Laos in September

[2wheels]

" I found someone with cold Beer Lao. "

Luxury!

 

[BWG950S]

I'm in Lak Xao this evening. I may have been mistaken in my position report for yesterday, I was basing that on what a local said. I stayed at the guesthouse in IIRC (its not on my paper map) Khangviang.... about 16km past Muang Mok. Nice little place - gensets only for a few hours in the evening. Didn't get much in the way of food. Guesthouse was being run by a teenage girl and there were some kids around. Only adult was the other guest, a Vietnamese guy who was packing into the mountains with a guide. I've seen a few of them doing that btw.

Here's the place

Looks like the place Justin and I stayed in on the wrong way to Phonsavan.

http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/h329/BWG950S/Laos Trip/th_P2010088.jpg

 

[The Bigfella]

Yep. That would be it.

I'm off on a bus ride in the morning. Apparently it goes at 5:30, or 6:00, or maybe 7:00am. My new wheelbearings are being sent to Thakhet.... because the bus to here didn't run today. Sheesh.

I damn near stepped on a Red-necked Keelback snake just outside my room earlier. Bastard of a thing.

Oh well, time to go rustle up some food I guess. I'll have to walk past all the cops who are responsible for my hangover today. We really sank a few. They tried to drink me under the table... even cheating, having some of their guys take turns.... and there being only two glasses, one of which was mine, didn't help.

Such is life.

 

[KTMphil]

How's the food there? always interesting in the smaller towns in Laos.

Yep. That would be it.

I'm off on a bus ride in the morning. Apparently it goes at 5:30, or 6:00, or maybe 7:00am. My new wheelbearings are being sent to Thakhet.... because the bus to here didn't run today. Sheesh.

I damn near stepped on a Red-necked Keelback snake just outside my room earlier. Bastard of a thing.

Oh well, time to go rustle up some food I guess. I'll have to walk past all the cops who are responsible for my hangover today. We really sank a few. They tried to drink me under the table... even cheating, having some of their guys take turns.... and there being only two glasses, one of which was mine, didn't help.

Such is life.

 

[bigntall]

Fuark has some bearings... no seals though. He's just shot off to Thailand for an hour or so.... I'm waiting on his call. I had him talk to a local and he's getting them on a bus (probably tomorrow) to somewhere 20 miles from here.... I think. The fun bit is going to be getting the money to Fuark... the last bank transfer I did here took a week. I hope he's a trusting chap. The good news is that there's electricity here and I found someone with cold Beer Lao.

Here was me thinking that my riding was going to sh!t... couldn't handle the gravel. I looked down to check the front tyre wasn't going flat... and there was this 2-3" wobble going on. Oops.

Sounds like its anything but boring for ya Ian. I checked my supplies and have Swing arm bearings and Fork bushing and seals, but I used up my last supply of wheel bearings when they were installed on the 525 a couple months back. Sounds like the mud is doing its usual job of wreakiing havoc on bearings. I have gotten bearings for the KTM in Laos before.





So they are available from a bearing house. Worse case is give the wheel to a local and pay him to get to a larger town and source the bearings you need whilst you kick back and drink beer:.............................and get your boots stitched up.

I would not even muck with a bank transfer. Just get his bank aaccount info and when in the next large town deposit it into his account. We both know how enjoyable those bank transfers can be.

Jim - We were just taking the scenic way....not the wrong way. Ian if you were in the same guesthouse say hello to the pigs that were squealing and rustling around under the bed all night.

 

[2wheels]

They tried to drink me under the table... even cheating, having some of their guys take turns.... and there being only two glasses, one of which was mine, didn't help.

Didn't they know you're an Aussie?
Here's another.

 

[The Bigfella]

I have wheel bearings!!!!!

Koyo, made in Japan ones. Four of them.

I won't get back to the bike today. If I managed to snag a straight lift once I get back to Nakai, I'd only get there a bit before dark. I might as well stay where I can get a bed.

So, it should be back on the track tomorrow....

 

[2wheels]

'onya BigFella.
Looking forward to your next riding report.
All the best.

 

[The Bigfella]

Bike is fixed... I've hung around here in Nakai to watch the boat races in the morning.... then I'll head for Vilabouri.

 

[KTMphil]

Bike is fixed... I've hung around here in Nakai to watch the boat races in the morning.... then I'll head for Vilabouri.

