Topic: Motorcycle trip to Laos

[ofreen]

Pretty cool.

[andy750]

Looks like a most excellent adventure!  Was the entire trip pleasure? Or part business??

ALL pleasure

[BobbyR]

Andy, after reading and seeing this I think I would like to go back and have another look around. Very nice writeup.

[andy750]

I see Photobucket images have been moved around - ill see if I can fix this at some point...but for now...onward with the journey. After the cold late afternoon ride up from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang I anticipated a cold morning ride so I wore my waterproof jacket under my summer mesh jacket - this helped a lot!

I left LPR at 8am and headed back down Rt 13. Here is the XR250 looking out above the clouds.



Hmong village clinging to the side of the mountain...the shower in these villages was a pipe running mountain water at the side of the road....basically you stood on 2 wooden planks and washed yourself in public...women would wear a sarong and wash themselves wearing this. Apparently there is an art to it. I would see women and men washing as I rode past - felt very intrusive but this is the way in these mountain villages.





Sun came out



Me looking cold



Then it warmed up





You can see the road etched into the hillside



Same view from lunch as before as I stopped at the same place as coming up



Lunch -Lao Lapp



Then back on the road





More great views









And this time I saw Hmong girls/young women dressed in traditional costume as I passed through the mountain villages







Apparently this is New year time for the Hmong and the women get dressed up - those of marriageable age play the "flirting game" with young men dressed in black suits. This is an event created for young men and woman to meet from the various villages in an area. The tossing of ball is a game created to flirt and come in contact with a potential spouse from another village. It is not uncommon for a girl to marry at the age of 14. Also a Hmong man can have more than 1 wife... After some ball tossing, singing and general flirting, a decision will be made. If a potential couple leave the festival together they will spend the next 3 days by themselves to see if they are compatible. The guy then has to "kidnap" the Hmong girl from her family before he can marry her.

Later on I would see a Hmong beauty contest on TV - they had 3 categories: 1) Miss Public Vote 2) Miss Photogenic and 3) Miss Friendship - they were all 18 yrs old...here is a selection taken from the TV






 

Farmland - rice fields post-harvest





The usual single road running through the village





Eventually I arrived in Vang Vieng and my hotel was pretty nice Here is the view from it...notice the cows being led by the river....



and the hotel



view from my balcony



The rooms were done in local style - this one was Accra style





I met up with my friend and she wanted to go tubing on the river...while drinking a beer...after a 6 hr ride this sounded like a great idea







Then after a good tubing session we got some roti crepes - this is a Unesco funded project which has proved very successful for giving locals a job - you can find them in all small towns - delicious as well!





across the street you could buy pepsi or beer



then time for more beer and food



Another good day! Tomorrow caving and dirt roads

cheers
Andy

[Stev-o]

Looks like a great day!

[Damfino]

Looks like a great day!

Looks like Groundhog Day!! He relived it 4-5 times!

[Duke McDukiedook]

MMMmmmm. Sticky rice with the sour dipping sauce, the sauce goes well with beef.
Those tube rides are pretty relaxing with a few brewskis.

[andy750]

Ok final installment

Thursday morning got up to another beautiful day (Nov -March is dry season in Laos so great time to go). My friend Noon rented a scooter for the day - here she is getting it filled up



didnt take long for more scooters to arrive



then we were off  back to get my bike



First obstacle to cross was the recently buillt bridge - before you had to drive through the river



scenery was good









and then dirt road heading for the Blue "lagoon" and cave - more like a blue river



after this lunch at an organic farm - everything grown onsite by volunteers from Western countries

Papaya salad - mmmm



more lao lapp




then it was off to more caves...all were down dirt roads of varying degrees - easy for me more challenging on the scooter!













Some caves required a bit of a walk through the fields, over bridges or through light jungle











On the way back



Me trying the scooter - a bit small



And then back to town for a sunset cruise













and from the bar







Another bar - Lao style



Korean bbq was good - note bbq on top portion and soup around the bottom lip -great combo!




Next day a final early start for the 3 hr ride back to Vientiane - I had to make it back with no incidents as I had a flight to catch at 10pm back to Boston - this would be the start of my 48 hr day 

Made it back in 3 hrs! Here I am back at the Mekong River



Celebratory beer for lunch 



followed by a quick tour of the Budhha park 20 km south of Vientiane - some guy in the 50s made all these Buddhas hence the name Buddha park - very near the Friendship bridge to Thailand





then a quick tour of more of Vientiane - near sunset





followed by my final sunset over the Mekong



And then one more dinner to go with some more Lao beer before heading to the airport







End of the Laos trip!

thanks for reading

cheers
Andy

[andy750]

Some shots from the previous week in Cambodia - motorcycle-related transport involved scooters and tuk-tuks...getting a scooter taxi through the streets of Phenom Penh at night 3-up was a thrill

Food was great in Cambodia









interesting fruit



easy transport around the temples -tuk-tuk!



