Lone Rider
Blokes Who Can
From Thakheak to Kenethao
Another of my trips to Laos for sightseeing as well as updating the Laos GPS map. My trip started at the 3rd Friendship bridge from Nakhon Phanam to Thakheak and ended at Kenethao (Rd 4) leaving Laos over the Nam Hueang Bridge to Thailand. The route taken:
Thakheak has a Free Trade Zone located around the Friendship Bridge between Thailand and Laos. The last time I was there not much was visible so on my recent visit I had again a look to see how far things had progressed. Well not much and other than the new Head Office for the Thakheak Free Trade Zone Authority very little else was going on. However, life was going on and farmers were still growing rice where in the future factories will be standing
Some of the historical places from the time the French ruled the area are in danger of disappearing. From the French Fort in Thakheak only the gate and parts of the ramparts are still standing but the area where the fort is located looks like being readied for construction and the gate might disappear.
After a long day it is always nice to relax along the Mekong and enjoy the sunset
Wat Mahathat in Nakhon Phanom as seen from Laos - the Mekong River is here about 1.2 kilometer wide
The next morning on my way to Lak Xao and Nahin I had another look at the Nam Theun 2 hydropower project which became operational in 2010. The powerhouse of the Nam Theun 2 hydropower station
I found some pictures on the Internet which were taken during the construction by people involved in the construction. The Powerhouse taking shape and the Surge shaft about halfway between the intake channel from the reservoir at Ban Nakai (top right of the picture) and the power house in the valley (lower left of the picture).
Road 1E is now paved from Gnommalath up to a few kilometers south of the junction at N18.04007 E105.05260 to the Nam Theun 2 Dam site but the remainder up to Lak Xao is still unpaved. The paved and the unpaved part
While driving along the new road 1E I wondered if the old road (Rd. 1E but on some maps shown as Rd. 8S) was still there. At the new village of Nakai Tai I headed east towards the reservoir and the track stopped more or less where the old road had been. The village shown on the Google Earth Map is gone and has been relocated to the new road which was built further to the west (the green line is my GPS track while the yellow line is the location of the old road as shown on Google Earth)
While there standing on the old road, I made a short video clip, not that there was much to see other than the dark skies over the reservoir but basically to get a bit more familiar with my Garmin VIRB which I recently bought. Not bad, but the software used by Garmin to edit the movie clips is not the best - it does not have the option to add text to the movie clip and while it can show GPS related info on the movie clip like the speed and direction travelled, G-Forces encountered, etc. there is no option to show the Lat/Lon data.
[video=youtube_share;G5Aq-08NLBU]http://youtu.be/G5Aq-08NLBU[/video]
From here it is not that far to the junction which leads to the Nam Theun 2 Dam site and as I had not been there for quite some time I decided to have a look. A bit depressing seeing all these dead trees standing in the water, not only here but also at many other spots along the reservoir.
The Nam Theun 2 Dam and the Spillway which are located at N17.99724 E104.95205 or about 45 Km. as the crow flies or 75 Km. by road from the Power House
View of the Nam Theun river just downstream of the Dam
One of the many discarded auxiliary fuel tanks dumped by the US air force during the Vietnam war. This one, still more or less in its original state, ended up here at a petrol station near Lak Xao but most of these tanks have been converted to boats and are being used on the Nam Theun and other rivers
On my way to Vientiane I found that the Chinese are busy everywhere in Laos and along Rd 8 they have started building a new cement factory
Another early departure from Vientiane for some exploring in the Ban Thalat area some 90 Km. north of Vientiane. Thalath is also home of the oldest hydropower plant in Laos, the Nam Ngum 1 which started operations in 1971. (picture copyright Chaoborus/Wikipedia)
Early morning and Chao Anouvong is watching over Vientiane from the banks of the Mekong.
Things change fast in Laos and a lot of road construction is taking place and ferries are being replaced by bridges. One of the ferries to cross the Nam Ngum river.