Fuark is pretty resourceful and organized, I knew he'd get you going again!

 

[bigntall]

On the track i gave you into Villabouri about 50 feet before you hit the main road of town on your rleft you might want to stop by there in the evening for refreshments.

You should enjoy the track into and out of Villabouri. Have fun.

 

[The Bigfella]

Missed this yesterday, ran out of internet.... but yep, that's where I ate.... I think.I'm in Phin now, about to head over to Ban Dong for a look at a couple of American tanks, then I reckon I'll come back here to bed down for the night.Stopped and had a look at the all-women MAG team working beside the road yesterday... all asleep when I arrived (lunch time)There will be photos.... later.

 

[2wheels]

had a look at the all-women MAG team working beside the road yesterday... all asleep when I arrived

Struth mate; are you sure they were only sleeping?!
Hope so.

 

[The Bigfella]

So, last night was in Phin. I'm being profligate with my internet. I've got about 300 photos I want to upload, but I've just had a go at getting a few done. Some got through... very, very slowly. I mentioned attending the boat races. Here's the first boat coming through in the first race.

This is on the Nam Theun 2 Reservoir... a somewhat controversial hydro power operation that's been running for 2 years now. It flooded a lot of territory. I believe (was told) it produces 150 MW of power, some of which brings in foreign exchange (Vietnam, China and Thailand are all chasing electricity from Laos). More photos of that later. Watching the crowd there was fascinating. I had pig's intestine soup for breakfast yesterday. I didn't pick it as such until I picked up the first bit of "meat". I chose it because it arrived at the serving table when I was there, steaming hot (a good thing)... and it was the only dish not covered in flies. Gawd, talk about fatty.

Here's the SA-2 missile that I stopped at. Its missing the initial stage rocket booster (photo of one of them later) and it'd obviously been shot down.

.... as had this American chopper....

I did some more looking around yesterday, branched off to go into a village up a dead-end track, that sort of thing. Photos later, but here's one village I stopped in. I was interested in the women cracking the corn for the animals in these big timber pestles.

I can't make out what's going on with her left hand there... didn't notice it at the time, but it looks weird on this screen. Check out the cheroots they are smoking. Some sort of leaf wrapping - no idea what the leaf is but it seems to be tobacco in it. Just about everyone in this village came over to take a look at the Falang who'd stopped.... except the semi-naked woman sitting in the doorway of her hut. She just sat there, unconcerned and watched. Here's the leader, if I'm not mistaken, of the women's Mines Advisory Group team that I stopped at along the track The team was well-equipped and was funded by the US State Department. It'd be nice to see another few hundred similar teams at work. So far, 40 years on, 0.3% of the worst affected areas have been cleared. This team had, so far, pulled 20 unexploded bombies out of this area.

These boats are known as "Bomb Boats"... not technically correct, as they are made from aircraft drop tanks. I saw dozens of them (more photos later)... Lots, like this one are half a tank with water excluders added fore and aft and some seats.

Simple, effective and long lasting... 40 years so far. There's plenty of much larger ones, constructed from panels and flattened tanks.

Since I'm discussing boats. Here's me waiting my turn for the punt across a river. Yeah, he's got an AK47 slung over his shoulder... I saw dozens of them that day (day before yesterday)... mostly AK 47's with a smattering of the older SKS's.

We were pretty marginal on the boat... we shipped a lot of water over the bow before we got the balance right. I was a tad nervous, having seen one of the race boats go belly up earlier that day.... and I was remembering that I hadn't waterproof-packed the computer and camera when we were mid-stream. Made it. 20,000 Kip (a bit under $3).

The loggers had carved the road up a bit too. This section was damn slippery... and my rear tyre ain't too flash

Another slippery section from yesterday.

Pick a path... and yeah, it'll end up with you in the slop... any path. Pick a bomb... any bomb. How many would you like?

I reckon the US Air Force ought to come over here, get some details and whack in a warranty claim on all these duds. Money back from the manufacturer please. What's a million tons of unexploded bombs worth? I got evicted from there, btw. Its the new museum they are building at Ban Dong and when I rode onto the paving area a couple of soldiers came out with long faces and told me to piss off, or words and gestures to that effect. I smiled, said G'day and kept taking photos. Really pissed them off. I reminded them that tourists are good for Laos. I didn't jump up or down... and I let them throw me out pretty soon.

