Laos, self guided, self FUNded

[gavo]

Two weeks in Laos, same group of us as Cambodia/Vietnam last year, heres a sample', net is not the best here, more to come





The route about 1300 ks all up

[pirate63]

cant wait for the rest
that last photo was it near the dam outside Vientiane?

[Comrade Art]

Looking good Gavo
Is that a Honda CRF 250x?

[bajubaru]

Great pic gents

[gavo]

Originally Posted by pirate63

cant wait for the rest
that last photo was it near the dam outside Vientiane?

can't say for sure but it was definitely outside Vientiane on the road to Pak Lay

[gavo]

Originally Posted by Comrade Art

Looking good Gavo
Is that a Honda CRF 250x?

no it's an honda xr250r

[MuddySump]

Looking good. Was in Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia in 2007


Not on bikes though apart from the odd scooter for the day

[gavo]

we arrived in Vientiane after an overnighter in Bangkok.
Some touristy things as we had a free day before collecting the bikes.
A trip out to Budda park by tuktuk,about 20 clicks from Vientiane






And then something I wanted to see Patuxai, sort of like a Lao arc de triumph

[gavo]

sorry progress is slow, am still in Cambodia an internet has been so so and some times not avaliable.
A few shot around Vientiane and a view from the deck at our hotel

[gavo]

the ride from Vientiane was dusty, bumpy and slow for the first part with our FTR honda being in desperate need of a decent rear shock when ridden 2 up and we averaged about 28 kph for the first 2 hrs,fourtunately the road improved later.
A break


local transport

and housing

the Mekong

[gavo]

A stop for lunch in Xanamkhan, a bargain at $2.75 for the 4 of us

then onward to Pak Lay




the ferry crossing of the Mekong river


We hit town then had to turn off the main road to find our guesthouse, we missed it because I was looking at the GPS and their sign was obscured by trees. We slowly road up the side road and came upon this place

By the ways the girl came out and gave us keys I thought she was expecting us, WRONG, later on as we went walking back for dinner I discovered my mistake, oh well at $6.50 a night, hot shower and clean bed, such is life.
some of our neighbours

This is the place we had dinner and would recommend it also the son spoke very good english and was very chatty.


A short vid of some of the day

[Rumble]

And Then

[gavo]

Been distracted by all the jobs that didn't get done while I was away.
Left Pak Lay after a breakfast of banana's and and three in one coffee's.
The morning was cool and misty

A stop for fuel then head out


no problems so far and the cooler temp was welcome.



It didn't take long for the first smoke break

The road is of good quality and the scenery excellent








In fact the distance turned out to be about 50ks less than the map indicated
so we arrived in Xayaboury early at about lunch time, so thinking it's to early to check in to booked hotel we looked for somewhere for lunch and found this place

local food, even does takeaways for local businesses, don't speak a word of english, My Loation sucks so out with the book, managed to get chicken (kai) with sticky rice and vegetables and some kind of soup
After lunch off to the hotel only to be told no rooms government officials take all.
Get on the phone to James at remote asia who made booking and pre paid. so after much talking , we have rooms on floor under renovation, the guy came in and reconnected the electricity while we looked on unimpressed.

[gavo]

So an afternoon to fill so a tour around town and on the other side of the river.
the bridge over

and assorted villages over the river






the view from the hotel


All in all a pretty easy day

[Jacl-Kampuchea]

That hotel looks rough!

Nice to meet you the other week Gavo, looking forward to the rest of the report.

Q