Trip from Vientiane to the North-East and exiting at Muang N

[Lone Rider]

As Alex has posted his report on his monster solo trip I thought it better that I post mine as well (still have a few more trips to report on but just a bit busy with other things). Below is the map with the itinerary" Chiangmai to Vientiane, Muang Morc, Phonsavan, Houameung, Xamneua, Xamtai, Sopbao, Muang Et, Phonsavan, Vangvieng, Kasy, Xayaboury, Hongsa, Xienghone, Muang Khop and Muang Ngeun back to Chiangmai - all in all about 3600 km from home to home in the trusty Toyota Tiger.

Lots of storks (I guess - waiting for confirmation from people I hope can identify the birds) in the ricefields just past Uttaradit on my way to Bo Tong.

After a day of meetings in Vientiane finally on my way to Phonsavan along the border with Vietnam. Came sailing through a curve in the road and found these two busy killing a snake which had been hit badly by their truck loaded with chickens. Could not find out what snake it was but I assume that it was a cobra considering that they kept a safe distance from the snake's head.

A bit further I crossed the Nam Xan river which was quite low but still fast flowing - the guy who carried bags of gravel through the river had difficulty staying upright.

After the bridge the road narrows but is in good condition all the way till Thasi on Rd 1D.

From Thasi it was all unpaved up to Muang Morc with lots of logging and burning going on.

At the junction in Ban Mai the track to the left leads to Muang Morc while the one to the right (shown in the distance) leads to the east and connects to road 1D and Viengthong and Lak Xao on Rd. 8

Also lots of burning going on in the mountains just north of Muang Morc which lies in a small valley.

Along the way there were lots of wild orchids flowering

From Muang Mork to Khoune it is about 100 km with most of it travelling on unpaved roads with quite a few steep switch-backs and a few rickety bridges.

They are upgrading this road and her the traffic had to wait till they had cleared the road but after that it was plain sailing with part of the road already being paved

View from the south to Muang Khoune with That Foun on the left. That Foun was rumoured to contain relics of the Indian emperor Asoka and thieves searched in vain for the treasures inside the stupa and leaving an hollow stupa behind.

The next day it was off to the north but not after a quick visit to the Lao-Vietnam War memorial in Phonsavan.

Kids playing in the Nam Neun river at Nam Neun/Sop Lao with the school at Ban Phiangdang on the other side of the river.

From Nam Neun it is steep up to the junction of road 1C with road 6 to Xam Neua - here looking down at the bridge over the Nam Neun river.

A quick visit to Suan Hin or also called Hin Tang Archeological Park (for more info see http://www.visit-viengxay.com/maps/Brochure-Houaphanh.pdf, http://www.megajarslaos.com/Menhirs.html or do a Google search for the Huaphan Menhirs)

From here it was off to Houameuang and Xamneua but somewhere in between disaster struck as a heavily laden Honda Wave with a young couple (talking on the mobile phone) came sailing through the curve at the wrong side of the road where my truck was hugging the mountain side (I used 2.5 meter of the road leaving 4 meter for them as the picture shows the impact point completely at my side of the road).

The police was called and they made a drawing of the accident site with a small twig as their plastic ruler broke while they were busy trying to draw the sharp curves. Although the bike was barely damaged (some plastic fairings), the lady on the back had hurt her knee and was sent to the hospital. Nothing broken but the next day the whole family (father, uncles, brothers and the young couple) showed up at the police station to demand compensation from the big white guy (who was considered rich and was obviously at fault according to them - if he would not have been there nothing would have happened)

So after a haggling session with a help of a good Lao friend in Vientiane we settled at 3 million Kip (about 12000 Baht) - they asked for 5 million and I offered as a goodwill gesture 1 million Kip). T add insult to injury, the police demanded 400000 Kip for fuel, food and telephone expenses although they used all the time my phone as their phone was dead. This was shared equally by the "aggrieved party" and yours truly.

--- to be continued ---

 

[KTMphil]

Re: Trip from Vientiane to the North-East and exiting at Mua

Must have been pretty stressful with all the drama and demands, amazing how it was totally their fault and you still had to pay.

 

[Grathiam]

Re: Trip from Vientiane to the North-East and exiting at Mua

Lone Rider wrote...<snipped>...'compensation from the big white guy - if he would not have been there nothing would have happened'.