That last one, for now, is a section of the original Ho Chi Minh Trail that has been sort-of preserved. It's fenced... except the locals have removed lots of sections of fencing so they have better access to their houses. Its also getting degraded by the vegetation, as it isn't receiving traffic. A bit of defoliant might be a good thing... This section was originally constructed by the French, but was heavily used by the North Vietnamese. I saw another section like it today... not fenced, and a couple of feet above the current "road" surface. Identical equal-sized rock pavingDamn tough day today. I got stuck twice to the extent that I needed outside assistance. The first one worked out well... some locals going the other way got stuck at the same spot. I helped them, they helped me. The next one, there was a soldier and a young guy there. They stripped off, we unloaded the bags off the bike and eventually, the three of us, all pushing, got the bike through - but we had to dig one rock out. I had to sit down to recover and break into my emergency water. They offered me some water out of an oil drum... but I passed on that. They also offered me some roasted egret or heron, but, sorry... I'm not eating forest birds on principle. I damn near wilted though... it was 2:30 pm and I hadn't had breakfast... still haven't, unless you count the Beer Lao that the lovely lady here went and got me.... or the two "orange juices" I found in a remote village... pity that they didn't have water too. Seven hours in the saddle sounds easy to say, but I reckon that might qualify as one of the toughest days yet over the last 14 months. Brilliant riding though, quite technical for 45 km of it. Mostly first and second gear, down mud slides, up clay banks, up and down over big rocks. A trials bike would have been perfect. Very energy sapping. I lost the route on the GPS three times.... got miles away from where the track is supposed to be... because once the track gets too bad, they just make another one. Its all being sanitised though. I met a team building "bridges" over some of the crossings. In a few years, the Ho Chi Minh Trail will be hard to find. I should have some nice photos of a couple of the big bridges that were bombed during the war and some video of the hard riding. The big bridges have never been replaced. Now its a little ferry.... a couple of punts with a planked area on top. That route... about 140 km, took Justin 4 hours when he did it, I think... unless that's the route calculator telling me it should be 4 (Justin?????). It took me 7... and I wasn't taking it easy anywhere. Different time of year, different conditions. The monsoon will tend to slow you down. I'll see if I can find a photo later... I was getting somewhat worried about money when I hit Saravan. First ATM wouldn't give me money... and it should have, and that's two ATMs in a row now. Found another that wouldn't accept either of my cards. Went back to the first one, tried both cards and the machine died. Found the third and last one in town, same brand as the one I killed.... and it told me I had a zero balance... take your card. Luckily it gave me the million I'd asked for... and another million.... and another. I'd not have got a cleansing ale tonight (and its only a bit over a buck for a big bottle) if I hadn't scored more cash.... and I'd be changing my last 1000 Baht and some USD into Kip. That was too close... although I could've made Pakse.... just. I'm inclined to call a "lay day" tomorrow. I am trying to get to Pakse to meet some Aussie friends that I met in Malaysia... but I don't think it'd be wise to do another big day on top of today..... and if this rain would stop... I might go find a proper breakfast. It is 7pm+, after all

 

[Lone Rider]

Pick a path... and yeah, it'll end up with you in the slop... any path. Pick a bomb... any bomb. How many would you like?

I reckon the US Air Force ought to come over here, get some details and whack in a warranty claim on all these duds. Money back from the manufacturer please. What's a million tons of unexploded bombs worth? I got evicted from there, btw. Its the new museum they are building at Ban Dong and when I rode onto the paving area a couple of soldiers came out with long faces and told me to piss off, or words and gestures to that effect. I smiled, said G'day and kept taking photos. Really pissed them off. I reminded them that tourists are good for Laos. I didn't jump up or down... and I let them throw me out pretty soon.

Tried to keep up with your adventure while in the Netherlands but somehow lost track of it. Now back home in Chiangmai and longing to get out of the house and into Laos again. Spotting loads of mud in your pictures so I guess you are still having lots of fun.

Mate, you were lucky with the museum with being chased out - most people who arrive at the gate find it locked up and you will have to chase the guy with the key to have a look. The men in green somehow don't like cameras and like to throw their weight around to show who is the boss. They also get a bit jumpy when you don't understand their waving arms and other gestures so better not to put things to the test.

