Sunday 11th Feb 18
The main group left the hotel around 9 and I went off on my own to meet Duncan at the TBB shop. He had just returned from Myanmar last night which meant he was immediately off on the next tour. Away by 10 we set off through the Chiang Mai morning traffic, after an hour or so we turned off the main road and headed for the mountains. The road was curvy and flowing, up and down through dense jungle, lots of bamboo and banana trees.. a great ride and soon time for coffee.
Noodle soup for lunch in a little roadside shack and then off again on more fantastic twisty mountain roads through the tea and coffee growing region. By now we were high up in the mountains, very picturesque, temperatures 28-30c nice riding weather.
We arrived in Chiang Rai after 350 kms today.. time for a cold beer! A good hotel with tea making facilities in the room and hot water in the shower 😊. We found a good Indian restaurant for dinner, washed it down with red wine. We are off to Laos tomorrow.
The Clock Tower.. Chiang Rai
Monday 12th Feb 18
My bed was like a board, slept well but woke up body aching. A good breakfast of fried eggs and then on the road to the Laos border to meet up with the main group. The road was again twisty through the mountains, 25 degs and great riding. After coffee the road surface was not so good, more like home and a taster of what lay ahead in Laos. We arrived early at the border and found a little place to have lunch, stir fried veg and noodles.. very tasty.
At the border the others arrived and the lengthy process of visas and export paperwork for the bikes started.
My trusty Vstrom 650
Queuing at the Laos border
Nearly 3 hrs later we were in Laos. We had 190 kms to ride to the hotel at Luang Namthur and wanted to arrive before it gets dark just after 6pm, so the 8 of us set off at a pace.
Immediately it’s obvious that Laos is less developed than Thailand, it’s a completely different world and time to recalibrate the riding brain. The road was lovely and twisty up and down flowing but quite a major route, so lots of large trucks which drop diesel and hydraulic fluid on the corners making for some challenging riding, add in some potholes and major craters and 100 km stretches of dirt and gravel making for an interesting adventure 😊
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- Dryting the Chillis
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- Laos kids
We are soon into the real country, people living in wooden houses by the side of the road. They do everything by the roadside, cook, eat, wash the baby, family and friends meeting place. Their animals are there with them as well; pigs, chickens, cows, dogs, cats etc.. any one of which could run into the road at any moment! They cook on a wood based fire and the smell of smoke is heavy in the air as we go by. Cute little children smile and wave at us, really young children are walking along the road on their own as cars,scooters and trucks roll past. Children play in the dirt with stones and are happy..it’s another World 😊
We arrive just as it’s getting dark, the town is basic. We make a turn between some shops and find ourselves in the courtyard of a very quaint wooden guesthouse. Large Lao beers all round as we discuss the afternoon’s ride.
We decide pizza for dinner rather than the street market food and being hassled by the old opium selling tribal ladies. More beer and then to bed on another plank of a bed …
Tomorrow we visit the Chinese border and ride deeper into Laos
That’s us