Huay Xai entering Laos (Thai-Laos Friendship Bridge # 4)
Thakhek exiting Laos (Thai Laos Friendship Bridge # 3)
Jan 14th, 2024 to Jan 25th, 2024 for a total of 12 days and 11 nights
THE ROUTE
Huay Xai to Luang Namtha (1 night)
Luang Namtha to Nong Khiaw (3 nights)
Nong Khiaw to Muang Hiam (1 night)
Mung Hiam to Phonsovan (3 nights)
Phonsovan to Na Phavan (2 nights)
Na Phavan to Thalang (1 night)
Thalang to Nakhon Phanom (entered Thailand)
1288 Km in all, not including side excursions
The Riders
Tom and Piyawan
The Ride
CB500x with 3 boxes
Our Goal
After leaving Pattaya we worked our way up through Khao Yai celebrating Piyawan's Birthday, then headed up north to Chiang Khan, Loei, Nan, Chiang Rai and eventually ChiangKong.
This was our 2nd trip in Laos on motorcycle, but first time using our own bike which was registered in Thailand.
Crossing the Thai side of the border at ChiangKong. Immigration and customs was fairly easy on both sides, with the Laos side a bit slower. Good idea to carry small Thai Baht as it seemed like
everyone wanted a piece of the action or a few baht. We ended up paying 5 different booths, but no more than 400 THB in total. No insurance was required in Laos, although one tour guide in Huay Xai said he could arrange insurance for us for 300 THB, not seeing a need for it, we declined and made our way to Luang Namtha for our first night where we stayed at the Tulip Hotel, along the outskirts of the city.
Visa on arrival in Huay Xai, US$40 was required for myself, my Thai girlfriend was free of course, and have one photo ready. For the motorcycle you need your Green Book, and copies of everything
The interior of the Tulip Hotel Restaurant, a new hotel on the outskirts of town, clean, safe and a short 4 hour drive or so from Huay Xai, the road was
paved, but with numerous pot holes and dirt stretches, overall in good shape compared to what layed ahead.
The next day we ventured from Luang Namtha to Nong Khiaw, we knew we were in for a long dusty ride, but evening showers dampened the road some thus cutting down on dust.
At one point the road washed out and we had to wait for the excavator to patch it up.
Luang Namtha to Nong Khiaw was over 5 1/2 hours of not the best road, and a lot of large Chinese Trucks at times, the elevation gain is quite dramatic in spots, and with that came the cool temps.
At midday we stopped for the Laos version of Thai Kuay Teow
We arrived in the town on Nong Khiaw about 3-4 pm or so, a long Journey, but the view was worth it, looking back at our travels, Nong Khiaw was my favorite spot overall on this trip, we spent 3 nights there.
So far the Honda CB500x was handling things well, mounted with Anakee Adventure Tires, they held their own this entire trip. I was rather unsure of taking the CB500x on a trip loaded down
knowing that the roads were far from perfect, but with YSS suspension both front and back, and with a load weight of 178 kg, including passengers, gear boxes and gear, I was just at the load weight.
Great little guest house along the Nam Ou River, our host was a family operation, and they were always eager to answer our questions
View attachment 154083View attachment 154084
We declined the organized boat trip that were advertised all around town and instead opted to use the boat services of the Guest House Host Father, who took both of us up river for a 1/2 day cruise where we stopped at a village and walked for about 50 minutes to the Tad Mook Waterfalls, great little walk and after the fog lifted it was simply beautiful.
Tad Mook Waterfalls
Local children from the village are happy to guide us up the hill, we were told the going rate was 50,000 KIP and some snacks, kids were so friendly.
We met a Frenchman named Eric traveling in his CRF300, he had numerous gadgets on his bike to say the least and started his travels in Chiang Mai, another guy we met had just bought a Honda ADV 160 and road it all the way from Pattaya, with one person and small payload, very doable as there was never a problem with finding fuel stations on our trip and I am picky about what fuel I put it, not that I had many choices in Laos.
After 3 nights in Nong Khiaw it was time to head to Phonsovan, but the distance was too far for one day so we opted for Muang Hiam and the Dokkountong Guest House, certainly not the best guesthouse that we had in Laos, but we did manage to find a hot spring close by. The road between Nong Khiaw and Muang Hiam seemed to have less trucks, and finally we figured out why, as the surface conditions deteriorated we finally ended up seeing trucks , but the smaller version.
Hot Spring in Muang Hiam, good a soak after long day
As the night time temps dropped, and the wind started to pick up, Piyawan and myself found ourselves a bit chilly, but nothing that a good hot pot couldn't cure.
The next day was the journey to Phonsovan know for its "Plain of Jars" we had planned to stay 3 nights here and it was well worth it. From lookin at the map one can see how close to Vietnam you are here, and how the province of XiangKhoung became of the most heavily bombed areas of Laos during the "Secret War" from 1964 to 1973.
The road to Phonsovan was still pretty slow going, when Google maps says it takes over 5 hours to go 200km there is a reason, switch backs, uneven surfaces and when the road does finally get better, you have cars passing trucks and we were literally forced off the road several times.
About 1/2 way to Phonsovan we encountered a large snake stretching across the road, we immediately stopped as we were going slow in the turns and would have been easy prey for this snake. He did not move at first and raised his head in a cobra like fashion, until finally a car from behind me went around him and scared him off back into the bush.
