Laos - Top to Bottom in a Vigo

[Matt]

My parents come to visit me for a month every year around Xmas time and I'm always looking for ways to entertain them. This year I decided to take them on an 'off-road' tour of Laos in my 2wd Toyota Vigo. I met with Auke and Phil and spent a couple of hours planning a route on my GPS.

The completed route;


Google Earth view;


2,200 km worth of elevation profile;


Typical of the tracks that we took;

 

[Matt]

Leg 1 - Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang



We decided to do Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang in one day. We were loaded up and on the road at 06:00 which got us to the Nan border at around 11:30 - bang on schedule.

The formalities at the Thai side were painless and the customs guy even filled in all the paperwork for us - they really couldn't have been more helpful. Once all paperwork was completed, they asked us if we had time to stay with them for lunch. As we had a long drive on the other side we declined the offer and proceeded to the Laos side.

We had not arranged Visa's in advance so had to get a 'VOA'. Long boring story but this took the best part of 3 hours - next time I go I will get the Visa in Chiang Mai before I leave.

This put us well behind schedule but I (not we this time!) decided we would press on and make it to Luang Prabang that evening. After an interesting drive through the mountains, some of it in the dark, we arrived at about 19:00. The track is generally pretty good but has some steep sections, ruts and river crossings. On the largest river crossing there were two trucks stuck in the river and it was dark - this got my mum a bit excited! The villagers had a long rope and around 30 people were pulling the truck out in a 'tug of war' style. Once clear, we crossed no problem.

We decided to spend the following day in Luang Prabang and look at some of the attractions.

Kids in a mountain village - notice the 'falang' kid in the background 4th from the left


Lady selling knives in Luang Prabang


Pools at the base of the waterfall


One of the steps in the waterfall

 

[Lone Rider]

Typical of the tracks that we took;

Was looking forward to this report and there it is. Thanks for putting it up. This river crossing looks familiar but at this point in time I can't recall where it is - can you enlighten me?

 

[Just Bob]

Subscribed.

 

[Matt]

Leg 2 - Luang Prabang to Phonsavan



For me this is were things started to get interesting. Luang Prabang is worth visiting but it's jam packed with tourists and not a real representation of Laos. Auke selected a great route for us for this leg (thanks Auke!). Some of the trails were very rough, steep, narrow and remote - you go a long way without seeing other people. Some of the river crossing were pretty interesting too..

Ferry for big river crossing - I think we paid too much for this crossing - 300 baht, but it's only $10 at the end of the day


On board, ready to go


A guy swimming across the river with his cows


A typical mountain house


A 'jar' in the middle of nowhere at the side of the trail


An old abandoned tank


Bomb craters - they are huge and there are hundreds / thousands of them


Fence made of old bombs


This lady liked collecting old bombs


Friendly and keen to show off her collection


Old military trucks still in use


Bamboo bridge


Blacksmith - the locals use the metal from the old bombs to create all sorts of things - knives, spoons, farming tools, etc..


The blacksmith (not sure what he's looking at with his 'lived in' face)

 

[Matt]

Leg 2 - Luang Prabang to Phonsavan (cont'd...)


Some delicacies at the local market at Ban Tajok (20km from Phonsavan)


Some more...


and more...


last one...


MIG graveyard - I was quite looking forward to this but you can not get very close to the planes


The 'plain of jars'


More jars


More old trucks (I like old trucks!)

 

[Matt]

Leg 3 - Phonsavan to Lak Xao



Lots of road construction going on around this area


You can see a bridge being built to the left (Auke - not sure on exact location, but on the way to Lak Xao)


Lak Xao police station


Down-town Lak Xao - guy walking on his hands as his leg was no good


Not much to do in Lak Xao - I just drank Beer Lao and people watched

 

[The Bigfella]

Lovin' it Matt. I'm not sure that kid's falang though. This him?

 

[Lone Rider]

Leg 2 - Luang Prabang to Phonsavan

Ferry for big river crossing - I think we paid too much for this crossing - 300 baht, but it's only $10 at the end of the day
View attachment 13798

On board, ready to go
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A 'jar' in the middle of nowhere at the side of the trail
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Yes, it seems expensive in comparison with the other ferry river crossings but we were quoted the a price of 70000 Kip about 2 years ago (the Nam Khan river crossing) so it seems to be the "going" price. Along the road from the ferry to Rd 7 there are a few jars just along or a bit off the road but most of them are just single jars.