Not sure where you are at the moment but, considering that you are talking about ATM's, I guess that you reached Saravan and it should be an easy ride to Pakxe in the unlikely case you take the tarmac road. By the way, most of the ATM's are for local use only - look for one which says International and if you are lucky you might get some Kip's out of them.

 

[bigntall]

.........Damn tough day today. I got stuck twice to the extent that I needed outside assistance. The first one worked out well... some locals going the other way got stuck at the same spot. I helped them, they helped me. The next one, there was a soldier and a young guy there. They stripped off, we unloaded the bags off the bike and eventually, the three of us, all pushing, got the bike through - but we had to dig one rock out. I had to sit down to recover and break into my emergency water. They offered me some water out of an oil drum... but I passed on that. They also offered me some roasted egret or heron, but, sorry... I'm not eating forest birds on principle. I damn near wilted though... it was 2:30 pm and I hadn't had breakfast... still haven't, unless you count the Beer Lao that the lovely lady here went and got me.... or the two "orange juices" I found in a remote village... pity that they didn't have water too. Seven hours in the saddle sounds easy to say, but I reckon that might qualify as one of the toughest days yet over the last 14 months. Brilliant riding though, quite technical for 45 km of it. Mostly first and second gear, down mud slides, up clay banks, up and down over big rocks. A trials bike would have been perfect. Very energy sapping. I lost the route on the GPS three times.... got miles away from where the track is supposed to be... because once the track gets too bad, they just make another one. Its all being sanitised though. I met a team building "bridges" over some of the crossings. In a few years, the Ho Chi Minh Trail will be hard to find. I should have some nice photos of a couple of the big bridges that were bombed during the war and some video of the hard riding. The big bridges have never been replaced. Now its a little ferry.... a couple of punts with a planked area on top. That route... about 140 km, took Justin 4 hours when he did it, I think... unless that's the route calculator telling me it should be 4 (Justin?????). It took me 7... and I wasn't taking it easy anywhere. Different time of year, different conditions. The monsoon will tend to slow you down..........

Ian - Sounds like its anything but boring for ya. Out of all the tracks I gave ya the section from Phin-Salavan was my favorite.

Once you're on this side of that large bridge the track becomes loads of fun A bit of sandy running for a few clicks then tightens up in the jungle.



As you said up and down rocky gullies that never ended for more than 40 KM, however it flowed and was fun and yet a bit of work as you know. Best of the bunch i reckon in terms of riding. I'm sure the rains added another dimnsion to the track though . Reckon the 525 was worth it as you could imagine that bit on the 950, haha.

Can't remember how long it took me on the track but if you're looking at the "time to destination" readout on the GPS ignore whatever it says as its calculated using speed averages that are assigned to the track I beleive and does not take into acount: getting lost, feeling shattered, dehydrated, nor mud holes.

I hope you're doing the section from Attepue to Pakse as thats another nice bit of track, though not tight and technical. The Attepue palace is a plush stay if you need a comfortable bed. Then take a couple days in Pakse by the river for some rest.

Take a better line through the river crossing than I (or just take the ferry like the smart people) or you'll find the KTM airbox limitations.



Ian when you cross into Cambo do not check the bike into Cambodia, just get your passport stamped in and hop on your bike and ride. Do not go to Cambo officials ofr checkin in the bike.

 

[2wheels]

Well done BigFella.
Those 'bomb boats' are new to me and quite a fascinating concept.

Bigntall, pm sent to you.

 

[The Bigfella]

Mud? Did someone mention mud? Phew.

Here's some photos from yesterday. Pretty much straight away after leaving Phin, I was in the Dong Phou Vieng National Protected Area... a lovely forested area of 1,970 sq km. It contains 31 ethnic minority villages. I would have thought logging would be prohibited, but maybe the locals are exempt. I wish I'd been able to get the camera fired up quicker here, but I came around a corner and met this squadron of guys on scooters, about 8 of them, all loaded up with big timber blocks. I only caught the last two.... and of course, this bloke is on my side of the road.

I saw the first of three snakes for the day along that stretch. All three managed to get out of my way. Very pretty critters, not sure what any of them were though.

Here's the remains of the Tad Hai Bridge over the Xe Bang Heing River. It was designed by Souphanouvong, who became the first President of Lao PDR in 1975. Built in 1942, it was destroyed by American bombing in 1967.

There was a rickety couple of planks with a bamboo handrail to get me up to the top of the end pier for that shot.