The Ferry at Ban Pakkakgnoung which links with Muang Kao has been replaced by a new toll bridge at N18.43223 E102.53877
I spent the night in Thalat at the Vang Thong GH - nice riverside bungalows at N18.52493 E102.52228
From here my trip brought me to Mueang Fueang, Ban Vang at the Mekong River, Paklay, the new Phu Doo international border crossing point to Uttaradit (which is still not yet open for foreigners) and to Kenethao back to Thailand and home
A very quiet Paklay to Phu Doo border crossing
Another of my trips to Laos for sightseeing as well as updating the Laos GPS map. My trip started at the 3rd Friendship bridge from Nakhon Phanam to Thakheak and ended at Kenethao (Rd 4) leaving Laos over the Nam Hueang Bridge to Thailand. The route taken:
Thakheak has a Free Trade Zone located around the Friendship Bridge between Thailand and Laos. The last time I was there not much was visible so on my recent visit I had again a look to see how far things had progressed. Well not much and other than the new Head Office for the Thakheak Free Trade Zone Authority very little else was going on. However, life was going on and farmers were still growing rice where in the future factories will be standing
Some of the historical places from the time the French ruled the area are in danger of disappearing. From the French Fort in Thakheak only the gate and parts of the ramparts are still standing but the area where the fort is located looks like being readied for construction and the gate might disappear.
After a long day it is always nice to relax along the Mekong and enjoy the sunset
Wat Mahathat in Nakhon Phanom as seen from Laos - the Mekong River is here about 1.2 kilometer wide
The next morning on my way to Lak Xao and Nahin I had another look at the Nam Theun 2 hydropower project which became operational in 2010. The powerhouse of the Nam Theun 2 hydropower station
I found some pictures on the Internet which were taken during the construction by people involved in the construction. The Powerhouse taking shape and the Surge shaft about halfway between the intake channel from the reservoir at Ban Nakai (top right of the picture) and the power house in the valley (lower left of the picture).
Road 1E is now paved from Gnommalath up to a few kilometers south of the junction at N18.04007 E105.05260 to the Nam Theun 2 Dam site but the remainder up to Lak Xao is still unpaved. The paved and the unpaved part
While driving along the new road 1E I wondered if the old road (Rd. 1E but on some maps shown as Rd. 8S) was still there. At the new village of Nakai Tai I headed east towards the reservoir and the track stopped more or less where the old road had been. The village shown on the Google Earth Map is gone and has been relocated to the new road which was built further to the west (the green line is my GPS track while the yellow line is the location of the old road as shown on Google Earth)
While there standing on the old road, I made a short video clip, not that there was much to see other than the dark skies over the reservoir but basically to get a bit more familiar with my Garmin VIRB which I recently bought. Not bad, but the software used by Garmin to edit the movie clips is not the best - it does not have the option to add text to the movie clip and while it can show GPS related info on the movie clip like the speed and direction travelled, G-Forces encountered, etc. there is no option to show the Lat/Lon data.
[video=youtube_share;G5Aq-08NLBU]http://youtu.be/G5Aq-08NLBU[/video]
From here it is not that far to the junction which leads to the Nam Theun 2 Dam site and as I had not been there for quite some time I decided to have a look. A bit depressing seeing all these dead trees standing in the water, not only here but also at many other spots along the reservoir.
The Nam Theun 2 Dam and the Spillway which are located at N17.99724 E104.95205 or about 45 Km. as the crow flies or 75 Km. by road from the Power House
View of the Nam Theun river just downstream of the Dam
One of the many discarded auxiliary fuel tanks dumped by the US air force during the Vietnam war. This one, still more or less in its original state, ended up here at a petrol station near Lak Xao but most of these tanks have been converted to boats and are being used on the Nam Theun and other rivers
On my way to Vientiane I found that the Chinese are busy everywhere in Laos and along Rd 8 they have started building a new cement factory
Another early departure from Vientiane for some exploring in the Ban Thalat area some 90 Km. north of Vientiane. Thalath is also home of the oldest hydropower plant in Laos, the Nam Ngum 1 which started operations in 1971. (picture copyright Chaoborus/Wikipedia)
Early morning and Chao Anouvong is watching over Vientiane from the banks of the Mekong.
Things change fast in Laos and a lot of road construction is taking place and ferries are being replaced by bridges. One of the ferries to cross the Nam Ngum river.
The Ferry at Ban Pakkakgnoung which links with Muang Kao has been replaced by a new toll bridge at N18.43223 E102.53877
I spent the night in Thalat at the Vang Thong GH - nice riverside bungalows at N18.52493 E102.52228
From here my trip brought me to Mueang Fueang, Ban Vang at the Mekong River, Paklay, the new Phu Doo international border crossing point to Uttaradit (which is still not yet open for foreigners) and to Kenethao back to Thailand and home
A very quiet Paklay to Phu Doo border crossing