Sorry about the accident, but it's such a common story throughout LOS...regardless of the cause it's often the farangs fault!
And giving the couple even a million Kip surely made the gal's knee injury less painful and probably put a smile on the moto driver's face.
But, being further ripped off by the cops...arghhhh!

Doesn't the Lao Insurance you get for your vehicle provide some coverage for you, in the case of an accident??

Nice pix, BTW.

 

[Lone Rider]

Re: Trip from Vientiane to the North-East and exiting at Mua

Called the insurance and they indicated that they pay for "real damage" i.e. things which are backed up by bills for repairs and replacement of parts but not for payments which have "nothing to do with damage to vehicles and medical expenses". Was not happy about it but my friend in Vientiane had already indicated that any payment for non material damages would be up to me.

Found the help of my friend whom I had been working with a few years ago in Vientiane a great help. He talked to the police, the doctor in the hospital and other assorted people which otherwise I would have had to do myself with my limited Lao/Thai language knowledge. He kept me informed about procedures and in particular what the police and doctor thought about the case - they were basically all convinced that it was not my fault.

The next morning the family showed up in the hospital with a pile of medical bills (which were from another accident and not related in any way to my accident) and 2 half used bottles of saline drip from the hospital and they demanded a second opinion from another doctor. The police and doctor both told them firmly that if they wanted that, then they would have to do arrange that by themselves and pay for it themselves.

Anyway, the whole thing took almost a day to "handle" (accident at 4 o'clock in the afternoon and I was able to continue my trip the next afternoon at 2) and I was pretty pissed about the whole thing. I knew that the police would ask for money (seems to be normal in Laos) and in fact was pleasantly surprised that the police charged both parties involved. All in all a stressful situation and not something I would wish to go through again.

 

[alexuk]

Re: Trip from Vientiane to the North-East and exiting at Mua

I wonder if our own governments will ever have anythin to say about us tourists being held to ransom by the police/army?

 

[Lone Rider]

Re: Trip from Vientiane to the North-East and exiting at Mua

On my way back from Xam-Tai, Xam-Nuea, Sop Bao, etc. I spent another day in Phonsavan as an old friend wanted to show me the MIG scrapyard and the Phu-Keng jar quarry site. Here is a MIG with a drooping nosecone and while they don't fly anymore, they can still be used to dry the laundry.

The tourism people have been busy and they have made a nice new road to the Phu-Keng Jar quarry site. According to him there were, besides the two jars in more or less open terrain, many more half made jars lying around in the bushes but this would require us to crawl down a steep slope so we left it at these two. The view from here should be magnificent when the sky is clear.

On my way to Kasy I noticed that all kilometer markers had been painted over with the exception of the road number. A round-the-world-couple decided that the empty space could be used to tell the world about their trip.

This picture is from their blog at http://www.jamesandcat.com

From here it was onwards to Kasy and Muang Met (Mad, Meth - lots of different spellings around). Here is an overview of the "city". There is quite a bit of logging going on and the waste wood is converted into charcoal.

It was to late to head over the mountains to Xayaboury and to early to call it a day in Kasy so I headed to Vangvieng. However, Steve and the Aussie Bar where I often eat when I am there have left. On my way to Vangvieng I noticed that the students of the secondary school got a lesson on "how to put a roof on a building" while a bit further on the students had fun with the river.

The next morning it was off to Kasy and Xayaboury and Hongsa using the new "shortcut road" from Kasy to Muang Nane

Along the way the grass was in flower and the buffaloes took a bath

Other buffaloes were not so lucky and had to "ride over the river" on the ferry

These 2 kids had a good laugh when the old guy managed to squeeze out of his truck which was parked close to a truck

The new bridge over the Mekong is progressing well and should be, according to schedule, be ready sometime next year.

They have finally started to pave the section from Xayaboury to the new bridge and school warning signs have gone up and in case the farang would not understand the sign they added an english translation. At least they were very consistent with the spelling as all the signs showed the same warning

In Hongsa, they are building a new bridge over the river so in due course you don't have to drive through the river anymore. I took the new road which connects the turnoff at the new bridge through the Hongsa Power resettlement village and links with Hongsa at the road to Thasouang

The next morning the market was in full swing and although they were selling wild boar there was very little of other wildlife with the exception of a few tiny birds.

Max, the big white dog from Monica's guesthouse went with us to the market but he seemed to be more interested in the lady than in all the meat for sale.

From here it was off the Muang Ngeun, Xienghone and Khop, The new road from Hongsa to Muang Ngeun is now almost all paved and a joy to ride.