We declined Dog Soup that afternoon and ventured onward to Phonsovan, another 1 hour or so, as the roads greatly improved but the drivers did not...lol
Stay tune for Part 2 of our adventure
Thakhek exiting Laos (Thai Laos Friendship Bridge # 3)
Jan 14th, 2024 to Jan 25th, 2024 for a total of 12 days and 11 nights
THE ROUTE
Huay Xai to Luang Namtha (1 night)
Luang Namtha to Nong Khiaw (3 nights)
Nong Khiaw to Muang Hiam (1 night)
Mung Hiam to Phonsovan (3 nights)
Phonsovan to Na Phavan (2 nights)
Na Phavan to Thalang (1 night)
Thalang to Nakhon Phanom (entered Thailand)
1288 Km in all, not including side excursions
The Riders
Tom and Piyawan
The Ride
CB500x with 3 boxes
Our Goal
After leaving Pattaya we worked our way up through Khao Yai celebrating Piyawan's Birthday, then headed up north to Chiang Khan, Loei, Nan, Chiang Rai and eventually ChiangKong.
This was our 2nd trip in Laos on motorcycle, but first time using our own bike which was registered in Thailand.
Crossing the Thai side of the border at ChiangKong. Immigration and customs was fairly easy on both sides, with the Laos side a bit slower. Good idea to carry small Thai Baht as it seemed like
everyone wanted a piece of the action or a few baht. We ended up paying 5 different booths, but no more than 400 THB in total. No insurance was required in Laos, although one tour guide in Huay Xai said he could arrange insurance for us for 300 THB, not seeing a need for it, we declined and made our way to Luang Namtha for our first night where we stayed at the Tulip Hotel, along the outskirts of the city.
Visa on arrival in Huay Xai, US$40 was required for myself, my Thai girlfriend was free of course, and have one photo ready. For the motorcycle you need your Green Book, and copies of everything
The interior of the Tulip Hotel Restaurant, a new hotel on the outskirts of town, clean, safe and a short 4 hour drive or so from Huay Xai, the road was
paved, but with numerous pot holes and dirt stretches, overall in good shape compared to what layed ahead.
The next day we ventured from Luang Namtha to Nong Khiaw, we knew we were in for a long dusty ride, but evening showers dampened the road some thus cutting down on dust.
At one point the road washed out and we had to wait for the excavator to patch it up.
Luang Namtha to Nong Khiaw was over 5 1/2 hours of not the best road, and a lot of large Chinese Trucks at times, the elevation gain is quite dramatic in spots, and with that came the cool temps.
At midday we stopped for the Laos version of Thai Kuay Teow
We arrived in the town on Nong Khiaw about 3-4 pm or so, a long Journey, but the view was worth it, looking back at our travels, Nong Khiaw was my favorite spot overall on this trip, we spent 3 nights there.
So far the Honda CB500x was handling things well, mounted with Anakee Adventure Tires, they held their own this entire trip. I was rather unsure of taking the CB500x on a trip loaded down
knowing that the roads were far from perfect, but with YSS suspension both front and back, and with a load weight of 178 kg, including passengers, gear boxes and gear, I was just at the load weight.
Great little guest house along the Nam Ou River, our host was a family operation, and they were always eager to answer our questions
View attachment 154083View attachment 154084
We declined the organized boat trip that were advertised all around town and instead opted to use the boat services of the Guest House Host Father, who took both of us up river for a 1/2 day cruise where we stopped at a village and walked for about 50 minutes to the Tad Mook Waterfalls, great little walk and after the fog lifted it was simply beautiful.
Tad Mook Waterfalls
Local children from the village are happy to guide us up the hill, we were told the going rate was 50,000 KIP and some snacks, kids were so friendly.
We met a Frenchman named Eric traveling in his CRF300, he had numerous gadgets on his bike to say the least and started his travels in Chiang Mai, another guy we met had just bought a Honda ADV 160 and road it all the way from Pattaya, with one person and small payload, very doable as there was never a problem with finding fuel stations on our trip and I am picky about what fuel I put it, not that I had many choices in Laos.
After 3 nights in Nong Khiaw it was time to head to Phonsovan, but the distance was too far for one day so we opted for Muang Hiam and the Dokkountong Guest House, certainly not the best guesthouse that we had in Laos, but we did manage to find a hot spring close by. The road between Nong Khiaw and Muang Hiam seemed to have less trucks, and finally we figured out why, as the surface conditions deteriorated we finally ended up seeing trucks , but the smaller version.
Hot Spring in Muang Hiam, good a soak after long day
As the night time temps dropped, and the wind started to pick up, Piyawan and myself found ourselves a bit chilly, but nothing that a good hot pot couldn't cure.
The next day was the journey to Phonsovan know for its "Plain of Jars" we had planned to stay 3 nights here and it was well worth it. From lookin at the map one can see how close to Vietnam you are here, and how the province of XiangKhoung became of the most heavily bombed areas of Laos during the "Secret War" from 1964 to 1973.
The road to Phonsovan was still pretty slow going, when Google maps says it takes over 5 hours to go 200km there is a reason, switch backs, uneven surfaces and when the road does finally get better, you have cars passing trucks and we were literally forced off the road several times.
About 1/2 way to Phonsovan we encountered a large snake stretching across the road, we immediately stopped as we were going slow in the turns and would have been easy prey for this snake. He did not move at first and raised his head in a cobra like fashion, until finally a car from behind me went around him and scared him off back into the bush.
We declined Dog Soup that afternoon and ventured onward to Phonsovan, another 1 hour or so, as the roads greatly improved but the drivers did not...lol
Stay tune for Part 2 of our adventure
Attachments
Last edited:
