An Alternative To Hwy 13 When Riding Between Savannakhet And Thakhek.

Moto-Rex

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An alternative to hwy 13 when riding between Savannakhet and Thakhek.


I try to avoid riding on hwy 13 as much as possible, and in doing so I can always find a slow paced back road where you don’t have to worry so much about being run over by a black range rover or a white land cruiser doing warp speed. Pretty much always, by avoiding hwy 13, you end up on a dirt track which suits me, but in this case the alternative is a quiet Mekong riverside ride that’s all tarmac.

The way. You can see the road follows the river most of the way.

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This is the Savannakhet - Mukdahan bridge.

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Looking over to Thailand.
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The road as it heads north out of Savannakhet. Yippee….no traffic.
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This bridge was about half way between Savannakhet and Thakhek.

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This is the mother of all steel bridges in Laos,..well, the biggest I’ve seen anyway.
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Its worth going this way just to see this bridge. What a ripper.
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There’s plenty of great little villages along the way.
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Arr yes, the magnificent Kawasaki KLX250. What a machine.
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This certainly beats hwy 13.
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OK…so there is a bit of traffic.
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A great day out on a motorcycle,..the open road, cool bridge, rice fields, postcard vistas all around you, and beer waiting in Thakhek. That sounds pretty good doesn’t it??.
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Last stop, my favourite little riverside restaurant in Thakhek.
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Life is good in Laos.
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Conclusion. If you want a great little tarmac ride when riding between Savannakhet and Thakhek..then this is the road for you.


Moto-Rex
 
Last edited:

DavidFL

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Love those bridge photos
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damn impressive & then I remembered I'd been down the same road in Feb this year.
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you got a better photo.

I loved the huge trees beside the river & lining the road.
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It's an awesome country cruise.
Check it out sometime guys.

Thanks for posting Rex.
 
Mar 30, 2010
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Spot on with this one Rex.. I real lovely ride watching the river life go by...

Jim and I were on this around April 2015 think it was.

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Drying tobacco by the road side.

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Any road bike can do this real easy..
We went a bit too quick and missed out on some of the great pics you have here.

Cheers
Brian
 

Yuri Orlov

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Nov 13, 2018
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Great report, Moto-Rex! Actually, approaching Savannakhet it is possible to ride a bit more following the Mekong river and do not ride the curve leading to the boring 13 road.
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After the Friendship Bridge III maybe 10 km or so on the way to Tha Khek there is a beautiful natural attraction - the rock wall.
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Today there is Christian shrine with seats for followers of this religion over there and a Christian community in vicinity as well.
 
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