The Xienglom Stupa in Xienghone is over 700 years old and is highly revered by the local people (see also http://www.tourismlaos.org/web/show_content.php?contID=47)

The area around Xienghone and on the way to Khop is beautiful and I may head again overthere as there were lots of traxks going off in all kinds of directions.

The old stup east of Muang Ngeun - the Pha That Maad Kham or Golden Flea Stupa in Keokounmoun village seems to be a source of a fairy tale about a flea and a silver elephant but I haven't been able to find the whole story so if anyone knows where to find the history of this stupa I would love to hear it.

After this it was back to Thailand but not after one of the men in green at the border went ten times through my full passport trying to find the exit stamp his colleague had just put in it on one of the few empty spaces on the bottom of a page.

 

[KTMphil]

Re: Trip from Vientiane to the North-East and exiting at Mua

Great shot of the Migs in Phonsavan Auke

Looks like all in all after the incident you still had a great trip, you did some serious KM's!

 

[Grathiam]

Re: Trip from Vientiane to the North-East and exiting at Mua

Called the insurance and they indicated that they pay for "real damage" i.e. things which are backed up by bills for repairs and replacement of parts but not for payments which have "nothing to do with damage to vehicles and medical expenses".

The next morning the family showed up in the hospital with a pile of medical bills (which were from another accident and not related in any way to my accident) and 2 half used bottles of saline drip from the hospital and they demanded a second opinion from another doctor. The police and doctor both told them firmly that if they wanted that, then they would have to do arrange that by themselves and pay for it themselves.

It's understandable that the insurance will only pay for verifiable damages. If the police and docs said the family would have to pay for their own and unverified med expenses, did you receive some of your outrageous payment back? Did..or would the insurance company send a rep to the location to help with negotiations?

 

[Midnitemapper]

Re: Trip from Vientiane to the North-East and exiting at Mua

Nice pictures, I am guessing you have acquired some sweet new equipment?
Just wondering if the Stupa West of M Ngeun, you are referring is at coordinate
N19.63821 E101.11754 I remember seeing this lone Stupa years ago in an uninhabited area.

 

[Lone Rider]

Re: Trip from Vientiane to the North-East and exiting at Mua

Yes, I have it at N19.63806 E101.11740 which is very close to your position and it is still in an uninhabited area although there are now a lot of trucks passing it bringing rocks from a quarry to the Hongsa Power Plant. Picture was taken with a Canon SX230 HS which I bought a few months ago to replace a cheap camera which I bought on the road when my Sony decided to pack it in while in Laos.

 

[KTMphil]

Re: Trip from Vientiane to the North-East and exiting at Mua

yep - your greens have come to life, nice photo's Auke.

 

[bigntall]

Re: Trip from Vientiane to the North-East and exiting at Mua

Grreat report Auke. How long did you spend on the trip?

Seeing the wild orchids is always lovely. Thanks for sharing.

Sorry to hear about the accident. Always the dread of foreign travelers in country’s with suspect government workers. For entertainment purposes; was anybody in charge asked why you should be at fault considering they were on the wrong side of the road and the police agreed you were not at fault?

 

[alexuk]

Re: Trip from Vientiane to the North-East and exiting at Mua

good qwestion- did you think costs might escalate if those in charge were involved?

 

[Lone Rider]

Re: Trip from Vientiane to the North-East and exiting at Mua

Well, difficult to say - the Insurance was initially willing to come but they would have had to come from Xam Neua which is about 60 kilometer from where the accident happened but, as the police indicated to the Insurance person that it was not really my fault, they indicated that they would not come as I only have compulsory insurance so they would not pay anyway.

It then comes to the "local customs" which is more or less similar to here in Thailand which is that the "rich" person helps to defray the real and/or perceived costs of the "poor" person. The police and my friend were acting as intermediaries between rich and poor and a sum was agreed upon to "settle" the case. The alternative was to hang in there and refuse to pay which may well have resulted in further delays and possibly other unpleasant things so I just decided to bear it and be on my way again.

With regard to the other things which Alex now and last year Alex and Justin encountered last year in December I feel that these things are like "private enterprise" of army/police/authorities needing extra money for what ever reason (maybe beer money to celebrate Pii Mai and New Year) and you can refuse to pay and probably nothing will happen. I was stopped last year at the same place where Alex and Justin had to pay but they stopped me when I was on my way back and I refused to pay and after 10 minutes they let me go.