Dam across the Nam Ou north of Sampanh

[lung jack]

Hello,
I would appreciate if someone could give the info:
Ferry 4 bikes on a boat from Hatsa to the dam North of Sampanh.
Then,hit the trail back to route 1B at Picheumoua.
Thanks for your help.
Lung Jack.
PS: Any idea of the cost? (in 2009,I was charged 1.000.000Lak,100 US$ from Hatsa to
Muang Khua.

 

[bsacbob]

Trying to figure out your place names from the maps i use, firstly the new hydro dam is located at N21.40534 E102.34044 north of M Khua, so there is no way to travel upstream from M Khua and from what i could see in January there was no boats in operation north of the dam area that would take you to Pongsali area.

The trail from Samphan is very nice mostly graded the 1202 coming out near Boun Thai, the 1B is no longer a trail and is now paved.

Hope this may be of use i am sure Auke can enlighten you more, maybe this thread may help..

http://www.rideasia.net/motorcycle-...-off-road-surveying-bloody-freezing-cold.html

 

[Lone Rider]

Hi Lung,

Hope that everything is OK with you and that your leg has healed properly after your accident in Laos. Hope also that you got your bike out of Laos without to much problems with the Lao officialdom about the overstay of the bike in the country.

Anyway, with regard to your question about travelling by boat from Hatsa to the dam north of Samphanh, this was and probably still is possible for as far as I know but the boat stops now at Ban Khana which is about 5 km. north of the dam (Nam Ou 5 HPP). I assume that they are still willing to transport the bikes as well although I don't know the condition nor the existence of a ramp to get the bikes out of the boat and up to the road at Ban Khana.

Don't know about the cost though as boat travel has changed considerable and I guess that you will need to have a tough bargaining session with the skipper of the boat in Hatsa. I do know that the dams have disrupted the life of the villagers notwithstanding the rosy stories in the Vientiane Times that everything is so good now. Here is a short excerpt from a story by a lady who travelled last year by boat and had to stay a night in Ban Khana at the house of the Nai Ban:

I stayed with the nai ban's family and had the opportunity to ask about changes in the villagers' lives since the start of dam construction. After a lot of "everything good and bo pen nyang", the village chief's wife came to sit with me when I was getting ready to go to sleep. She first complained of her husband beating her, saying that it had recently become worse since he is smoking opium more than before. When I inquired what had changed, she said that especially in the rainy season, villagers used to be able to easily go to Mouang Khoua to sell forest produce, but now with this possibility missing, there is not much to do during the wet season. I experienced this personally, as during the day I spent with them, the nai ban (and so many other villagers) didn't do much more than strutting up and down his 30-house village street, selling the occasional liter of gasoline from his shop. It has become more expensive and laborious for these villagers to travel downstream. In Ban Khana, I certainly experienced disruption of village life by the dam, without any apparent benefits in sight so far. Also, on the construction site I only heard Chinese spoken, and none of the Ban Khana villagers are working there.

However, it looks like that they have started impounding the water behind the dam and this may affect river travel to some extent. I have seen some info that in November this year one of the turbines in the Nam Ou 6 HPP (North of Hatsa), one turbine in the Nam Ou 5 HPP (north of Samphanh) and one turbine in the Nam Ou 2 HPP (north-east of Ban Paknga on Rd. 13 North) are expected to start generating electricity. These are the 3 hydro power projects (HPP) which are being constructed out of the 7 HPP's which are being planned for the Nam Ou. A decision on the construction of the other 4 Nam Ou HPP projects depends on if there will be a market for the electricity generated

For your onward trip by road from Ban Khana/Samphanh, you have three options. One is just head south along the Nam Ou (newly built road along the Nam Ou on the east side to facilitate the construction of the Nam Ou 5 HPP) which brings you to Mueang Khoua on Rd 2E and from there you can head further south offroad to Nambak on Rd. 1C (between Pakmong and Nongkhiao). The second option is the route Bob described. I am not really sure if you can cross the bridge just south of the Nam Ou 5 HPP and then head north to cross the Nam Li and link with Rd. 1202 or if you have to cross the Nam Ou between Ban Khana and The Nam Ou 5 HPP to get on Rd. 1202 which links with Rd. 1 B about 18 km southeast of Boun Tai. Option No. 3 is to head south to Samphanh, cross the Nam Ou here and link with Rd. 1234 which brings you to Rd. 1B at Ban Phicheu-Mai (Phi Cher Mai). This seems to be the option you asked about. Below is a screenshot of the GPS map showing the 3 options.

 

[lung jack]

Thanks a lot Bob for your quick answer.
I used the names from the GTR Laos Map.
I've seen your report from Jan. And on Google Earth the dam and bridge North of Samphan are clearly visible.
I'm helping 4 bikers for their trip late Nov:From Bountai they'll ride up to Phongsaly and back to Bountai to hit the
Luang Nam Tha trail.
I hoped to add more fun to their trip if they could ferry their bikes to the dam and ride back to Bountai on trail,not on the new paved road.
Unfortunately,it seems that if there is no more regular boats downstream from Hatsa.....
Too bad. Northern Laos is changing quick.
I'll E- mail Auke. We've never met but he had always been very helpful over the years.
Thanks again,
Cheers, Lung jack.

