!

Steffen.