With a friend I am planning a 4-week motorcycle tour of Northern Laos from Vientiane in November. I’ll be riding my Cambodia-registered Suzuki Djebel 250cm to Vientiane from Siem Reap while said friend will fly into Vientiane, where he has reserved a 250ccm Honda Baja through Jim at Remote Asia.
After one or the other day-trip around Vientiane we are planning on leaving on a tour of at least 3 weeks which we intend to spend entirely north of Vientiane, presumably along some sort of wide loop through the north, around Luang Prabang with side trips to interesting destinations along the way. Probably towards the end of the trip we would spend a few days in Luang Prabang and take the main road back to Vientiane.
We are neither into racing nor into riding on highways and we appreciate challenging road conditions and a fair measure of adventure. We also appreciate being able to enjoy the beauty of the countryside we are riding through and to park the bikes for adventures that are not bike-related as well as for a chat or meal with locals or maybe even a day in a hammock with a good view. Thus, we are anticipating traveling well below-average daily distances.
With these parameters in mind I have been searching the forum for reports of tours that could plausibly be modified or combined to meet our requirements. I have not found any apparently matching tour reports.
I have taken note of information on the Luang Prabang Loop Thread (https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/threads/28617-The-Luang-Prabang-Loop) and found the existence of paved all-weather roads along this route reassuring but mainly for plans to fall back on, as we are trying to minimize the amount of time we spent on newly build, surfaced roads.
I have found tons of reports from very appealing shorter trips of which I think we will end up incorporating some into our tour. However, I found it hard to link many of those reports to the exact locations in which tours took place without the GTR Lao guide map, which I have ordered already.
Once the map arrives I will be able to decipher road and tour reports and tentatively combine some into an itinerary, on which I would seek comments here. In the meantime, I hope it’s not inappropriate to seek specific comments on this plan early, on questions such as
1. Is there any trip report that can be recommended as a starting point for planning our route?
2. Which highly recommended places should we incorporate into the route, either into the loop are as a side trip destination?
3. Are there any other specific considerations we should keep in mind when planning the route?
Some of the reports I like for the road mix and road challenges they offer are
https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/threads/33806-Laos-Motorcycle-Tour.-Nov-2010.-Dust-dirt-and-beers.
https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/threads/32627-LAOS-moto-rex-dirthonk-additional-photos.
https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/threads/32984-Off-Road-from-Vieng-Thong-Phonsovan
https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/threads/30664-Xang-Xanamkham
After one or the other day-trip around Vientiane we are planning on leaving on a tour of at least 3 weeks which we intend to spend entirely north of Vientiane, presumably along some sort of wide loop through the north, around Luang Prabang with side trips to interesting destinations along the way. Probably towards the end of the trip we would spend a few days in Luang Prabang and take the main road back to Vientiane.
We are neither into racing nor into riding on highways and we appreciate challenging road conditions and a fair measure of adventure. We also appreciate being able to enjoy the beauty of the countryside we are riding through and to park the bikes for adventures that are not bike-related as well as for a chat or meal with locals or maybe even a day in a hammock with a good view. Thus, we are anticipating traveling well below-average daily distances.
With these parameters in mind I have been searching the forum for reports of tours that could plausibly be modified or combined to meet our requirements. I have not found any apparently matching tour reports.
I have taken note of information on the Luang Prabang Loop Thread (https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/threads/28617-The-Luang-Prabang-Loop) and found the existence of paved all-weather roads along this route reassuring but mainly for plans to fall back on, as we are trying to minimize the amount of time we spent on newly build, surfaced roads.
I have found tons of reports from very appealing shorter trips of which I think we will end up incorporating some into our tour. However, I found it hard to link many of those reports to the exact locations in which tours took place without the GTR Lao guide map, which I have ordered already.
Once the map arrives I will be able to decipher road and tour reports and tentatively combine some into an itinerary, on which I would seek comments here. In the meantime, I hope it’s not inappropriate to seek specific comments on this plan early, on questions such as
1. Is there any trip report that can be recommended as a starting point for planning our route?
2. Which highly recommended places should we incorporate into the route, either into the loop are as a side trip destination?
3. Are there any other specific considerations we should keep in mind when planning the route?
Some of the reports I like for the road mix and road challenges they offer are
https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/threads/33806-Laos-Motorcycle-Tour.-Nov-2010.-Dust-dirt-and-beers.
https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/threads/32627-LAOS-moto-rex-dirthonk-additional-photos.
https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/threads/32984-Off-Road-from-Vieng-Thong-Phonsovan
https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/threads/30664-Xang-Xanamkham