Here's another bombed bridge further on, taken from the "ferry" that Justin tried to avoid. This one only cost me 10,000 kip because I got on with a local on his scooter and just paid the same as him. The first one charged me 20,000 (a bit under $3).

I just had enought room to do a 15 point turn to turn the bike around for disembarkation..... down a plank, of course.

There's a lot of pretty rugged "houses" along the Trail. This was by no means the worst of them. Some were at quite an angle and a lot had virtually no walls.

I found plenty of isolated houses, poking along some of the trails, looking to try and meet up again with the track that had somehow disappeared. I got some pretty scared looking women at some of them when this big Falang pulled up enquiring which way it was to Saravan. A few kids went running into the bush to hide.

Towards the end of the day, after the rough section, which lasted 45 km... lots of first and second gear stuff - and bear in mind, this 525 is low geared, I can run 6th gear from about 45 kph..... about 30 kph slower than the 950 will accept.... there were plenty of wooden bridges - many dozens of them. I wouldn't call any of them as being good.... and some were less than flash. I was that exhausted, I wasn't slowing down for many... hitting them in 6th... but I did for this one.

Speaking of the rough stuff. This was the first one that stopped me. A poor choice of line, not looking far enough ahead, had me hit a vertical wall... bang... stopped.

Had half a dozen locals come along on a "tractor".... one of those Chinese single cylinder diesel farm implements with a couple of big wheels and a trailer... I'd have had to unload and try and drag the bike up out of that clay. It was solid enough to hold the bike upright... but too soft to get traction. I hadn't been able to drag it back as it was.

Plenty of humidity to make things interesting when you try and push and drag. I'd tried to drag the bike back, but got nowhere.

I took a fair beating from the bamboo in there too. Had one piece get stuck under the helmet peak and try to remove my head. Narrowly avoided some spears to the face too.

Here's the young guy at the next place I ground to a halt, coming down to help

It was, of course, steeper than it looks. We unloaded the bike at this one, because with three of us - the old soldier stripped off and came to help too - we couldn't get it up the hill loaded. The young guy had to dig one large boulder out at one stage too. 10,000 kip well spent. They seemed surprised that I was prepared to give them so much. 65 cents each. Big day for them.

I really was too exhausted to just load up again and ride off after that. I was dripping with sweat, had to break out my emergency bottle of water and thought about filtering some from the creek but didn't. I found some "orange juice" at a village a bit further on and that was pretty much the last of the slop.

It sure took it out of me. I guess it would have been easier if I'd had breakfast that day... or been carrying some food.

He was happy to share the bird, and I probably should have eaten.... but seriously, I'm not overly happy with the total war the local people wage on the wildlife.

I've seen a lot of soldier's camps like that. Sometimes one soldier... wandering around with a slung AK47, sometimes three or four, lounging around. I've seen them out cutting bamboo.... presumably to build more of these shelters.

Two young kids came along while I was there... about 9 and 12 at a guess. Both smoking cigarettes. I've got a photo of the young one puffing away.

I arrived in Saravan just as the boat races ended... and there was this mad exodus from town as I came in. I'd been racing a big thunderstorm that had caught me a few times... big heavy, stinging rain.... and I was hammering it a bit. Some clown in a HiLux and I had a disagreement just before town. He was overtaking one of the 100' long raceboats being towed slowly... and my only choice was the ditch. I just slithered to a stop 1' from his bumper instead and gave him some Aussie vocabulary lessons and let him wait a bit.

As for the 950 Super Enduro.... I'd still be buying local help to extract it from that track under the conditions I encountered yesterday. I'd have been OK with most of it... but not all. I had a couple... or more... near offs on the 525... and I reckon I'd have dropped the 950 a few times in the same spot, rather than rescuing the situation like on the 525.

.... and Justin... yep, that's the plan.

 

[KTMphil]

You could make a coffee table book out of this Ian, great story!

www.RideAsia.net

 

[Changnoi1]

Great photos!
I did read something about crossing border to Cambodia and "not checking in" the bike.
I am planning to cross the border Laos to Cambodia in the south and exiting Cambodia to Thailand.
Anyone did that before?

Chang Noi

 

[Kate]

I've been loving reading your ride report. Pounce has kindly invited me on his riding trip to Laos in December with him and his mates. I'm very excited!

