Lone Rider
Blokes Who Can
Had been planning already for some time to go to the north of Laos to get new data and update existing tracks and waypoints for my Laos GPS map and when I heard that Phil wanted to go to the same area we decided that we would go together. So off we went with Phil's bike on the back of my truck to Muang Khoua from where we went our separate ways - Phil riding up north into the "finger" sticking into Vietnam and into Vietnam itself and me to the east to the Vietnam border and later on to Samphan north of Muang Khoua.
On the first day we made it up to Pakbeng with a late border crossing at 5 in the afternoon. No problems but on the Lao side they did ask if we were part of a group tour, something they had never asked before so there seems to be something going on with allowing tour groups getting into Laos.
Stayed for a change at the Monsavanh GH which was quite nice (400 Baht for a room at the ground floor and 500 Baht for a room on the first floor - N19.89364 E101.13033). The next morning it was a bit chilly in the market and some of the vendors found it very cold.
After a nice breakfast at the Monsavan Bakery we took our time to get to Muang Khoua and along the way we stopped quite a few times as in many villages the Hmong were celebrating their New Year.
While all the girls were using the traditional Hmong costumes, we saw only one male who had dressed up
A localized "Michelin" man warning the road users of a hole in the road
As we had arrived on a Saturday we had not been able to get Lao Kip so we tried every ATM along the road. No luck as all ATM's including these in Oudomxay were all of the local variety and did not accept international cards.
We tried to get help from the guard at the bank in Oudomxay but he was so fast asleep that we decided it would be better not to disturb him and make do with Thai Baht till the next morning when the banks in Muang Khoua would be open.
On the first day we made it up to Pakbeng with a late border crossing at 5 in the afternoon. No problems but on the Lao side they did ask if we were part of a group tour, something they had never asked before so there seems to be something going on with allowing tour groups getting into Laos.
Stayed for a change at the Monsavanh GH which was quite nice (400 Baht for a room at the ground floor and 500 Baht for a room on the first floor - N19.89364 E101.13033). The next morning it was a bit chilly in the market and some of the vendors found it very cold.
After a nice breakfast at the Monsavan Bakery we took our time to get to Muang Khoua and along the way we stopped quite a few times as in many villages the Hmong were celebrating their New Year.
While all the girls were using the traditional Hmong costumes, we saw only one male who had dressed up
A localized "Michelin" man warning the road users of a hole in the road
As we had arrived on a Saturday we had not been able to get Lao Kip so we tried every ATM along the road. No luck as all ATM's including these in Oudomxay were all of the local variety and did not accept international cards.
We tried to get help from the guard at the bank in Oudomxay but he was so fast asleep that we decided it would be better not to disturb him and make do with Thai Baht till the next morning when the banks in Muang Khoua would be open.
