Chiang Rai - Luang Nam Tha - Luang prabang

  Luang Prabang, Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Thursday, October 4, 2007

Itinary : Chiang Rai - Luang Nam Tha - Luang Prabang
Date : 1st October to 4th October.
Mileage so far : 4480 km.

We did some city visiting before we left Chiang Rai and hit the road at 12h30 only...Which is a bit late knowing that we had a border crossing to do in the day...We started the day in Chiang Rai with a bit of excitment wh en we came across monks riding horses around town and escorted by the army! I dont think it's related to the Burma situation...Well I dont really know. Incredible how they are absolutely adored, respected and protected here, and that maybe 100 km away on the other side of ther  border, they are beeing tortured...Anyway, the ritual that the monks were doing was really funny...They were holding a stack of 20 baht bills and as people were approaching them, they would write on the bill with a marker before giving it to the person and hitting them with what looked like his wig! (I think it was horse hair...I dont know how horse hair is called in English...). The monk in the front must be the CEO as he was riding a huge stallion...The younger monks behind must be his assistants or operations managers as they were riding donkeys!

Monk escorted by military in Chiang Rai...

After that we hit the road towards the Thai-Laos border in the northern part of Thailand where we bumped on the way there into 3 thai army guys that were getting drunk in the middle of the afternoon in one of the scenary stops along the mekong river. At first I thought that they c amouflaged their face with red paint but I realized quickly that it was the beer...Of course they offered us to join for some beers which we declined at first but after they insisted that we taste their local beer, we couldn't refuse...

Tipsy thai military Hanging on to us...

The road we took to the border is very nic e. It's along the mekong river where you are riding with Burma on your left and heading towards the famous golden triangle.

The Mekong river...

When we arrived at the border I was surprised to discover that it's quite a lively city with a few guest houses and foreigners! I thought we would be the only one in this place...Although we had to take a boat to cross the mekong river into Laos, the border crossing was relatively easy and quick. Interesting how people in the north have a tendency to drink at work...The whole place was full of tipsy people...The customs officer was stamping my papers with one hand and holding his bottle of beer with the other hand. Then the ferry manager almost got me drunk with his breath  when I was negociating the price. And to top it all up, the ferry driver was holding his bottle of beer while maneuvering this huge boat with only us and the bikes on it...

boat to cross the Mekong river and get into Laos..

"Happy" boat driver...

Once we crossed the border, we tried to search for the immigration office and couldn't find it! We could have left without getting our visas or passport stamped if we wanted to...It took us about 2h30 hours for the whole border crossing process and we started riding again around 6 pm...and by 7 pm it was complete darkness...I didnt see any light for 150 km...It was just inbelievable! Now this part of northern Laos is really remote. We rode until 10 pm 
as there was nothing in between except hundreds of little villages.
The villages where creepy as it was complete darkness and you could see silhouettes walking around in the dark. No cement, no bricks, no paint, no light, no electricity...Just hay and wood houses....It was really dangerous riding at night and I felt like riding in a zoo...Any animal you can think of was on the road! Well any animal that you would eat before it eats you. There were cows, pigs, horse, chicken on the road...Sometime, when we were crossing the towns, all of a sudden a guy in uniform would pop out waving a flash light for us to stop but we would of course use our "hand waving hello" technique as there was no way we were going to stop! To be honest, it was way too scary to stop. On the other hand, the road we took (which is the only one) is brand new and the surface was good. Mountain roads and loads of turns...We basically rode 150 km in Laos without seeing anything but tarmac! So I couldn't wait to ride the next day and discover what I was missing! Slept in a super guest house in Luang Nam Tha for 6 usd...

Left at 8h30 am the next day and it was really an inter esting ride. Finally got to see in daytime how the little towns looked like...And I confirm that there's only hay and wood (and animals).

Big villas...Must be the Saint tropez of Laos...

It was really fun riding as all the kids were waving at us, so I spent the whole day waving back until my arm was aching! Well it helped to wave the whole day as my arm got stronger and I felt that it was easier to lift my beer bottle in the evening...

What is this weirdo pointing at us???

Going to work with mom...

It was pretty much a mountain road until Luang Prabang (we reached 1400 m in  altitude) and it was surprising the amount of small villages we crossed and the amount of kids we saw! Maybe Singapore should import a few people from Laos to improve their birth rate! The road from Luang Nam Tha to Luang Prabang is paved most of the time but of poor quality...We were not moving really fast and took us the whole day to reach Luang Prabang (300 km away). Actually, the road was so narrow and "shitty" that I thought we got lost and took a secondary road instead...And surprisingly, I later discovered that some of the  little towns we crossed were actual ly on the map!

Typical Laos town...

Incredibly we bumped into a fellow biker with an HP2 from the states who was going around south east asia. His a bike tour organiser and he was preparing his package. Had some drinks with him in the evening and he explained us that he rode his bike in over 100 countries...

(a guy just arrived to connect on the computer just beside me, he f#*king stinks that my eyes sting! He's not even a backpacker...).

Anyway, I'm going to visit Luang Prabang now...Looks like a nice little city...We decided to stay here 2 nights to get a rest and do some laundry...We've been riding a lot and I did 4500 km since the 23rd of September...I hesitated to do the laundry as I only have 2 shirts, 2 socks and 2 boxers to wash...in 11 days! Hey maybe the guy beside me now is writing to his friends and telling them as well how I stink...

To finish, I share with you my favorite picture of the day...

Fantastic picture in Laos...no comment...