Luang Prabang to Vientiane

Day 65 Sunday 4th October 338 km (19638 km total)

 

 

Back to where it all started - well not really, but it will do

- - - -

 

The reference to where it all started refers to my blog - my first post as a newbie / novice blogger (bloogie or blovice maybe?) was in Vientiane back in June.

I had popped over to renew my Thai visa, as I had deliberately allowed my long term visa to expire, to prevent any possible problems when I tried to temporarily import my bike later on.

So in blogging terms today was to bring me full circle.

After another lovely breakfast on the banks of the mekong (nice guest house, the Nam Khan Riverside) I set off into the damp morning air and immediately onto nice roads through the beautiful Laos countryside.

 

 

After about an hour the warning signs appeared that all may not continue in the same vein.

 

Another bit of road improvement was underway ...

Paul Simon's 'Slip Sliding Away' probably wasnt the best track to be playing on the ipod as I approached this bit of road, with a mud stream running down it!

Just round the corner, I wanted to start driving in the left ...

Then there was a landslip actively being cleared away ...

Before the roads returned to there previous pristine state .

 

This poor chap hadn't been able to make it around the corner on this steep down hill section.

Down in the valley's village life cartied in as it must have for years.

And as I approached Vientiane, rain clouds made there presence felt.

 

Crossing a river, the scenery was doing a fair impression of phang na bay in southern thailand.

On arriving at this nights hotel, I parked the Tiger discretely between two ageing Mercedes! The S Park Design Hotel, had a Mercedes theme going on, the reception desk was made from the front half of one!

A nice new boutique hotel, just outside the city, fabulous rooms for about £28 per night, a bar & restaurant and even a night club in the basement (Russ take note!)

 

The last border crossing tomorrow, & the beginning of the end of my 17 country adventure.

 

Luang Prabang

Day 64 Saturday 3rd October 0 km (19300 km total)

 

Rest Day - whopee!

- - - -

 

I had planned two nights in Luang Prabang, partly as I thought it might be a long ride crom the border and also I had heard it was a nice place & I wanted to see a bit of Laos.

 

Unfortunately I spent most of the morning catching up with my China blogs, a few bits of work on the bike, washing clothes & recovering from the rather large meal & one too many beers I had consumed in celabration of arriving safely last night - oops!

View from my room in the morning was just what the doctor ordered :-)

Once all the domestic & other tasks were completed, I se of for a walk up mount Phu Si , which was conveniently on the doorstep.

Well OK its hardly a mount at only 150m but its 335 steps left my legs aching the following day, or was that from standing in the oegs on the rough roads?

 

The 'mount' is a central feature in Luang Prabang and one of the first things that visitors will notice as they arrive, it having gold statues & things all over it. i didnt notice it at all when I arrived however, as it was dark & I was too busy trying not to ride the bike into (seemingly) bottomless potholes!

 

Apparently the mount used to harbour a powerful Naga ( a mthyical serpent like creature of Buddist legend) but I didnt see one, just lots of tourists gsping & sweating as they climbed to watch the sunset from the top.

Its a rocky little mountain, with every nok & cranny filled with statues and the like.

 

 

 

Once at the top there is indeed a nice view, sunset or not.

I stayed until it got this dark, but then left, far too busy at the top for my liking

After a shower & change I ventured out to a bar that my host reccomended.

The Icon bar is not at all Laos style, its a very arty/ chic little place run by a hungarian lady (who was away) but managed by a canadian chap in her absence. It had a nice atmosphere so I stayed for a few, plus it had started raining heavily by then. The only other occupants at that time were 4 'mature' american ladies. 3 left to go for dinner shortly after and so I ended up chatting with the one that remained.

Barbara, was a true California girl and we got a great discussion going revolving around her time with the mystics in Nepal and mine motorbiking the world. Chalk & cheese but very enjoyable all the same & a nice lady.

So rest day over, clothes washed & almost dry, pack & go in the morning - next stop Vientiane.

 

Mohan, China to Luang Prabang, Laos

Day 63 Friday 2nd October 292 km (19300 km total)

 

Good-bye China, Hello Laos!

- - - -

So here it is the route travelled so far. Still two countries to go, but as I intimated yesterday, once I leave China I will be on familiar ground and so it feels like the beginning of the end for this particular adventure.

 

An easy last ride in China, only 500m to the border post.

The (magnificent?) 7 parked up together for the last time and we filed along to the immigration building.

Once through that rather uncelubrious exit, we would be out of china.

 

And there it was done - just under 2 hours to complete the exit from China, say goodbye to Abdul our guide for the past 25 days, get through Laos immigration & then say goodbye to each other and then we were on our way on Laos soil - well quite nice tarmac to be more precise.

Russ, John & I had agreed to ride to Oudomsuk together after which Russ & John would head west towards Nan & I would continue south to Luang Prabang. One of the first differences I noticed was the number of school kids on the roads and how keen they were to wave at us.

But mostly this first section was just excellent roads through lush scenery, a change was to come but I didnt know it then, so all was good with the world!

We stopped at a small hotel cafe in Oudomsuk for some proper coffee & my first pad grapao since leaving Thailand in July. Things were getting bette & better !

 

 

Final photo shot nefore we went our seperate ways ...

Russ & John apparently had good roads for the rest of their journey that day, not so for me unfortunately.

The warning signs came about 20km after we split up.

 

Then things started to deteriorate pretty quickly as I climbed

 

This was the main north to south route in Laos (about as important as the M1!) but it was evident that they had decided it needed a facelift ..

 

 

There wasnt a great deal of traffic about, but soon I came to a queue, so rode to the front to see what the issue was. Turns out they had closed the road for a while to put down a layer of rocks ....

We waited patiently for about an hour whilst a sucession of heavy lorries tipped their loads & a digger smoothed it out. Then they just waved us though....eek!

What followed was some of the hardest riding I had done, the rock layer was about 12 inches deep and hadn't been rolled or compacted, so was as stable as a bag of puppies and sending my wheels all over the place.

 

I tried to follow in the tracks of a heavy lorry, which worked for a while, but then pick up trucks kept coming past weaving across the road creating criss cross tracks as well.

That section lasted for a few kilometers, then it was onto "here's one I did earlier" which at least was stable and solid ...

.... But often quite sandy.

 

I hit another queue after an hour or so, this one kept us for another hour whilst they rolled a layer of sand onto the road ahead. I parked by a locals house & sat in the shade for a while.

Once over that section, it was good roads for a while

 

But the fun was to return several times again, often without warning.

 

Next problem I had was failing light, I still had 170km to do and it was going dark. Time to forget the camera & concentrate on seeing where I was going. The road works stopped thankfully, but that meant it was the old road - full of potholes, no fun at all when you cant see them!

 

 

The last hour and a half was in complete darkness, no street lamps & little traffic to indicate where the road went. So I had to slow right down & concentrate hard.

 

Eventually hit the outskirts of Luang Prabang and found my hotel, a nice little place on the river banks. More about that tomorrow.

 

Out of China !

Hi readers!

I am now in Laos, currently sitting on the banks of the Mekong having breakfast.

 

Its the first time for 25 days that I have been able to acesss my blog, facebook, google, messenger, etc etc directly due to the restrictions in China. I can see things have got a bit sloppy and I have some catching up to do - normal service will be resumed as soon as possible. :-)