 

[The Bigfella]

Thanks Kate. I'm really enjoying Laos..... although I'm half tempted to put my feet up again today and have a rest. The last two days were pretty tough. 40km of bitumen and 210 km of "dirt"... and it rained hard both nights before I rode. Real hard.

It took me 12 hours to do that 250 km - 20 kph average, including the good tar. I only dropped it once... sliding backwards down a hill I couldn't clear at about 2kph. I let the tyres right down and had another go on a different, much worse looking, line and made it. Don't forget to bring a good bicycle pump btw.

Here's a bit of the single track... a diversion around some bogs

and here's a bit of the main road (Salavan heading towards Attapeu the back way).... may not be available for a couple more minutes btw

 

[The Bigfella]

There was a question about border crossings. I had some hassles with Thailand, coming in the first time, they didn't give me a temporary import permit, but that was resolved by them giving me a temporary export permit. Sometimes it isn't worth questioning.... just take the paper and move on. With the bike in Chiang Mai, I'll have to pay a fine when I take it out of Thailand.... for overstaying its TIP... but that's OK. Overstay with the import permit in Laos and a "reasonable" amount of fine according to the paperwork is $5 and an "unreasonable" amount... their words btw is $10. Cambodia is less of an issue.

As for the trip from Salavan to Attapeu.... it absolutely pissed down the night before I left. I'd spent the day changing the oil, doing the chain and air filter, etc... and generally taking it easy because the restaurant there was trying to kill me apparently. For the first time ever... I took Imodium on consecutive days. At least I had brekky before I left.

I didn't get the bike into top gear... or anywhere near it until I'd been "on the road" for four hours. Heading out of town, there's a nice suspension bridge. It doesn't sway too much...

but the next few rivers are crossed by ferry

... an all-female crew on this one

Plenty of quaint bridges

and places where the bridges had been swept away

Cute kids

I shouted all the kids here an orange juice... about a dozen of them

While the locals tried to get me pissed on the local hooch

 

[The Bigfella]

I had some fun and games at one of the ethnic minority villages - either Katu or Alak... with the houses arranged in a circle. I rode in and everyone was hiding. I couldn't see the trail out and wanted to check I was on the right one. I headed off down one and it was at 90 degrees to the GPS route, so I turned back when I'd gone a few hundred metres and got to a gate. I went back to the village.... rode up to some houses and asked directions when some brave soul stuck his head out.... yep, that way... so off I went. Nope. Not that way by my dead reckoning. Got well and truly bogged down there too... heading 90 degrees off from the track again. Came back and found this gate... totally trussed up and you'd need a machete to open it

It was clearly where the original track used to go. The GPS liked it... but it was blocked.

I do believe I swore somewhat loudly at that stage. I was bleeding energy getting through damn buffalo wallows and the like. Back to the village... and helmet off this time, some more brave souls emerged and told me to go the first way I'd gone. There wasn't much option - and I wasn't re-crossing the river I'd just come through.... climbing over heaps of submerged logs they'd dumped in there to make it shallower.

So... that was the end of my GPS route until I got to the Sekong River and could pick it up again. It was dead reckoning for the next 30km or so. Not a major problem, but it is comforting when that purple line is leading somewhere. There was plenty of single track for a while, then back onto a more defined road... well and truly chopped to pieces during the wet.

A couple of young lads I met along a bit of single track

The young bloke had a hare lip, and around here it seems that's just tough luck. I'm getting used to seeing medical conditions that shouldn't be, but it doesn't help when you run across them. I had this guy ask me for pills not long after that... with this golfball sized ulcer on his back.

I've seen a couple of women with grapefruit sized mouth cancers. Obviously hadn't been and weren't going to be treated. I've got a photo of one of them, she didn't mind in the slightest when I asked her if I could take a photo. A few people have asked me for pills too. Maybe I should carry some "hand-out" pills next trip? I'll have a chat to my doc back in Oz.

I finally convinced a hunter to show me his bag. One dead giant squirrel. Yum... fried rodent.

... and I wheeled in near this house to see how she was cracking the corn or rice or whatever it was. Very different from the oversized mortar and pestle arrangement I'd seen elsewhere.

As soon as I spotted another "shop" I stopped for liquids. Couldn't get water, so it was a 7 Up or something similar here. I was determined to try and minimise the dehydration this time and didn't want to run out of water. I managed to hang onto my water... literally. I ended up going 22 hours between pees. Not sure that's a good thing.