 

[Matt]

Leg 4 - Lak Xao to Vilabuly (Gold Mining Town)

View attachment 13831


This is a great track - the last section particularly. It runs down in the Ho Chi Minh trail region. I last did this in June 12, again in my truck (as I had a broken leg from my bike). In the rainy season this trail is completely different, last time I got stuck several times and had to sleep in the jungle for the night - was great fun. This time it was pretty easy but has some great river crossings.

They have built a hydro power station and flooded the local land. All the trees have died (drowned) and are surrounded by water, creating a spectacular landscape.
View attachment 13832


A good quality gravel road - great for slides!


MAG (Mine Action Group) at work clearing UXO


A snake of some sort. I know nothing about snakes - does any one know what make it is?


You have a choice of driving through the river beds or going over the bridges - I chose the river beds. Looking at the support in this one, I think I made the right choice!


A big river crossing - this was quite bad (read: terrifying) in rainy season last year. I got stuck on the bank for an hour and it was pouring with rain. No drama this time.


Same crossing - these guys decided to take the boat


Gas station in a village


Some great scenery along the trail


more...


more...


Shower time

 

[KTMphil]

What a trip in 2WD Vigo!!!!! The bush meat was more diverse than i've ever seen before.


What did your parents make of it?

 

[Matt]

Leg 5 - Vilabuly to Tadlo

View attachment 13845


Today was just about making some distance south. Route 9 is a horrible road, full of huge pot holes that'll destroy your truck if you're not careful. Route 13 has a good surface, but is a bit boring. I would have liked to take the red route (see above) but last time I tried that it went wrong and I had to turn back. Auke suggested avoiding that route, so I had to take the made roads. An off-road bike would make the red route no problem. The section east from route 13 is a worthwhile drive, the dirt starts off very easy and progressively gets harder - by the end of the trail there is some pretty rough stuff.

A collapsed bridge
View attachment 13848


Tadlo waterfall. This really is a nice place. We stayed at a resort and this was the view from the terrace - great place to have some Beer Lao.

 

[Matt]

Leg 6 - Tadlo to Khong Island

View attachment 13850


We continued south as we wanted to go through Cambodia after Laos (more on that later..). Auke suggested we go to Khong Island the night before the crossing to Cambodia. I'd never even heard of it before, but decided to stay there as suggested. The journey starts off with more driving on the boring 13, but Khong Island is an amazing place. The Mekong river there is absolutely fantastic.

The route south, before the 13, takes you through a coffee producing region. Below picture of coffee trees
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The individual coffee beans growing on the tree
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A spectacular waterfall on route. The pictures do not do it justice - it must fall a few hundred metres into the canyon
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Ferry to Khong Island
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View from the guest house - Mekong looks stunning here
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A drive around the island
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Took a boat trip down the Mekong
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Strong current, even in the dry season


Sun starting to go down


Getting there..


Gone...

 

[Matt]

Leg 7 - Khong Island to Cambodia (well - Koh Chang)

View attachment 13863


We planned an early(ish) start as we had a long drive to Phnom Penh - on the road at 07:00. It was only around 30km to the border and we were not expecting any problems. After the ferry, etc. we arrived at the border at 08:00. The Lao immigration were very pleasant and helpful. They said they would stamp us out no problem, but we probably wouldn't let the truck into Cambodia. They told us to go over and check before they did the Laos paperwork. Long boring story...... we never got across the border - I don't give in easily!

We then decided to have some R&R in Koh Chang, so I drove back up to Pakse and then around to Koh Chang - that's about 900km!

White Sand Beach in Koh Chang
View attachment 13864


Another quality road

 

[2wheels]

Well done Matt.
Noted a couple of worrying scrape marks into that hole in the road!
Lots of fauna for sale.
I don't know about others but I see lots of 'attachments' rather than full images.

 

[Matt]

Lovin' it Matt. I'm not sure that kid's falang though. This him?

Ian - looks like the same kid to me. Looks like he's got some falang in him.

You're not trying to create a smoke screen are you?? When did you pass through there?

Matt

 

[Matt]

What a trip in 2WD Vigo!!!!! The bush meat was more diverse than i've ever seen before.


What did your parents make of it?

My parents are cool with it - they took me to much more remote places than this when I was a kid!

 

[Matt]

Well done Matt.
Noted a couple of worrying scrape marks into that hole in the road!
Lots of fauna for sale.
I don't know about others but I see lots of 'attachments' rather than full images.

I think I have sorted this out?? I uploaded all the images in the same manner..

 

[johnnysneds]

What a trip that must have been Matt, very jealous. Soon as I get the Ranger ill be doing this for sure.......