Lone Rider
Blokes Who Can
Made a quick trip to Luang Prabang to show my son the sights. Entered Laos at Muang Ngeun - trouble free on the Thai side.
The Thai Immigration and Customs building at Huay Khon
Looking into Laos from the Thai border crossing
On the Lao side it took some more time as the young guys in green stationed at the barrier where you enter Laos were showing of who the boss is - my son had to get out of the car, walk a few meters over the border and then get into the car again before we could proceed to Hongsa.By the way, the booths on the left side is where you can buy insurance while the white building a bit further away houses the Immigration and Customs.
Just before reaching Hongsa a lot of digging is going on for the construction of the Hongsa Power Plant
Stayed the night at the Monica Jumbo GH as almost all other places were fully booked as there are a lot of people, involved with the construction of the power plant are staying in Hongsa
Monica Jumbo GH in Hongsa at night
Early morning a quick dash to the market to see if wildlife was for sale. Other than a few squirels it looked like that all the other meat was OK.
From Hongsa there are several options to go to Luang Prabang - the long way via Xayaboury and the short way straight to the east. The latter road has been upgraded and several of the difficult parts have been replaced by new parts.
The old road going straight on with the new part running along the hill and below the old road joing again from the left.
The road is now quite good and it took us about 4 hours to reach Luang Prabang from Hongsa. Along the way there are numerous river crossings (9 if I counted correctly) but most of them are small so pose no problems during the dry season.
The "most difficult" river crossing.
There are several ways to get to this road from Hongsa - head north from the Hongsa stadium along an unpaved road or take the asphalt road to the east. The asphalt option is by far the easiest as it cuts out 5 river crossings.
The route and the profile of the road can be found here: 3-brits-2-septics-ride-for-laos-part-4-t140.html
There are several villages along the road and the larger ones have fuel available (in drum) while drinks and basic food are also no problem. Near the end there is a small waterfall but, as there was not a lot of water, it was not very impressive.
Crossing the Mekong at Luang Prabang was again a waiting game and we had to wait for the second ferry crossing the river from Luang Prabang that our ferry skipper had to leave his berth.
Evening time having a well earned cold one and good food while enjoying the sunset.
The Thai Immigration and Customs building at Huay Khon
Looking into Laos from the Thai border crossing
On the Lao side it took some more time as the young guys in green stationed at the barrier where you enter Laos were showing of who the boss is - my son had to get out of the car, walk a few meters over the border and then get into the car again before we could proceed to Hongsa.By the way, the booths on the left side is where you can buy insurance while the white building a bit further away houses the Immigration and Customs.
Just before reaching Hongsa a lot of digging is going on for the construction of the Hongsa Power Plant
Stayed the night at the Monica Jumbo GH as almost all other places were fully booked as there are a lot of people, involved with the construction of the power plant are staying in Hongsa
Monica Jumbo GH in Hongsa at night
Early morning a quick dash to the market to see if wildlife was for sale. Other than a few squirels it looked like that all the other meat was OK.
From Hongsa there are several options to go to Luang Prabang - the long way via Xayaboury and the short way straight to the east. The latter road has been upgraded and several of the difficult parts have been replaced by new parts.
The old road going straight on with the new part running along the hill and below the old road joing again from the left.
The road is now quite good and it took us about 4 hours to reach Luang Prabang from Hongsa. Along the way there are numerous river crossings (9 if I counted correctly) but most of them are small so pose no problems during the dry season.
The "most difficult" river crossing.
There are several ways to get to this road from Hongsa - head north from the Hongsa stadium along an unpaved road or take the asphalt road to the east. The asphalt option is by far the easiest as it cuts out 5 river crossings.
The route and the profile of the road can be found here: 3-brits-2-septics-ride-for-laos-part-4-t140.html
There are several villages along the road and the larger ones have fuel available (in drum) while drinks and basic food are also no problem. Near the end there is a small waterfall but, as there was not a lot of water, it was not very impressive.
Crossing the Mekong at Luang Prabang was again a waiting game and we had to wait for the second ferry crossing the river from Luang Prabang that our ferry skipper had to leave his berth.
Evening time having a well earned cold one and good food while enjoying the sunset.