 

[lung jack]

Hi Auke,so glad to hear from you. And many thanks for your most detailed answer.
I'm afraid I'll suggest the 4 guys from Brittany(no kids,around 50years old) to go back to Bountai,same way.
I'm also sad after reading the lady's testimony. Progress is crushing local people's life.
Might be selfish,but I'm glad to have been able to travel Northern Laos in the 70's.
Thanks for your concern. My leg is ok. But no more difficult off roads.My bones are not that strong anymore.
Thanks to good old Lao and Thai friends,I could get my bike safely back to CNX after a stop of 10 months in LPQ!
But I was not relaxed approaching the bridge at Houey Xai.....
Happy end. I sold it,bought a 125 Wave and rent bigger for longer rides on paved roads.
Hope to see you this winter.
Cheers,
Lung Jacques.

 

[The Bigfella]

I didn't go as far as the dam, but rode from Nong Khiaw to Muang Ngoy in May last year and then caught a boat back down. The road up was relatively easy.

Here's the Nam Ou at Nong Khiaw.



There were two scheduled boats heading up river, I think at 11am and 2pm... but the locals will know. There's a Kiwi guy running the guest house in the main street. Little yellow scooter out front. The beer's cold here



By road IIRC it was 27km east on 1C, turn left and follow your nose to Muang Ngoy



Fuel is available at the turnoff on 1C



Nice ridgetop track. Easy riding







I stopped at one village where the road forked and asked. Locals were good with the advice.

Near Muong Ngoy, its worth going into this little village, which grows tobacco. I'd have stayed there if not already checked into a place on the river. Rooms $1 a night rather than the $6 I paid. I suspect the main difference was in the bathroom... and the warm beer in the village





The road down to the river has seen a few landslides, but they keep it open



Muang Ngoy had a dozen or more backpackers there when I was there. Spewing over the rails at the end of happy hour.

I counted 52 boats (the joys of dining alone)... from small paddling boats to the big mothers here



I chartered a boat for a special 7:30am run back down the river to Nong Khiaw. It cost me $40 - instead of the $4 in fuel I'd have used... but was worth it.



A couple of locals took advantage of a free ride



Would have been hard to get too many more bikes in this one, with the roof





They let me out a kilometre or two below town. If I did it again, I'd get out at the concrete steps and ride up them. The area they unloaded me was river gravel and it was a pain to get clear of.... but I was having bike issues too... blew up later that day, 4km from the China border.

So - long story short. I doubt you'd have trouble getting a boat to take you towards the dam... assuming river levels are OK

 

[Lone Rider]

Hi Auke,so glad to hear from you. And many thanks for your most detailed answer.
I'm afraid I'll suggest the 4 guys from Brittany(no kids,around 50years old) to go back to Bountai,same way.
I'm also sad after reading the lady's testimony. Progress is crushing local people's life.
Might be selfish,but I'm glad to have been able to travel Northern Laos in the 70's.
Thanks for your concern. My leg is ok. But no more difficult off roads.My bones are not that strong anymore.
Thanks to good old Lao and Thai friends,I could get my bike safely back to CNX after a stop of 10 months in LPQ!
But I was not relaxed approaching the bridge at Houey Xai.....
Happy end. I sold it,bought a 125 Wave and rent bigger for longer rides on paved roads.
Hope to see you this winter.
Cheers,
Lung Jacques.

Hi Lung,

Happy to hear that everything went OK with the leg and the bike. With regard to the boat travel, the lady I quoted indicated that there were still regular boats from Hatsa to Ban Khana as the locals still make use of the boats to get to and from their villages. It was only further south from Khana to Mueang Khoua that the boats were less regular as there is now a regular bus connection between Samphanh and Mueang Khoua. With regard to getting the bikes to Ban Khana I am sure that the boat men would be more than happy to earn some extra Kip or Dollar from the farang to get their bikes to Khana. Offcourse the boat men would overcharge so the 4 guys will need all their bargaining skills to get the price down to a reasonable level.

And yes, it would be nice to finally meet up after all these years keeping in contact by email. Should be easy with you living in Hangdong and me near Bosang.

 

[lung jack]

HI Big Fellow,
Thanks for your report and nice pics.
The info I'm looking for is much further to the North,between Hatsa and Sampahn.
I see that Auke has just given me the answer in his late post
.Cheers, Lung.

 

[lung jack]

Hi Auke,
I'll submit your answers to the guys. Don't know their skill in bargaining.
I remember in 2009,the boat drivers where tough in Hatsa.
I think it's worth trying. Wish I could go with them,but now at 76,I must start to be reasonable!!!
For the last 4 years I've moved to Mae Malai where I've good relatives.
See you, Cheers.
Lung Jacques.