our driver for the few days in Siam Reap -$15/day



Cool temples around the Angkor Wat temple complex









Angkor wat













Some temples had not been restored - this one still very much reclaimed by the jungle








Look at that stone work



Sunsets every day





Preah Vihear temple complex on the Thai-Cambodia border - up until recently contested by Thailand (some shootings occurred a few years back) - heavily fortfied with soldiers/machine-gun outposts - passed these going up the very steep hill



great views - can see Thailand on the other side





young monk chilling in the heat



they were keen to talk



the road to the temple...done 2-up on a scooter!!



the scooter drivers



motos used for everything





It wasnt all temples in Cambodia





I tried to get a job but I was too tall



Women rode side saddles - impressive!



cheers
Andy

[andy750]

And finally gear review for 2 week trip

I travelled light this time - two bags - one backpack and one messenger bag - both carry-on for the plane



Sum total of bags contents (minus pair of hiking boots)



Cube contains clothes for 2 weeks . 5-t-shirts, khaki trousers, one shirt, 3 underwear, 2 socks  - laundry in these countries is cheap! Moto stuff took up most of the space - waterproof gear, summer gloves, tie-downs, knee pads! Not shown is jacket and helmet that got shipped to Laos then brought back by me.  Bought gifts/t-shirts/coffee etc and it all fit.

Hope this helps
cheers
Andy

[Stev-o]

Hey Andy - I can see pics now, great write up, looks like a fantastic trip.

[Damfino]

Hey Andy - I cannot see several of the pics on the last installment.  Shows a little blue box with a ?....

Sounds like you need a faster internet connection....

[Lazerviking]

GAAAAA, the entire first page's photo's aren't showing up! I really want to see them too. Blast.

[andy750]

GAAAAA, the entire first page's photo's aren't showing up! I really want to see them too. Blast.

Yeah sorry I moved the photos to another folder and it screwed it up. I dont have time to fix it anytime soon but will try eventually.

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

Just blown away at what you accomplished. How did you pull off the planning and how long did it take??

[andy750]

Just blown away at what you accomplished. How did you pull off the planning and how long did it take??

Thanks Jerry. I had the idea for a while about riding in the part of the world. I originally wanted to ride to East Cambodia to the jungle area where Apocalypse Now was filmed but didnt have enough time for that this time. Planning was all done 2 weeks before we went . I was lucky to get the rental bike as there was none left. The rental guy gave me his bike (www.remoteasia.com). Booking.com was a good resource for booking hotels in Cambodia and Laos and as usual use TripAdvisor for some basic reviews.

Its actually pretty easy to arrange these days thanks to the internet and then just commit to go and do it . Picking up the bike the first day I was pretty nervous but once on the road it was pure moto pleasure 

cheers
Andy

[Stev-o]

Just blown away at what you accomplished. How did you pull off the planning and how long did it take??

Thanks Jerry. I had the idea for a while about riding in the part of the world. I originally wanted to ride to East Cambodia to the jungle area where Apocalypse Now was filmed but didnt have enough time for that this time. Planning was all done 2 weeks before we went .

"we" ??

[BobbyR]

Just blown away at what you accomplished. How did you pull off the planning and how long did it take??

Thanks Jerry. I had the idea for a while about riding in the part of the world. I originally wanted to ride to East Cambodia to the jungle area where Apocalypse Now was filmed but didnt have enough time for that this time. Planning was all done 2 weeks before we went . I was lucky to get the rental bike as there was none left. The rental guy gave me his bike (www.remoteasia.com). Booking.com was a good resource for booking hotels in Cambodia and Laos and as usual use TripAdvisor for some basic reviews.

Its actually pretty easy to arrange these days thanks to the internet and then just commit to go and do it . Picking up the bike the first day I was pretty nervous but once on the road it was pure moto pleasure 

cheers
Andy

Amazing feat Andy. Coppola filmed Apocalypse Now in the Philippines.  The Hueys were from the Philippine Military as was all of the other Military hardware. My partner at works Father was head of Marcos "counter insurgency" force and the Military liaison to the filming. Which probably meant envelopes passed around.

[andy750]

Right Bobby but in the movie they go to a Cambodia temple in the jungle - so I was going to do the same thing but ride through the jungle Maybe another trip.

Stev-o - for the Cambodian part I had company - my friend joined me for a week. For the Laos part I had a local friend from Vientiane who flew to Luang Prabang and then took a minibus to Vang Vieng while I rode the bike solo. Had the friend not come along for Cambodia I would have rented a bike for a week from Phnom Penh and went touring for a week (or both weeks?). Anyway it all worked out well.

cheers
Andy

[brooze72]

Great stuff, I loved reading & seeing your trip!  Andy, you have to submit a story & pics to a travel or motorcycle mag, it's fascinating.

[andy750]

Thanks guys for all the positive feedback and glad you enjoyed reading about it as much as I enjoyed doing it! 

cheers
Andy