At the shop, I was impressed with the size of this woman's bong.

... but I was starting to look a bit ratty.

 

[The Bigfella]

The kids here weren't scared and were keen to hang around

The local tobacco was drying away nicely

and a very young looking mum wandered in, baby on the boob, bong in hand

The kids around there are right into the 'baccy too

Hey... the family that bongs together, sticks together, right?

I normally take the bridges, but decided not to contribute yet another toll here...

... and I always love finding signs erected by the Aussie government. We're good at erecting signs... but hey, this one's falling down. Better send another fact finding mission from Canberra to see why the glue failed.

.... oops... sorry.

 

[KTMphil]

Beautiful photo's Ian, how precious is that area!

 

[Gnasher328]

Crackin' report BF, gives a great idea of what to expect in Laos. I hope to take a look but not get as adventurous as you, I wouldn't have the stamina to do that kind of riding - let alone write about it.
Stay safe, looking fwd to the rest, Tim.

 

[Just Bob]

This is just over the top! Loving it. BF, you sure you're not going a bit Col. Kurtz out there?

 

[The Bigfella]

Thanks guys. Yes... its very special out there.... but its changing fast. Logging and "development" roads, unfortunately. That and bridge building in even the most remote parts.

While I was up in Phonsavan, the hotel had a couple of reports on tourism in Laos. These Southeastern provinces only get 1% of the tourists that visit Laos. I guess I'll have to come back another time to see what the attraction of Vientiane and the like is. Then again, I'm headed towards Pakse... and I did visit Luang Prabang

... and no... no Colonel Kurtz.... although I do doubt my sanity at times. I did get hosted the other night by a former Pathet Lao officer though.....

That's him, third from left, beside the President, I believe. I've got a shot of his 1973 ID card, with him in uniform too... but its probably not nice to put that on the net.

So... back to the ride from Salavan to Attapeu (the mostly dirt option... one could do Sekong to Attapeu in 80km, rather than the 180km option on the dirt....)

 

[The Bigfella]

There's plenty of reminders of the war. This one looks like another bomb crater to me - now a free duckpond

... and this one is 100% definitely a bomb crater. Its up in the hills at a deserted airstrip.

But I'm getting a couple of hours ahead of myself there.

The views up in the hills were good, with a mix of forests and a bit of agriculture

The roads, less good.

Choosing a path used by the locals was no guarantee of a smooth ride. Plenty of the locals had been crashing... the telltale skids and gouges were everywhere.

My stamina was getting called into question too. I'd just come out of a nasty section here, got up onto the central ridge.... and bang, over the edge and down into the rut... and stalled it at the same time. I took a two minute break. I'd never have done that normally... but mistakes happen when you get tired.

Why could I possibly be tired? Hadn't gone far.

When I took this next photo, perched six foot above the depths plumbed by the trucks, I was thinking... I am so glad I'm not on the 950.

Seriously, its hard to see, but the trucks had gouged the road 6' down there. Two metres. It was sloppy and nasty... and the locals took to the ridge. Like this next shot. I was riding one of the very few nicely graded sections and the local bikes had all peeled off to the left up a high ridge. I, of course, followed them and was wondering if I'd been silly and was branching off to another village. The ridge got a bit narrow and was about 20 metres above the "good" road and I was thinking of turning back... and then the reason for the diversion showed up.

The road is the quagmire over to the right. Would have been a nightmare on the bike. I'm stll about 15 metres above the road surface there... so its a long way off.

This sort of thing continued for ages, with small bridges built for the smaller traffic... bikes and 4WDs.... and with them using the ridges above the mess created by the trucks

 

[Ally]

Bigfella, this is riveting stuff. Thank you so much.

Your pain & suffering just intensifies 100 times in my head, when I think you are so near to the UXO.

Thank you so much for taking us with you on this trip.

Ally

 

[The Bigfella]

Speaking of 4WDs. This guy was well and truly stuck... bashing the side panels to pieces and creating a cloud of blue tyre smoke as I went past.

They didn't ask for help, so I didn't stop. I didn't like his foot to the floor approach to the issue... wheels turned, with his mates throwing logs under the madly spinning wheels. It looked like a recipe for getting hurt.

... and that was on one of the good sections - near here

More bridge and culvert building.

They must be planning on running tourist buses up the HCM Trail.

Here's two photos I should have included earlier. Photobucket seems to have shuffled my photos a tad. These girls were sitting with the family puffing on the bongs. Basketweaving.

Another of the houses at that village

It got dark fast on me. I was up high, in the clouds at that deserted airstrip with the bomb craters and bingo... time to turn the light on. A few km on from there, I did my first night-time creek crossing and then stopped at a place with three huts. The former officer's place. I could only see guys there.. half a dozen of them. He spoke a bit of English... not much, and told me Attapeu was one hour. It was 6pm. He said I'd be in Attapeu by 7.

Off I went. The GPS.. still set on shortest route, cut me off the narrow track here (this is shot the next morning)

A few hundred metres on and I got to this gate.

A quick look over the shoulder to see if there were any bitey things and through I went.... and yes, I put all the rails back in again....

... then I got to this.

There was a hut there, no lights on and no answer when I called. I took the logs across the road on each side of the crossing as a pretty clear indication that it was time to turn back. Not easy by the way, with the holes in the track... but off I went, back down to the old soldier's place.

I asked for a bed and some food and was given an enthusiastic welcome.

The duck and eggs was delicious... no booze... and my money was refused.

I'd made a bit under 80 km in 8 hours. Reminded me a bit of the day on the CREB track on Cape York when we did 7km in 24 hours.

It turned out there was a woman (and child) there. She was a bit apprehensive at first, but I got a room in her hut

Complete with bamboo mat and quilt... and even a mossie net

One of the other huts

It turned out to be a new coffee plantation the old (66 years) soldier was putting in.

It bucketed down for hours overnight... which created the odd problem or two for me in the morning.

I didn't hang around for brekkie... Attapeu was only an hour away, right? Yeah... sure.

Here's the woman of the camp... wife of one of the Lao guys (four of the guys were Vietnamese)

I slipped her 100,000 kip in the morning (which the old soldier saw and nodded his approval) and set off at 6.45am.

I got to the top of the hill, ignored the turnoff and then spent some time pushing out of this.

This was a doddle by comparison.... straight through

.... more later. Time to ride.

 

[The Bigfella]

Bigfella, this is riveting stuff. Thank you so much.

Your pain & suffering just intensifies 100 times in my head, when I think you are so near to the UXO.

Thank you so much for taking us with you on this trip.

Ally

UXO? What's that?

Do you mean this stuff

 

[BWG950S]

Absolutely Fantastic Big Fella!

 

[KTMphil]

Can you imagine doing this trip without that GPS map!

 

[bigntall]

Ian - fantastic report mate. I was laughing last night with Auke about the gate that the GPS track went through. It was the same for me and I forgot to let ya know about that little detour, haha. Left at the gate led to some nice singletrack in Deecember onto the main road, as you stated about 25 KM's or so. I'm guessing it wasn't nice flowing singletrack for you then3?

Onward through the fog Ian!!

 

[Stokes70]

awesome thread and an inspiring read, well done Ian.

 

[KTMphil]

Are you still planning on touring all of Cambodia as well?

 

[The Bigfella]

Are you still planning on touring all of Cambodia as well?

Eventually... but probably not this trip. I'm back in Attapeu, having failed to get through to Pakse via the southern loop.

I'll post it all up as soon as I can, but I'm late getting going today. Waiting on more wheel bearings - rears this time. I'm just about out of brake pads too... have pretty much used the spares I brought, will go back to the last dregs of the originals to get me to Siem Reap and will probably come up to Chiang Mai for a beer or three.

Had to stay in a village again the other night.... 5km or so from the bike. Ban Pindong. I'll post up a piccie of the rat roast dinner later on. Had to get help to carry the bike back out (yeah, I drowned it good an proper).

 

[The Bigfella]

Wheel bearings are going in as I write. Here's a giant squirrel being prepared for dinner. We ate well for the 24 hours I was stuck there... Giant squirrel, rat, fish even and... forest birds. Oops - did I say I wouldn't eat them? Of all of it, I think it was the fish that did my gut in... again.

My boots shit themselves trying to kick start a 12.5:1 570.... after the battery shit itself.

Yeah... I had to walk 5km in that.

Its fixed now though

One of my friends from the village

One of the guys brought these in while I was there... said he found them on the ground

This was one day when I was wishing I was on the Super Enduro. It'll run in water a foot deeper than this