G'day Fella's..
This post is a little late by my normal standards.. so better get it done before the next trip comes along ;-)
The Riders and Bikes:-
Tony BKK - Versys
Larkin (Rob) - Fazer
Tim (not on the forum) - CRF 250 hired from Fuark.
Brian BKK - Versys..
Rob and I rode our bikes along from CNX to Udon the weekend before.. ready for the weekend ride to LPQ.
Had a great ride along the Mekong and stayed the night at Ban Mairimkhong.. See accommodation reports
The last 30 km in the dark along the Khong was not fun.. but the Versys high beam rocks..
Friday afternoon Rob, Tim and myself fly up to Udon.. pick up the bikes and ride to the border. Tony rode up form BKK and met us at Kawa Udon.
I doubled Tim up to VTE as he had to pick up his bike from Fuark..
The Thai side was OK.. But the Ahole this side.. just wasn't happy that we didn't need to get copies of something as we had three of everything ready for them...
so made us get a copy of the conveyance form.. May be his sister owns the photo copy machine...
Anyway.. that done and off we go to Laos.. Tony has made an excellent little video...
We are barely on the other side.. not off the bridge proper when Rob slams in to a piece of 4X4 wood and goes airborne.. You will see in the video the contents of the Givi box scatter across the road.. Just shows.. It doesn't take long to find dangerous stuff on the roads..
On we go and change side of the road at the traffic lights...
Customs were so so so so so so slow.. They couldn't find Rob's bike in the system..
But never fear.. Rob being the king of cool.. just let it slide by.. Mai Pen Rai.. Sabai Sabai... Do you believe me ? 5555
Anyway.. after what seemed like an eternity.. off we go.. FINALLY.. I took Tim to Fuark before he closed...
Then my GPS played up.. But never fear.. Had the trusty GT Rider map on hand... we worked it out and then I spotted the land mark and we were there and Tony greeted us with a beer in his hand...
So off we go to enjoy VTE.. Really great little city / town.. Nice Mexican food.. As you do when in Laos.. Then off to one of David's favourite bars for a few beers..
All a bit hammered and tired off to bed for an early wake up and ride to Luang Prabang with Lunch in Vang Vieng..
Hit the road around 7:40 am.. Already a bit of traffic on the roads.. then riding along and all good.. until before and after Vang Vieng.. The road is a mess.. really rough.. Tony also has some footage of that... (Must say though.. only three days later and on the way back it was already improving - may be a month of so and the worst will be repaired)
The last 125 KM are the best.. road is good by Lao standards and not too much traffic..
Tim managed to get run off the road by a bus.. no injuries and some Thai's in a pick up stopped and helped..
Arrive LPQ around 5pm in time for sunset beer Laos...
The next day we take a rest and Tony and I walk around stop and just soak up all that is Luang Prabang..
Lovely town and never get tired of going back..
Then off to the waterfall just out side LPQ
That night back at the wine bar... and more carry on..
Then off to Vang Vieng...
Great ride to Vang Vieng.. Few photo's below are the highlights..
Rob
Tony
Me
All of my pics are here:-
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.499953436695260.117723.100000418237810&type=1&l=54fc6ed221
Just in case you want to see them all or Facebook decide to change the URLs again destroying the links above.
Rob and Tony then decided to ride Vang Vieng to Bangkok on the last day.. Left my bike at Kawa Udon and flew back with Tim
All in all.. a great trip, a bit of adventure.. and a new convert to off road biking.. Rob has decided to join the dark side..
Cheers
Brian
This post is a little late by my normal standards.. so better get it done before the next trip comes along ;-)
The Riders and Bikes:-
Tony BKK - Versys
Larkin (Rob) - Fazer
Tim (not on the forum) - CRF 250 hired from Fuark.
Brian BKK - Versys..
Rob and I rode our bikes along from CNX to Udon the weekend before.. ready for the weekend ride to LPQ.
Had a great ride along the Mekong and stayed the night at Ban Mairimkhong.. See accommodation reports
The last 30 km in the dark along the Khong was not fun.. but the Versys high beam rocks..
Friday afternoon Rob, Tim and myself fly up to Udon.. pick up the bikes and ride to the border. Tony rode up form BKK and met us at Kawa Udon.
I doubled Tim up to VTE as he had to pick up his bike from Fuark..
The Thai side was OK.. But the Ahole this side.. just wasn't happy that we didn't need to get copies of something as we had three of everything ready for them...
so made us get a copy of the conveyance form.. May be his sister owns the photo copy machine...
Anyway.. that done and off we go to Laos.. Tony has made an excellent little video...
We are barely on the other side.. not off the bridge proper when Rob slams in to a piece of 4X4 wood and goes airborne.. You will see in the video the contents of the Givi box scatter across the road.. Just shows.. It doesn't take long to find dangerous stuff on the roads..
On we go and change side of the road at the traffic lights...
Customs were so so so so so so slow.. They couldn't find Rob's bike in the system..
But never fear.. Rob being the king of cool.. just let it slide by.. Mai Pen Rai.. Sabai Sabai... Do you believe me ? 5555
Anyway.. after what seemed like an eternity.. off we go.. FINALLY.. I took Tim to Fuark before he closed...
Then my GPS played up.. But never fear.. Had the trusty GT Rider map on hand... we worked it out and then I spotted the land mark and we were there and Tony greeted us with a beer in his hand...
So off we go to enjoy VTE.. Really great little city / town.. Nice Mexican food.. As you do when in Laos.. Then off to one of David's favourite bars for a few beers..
All a bit hammered and tired off to bed for an early wake up and ride to Luang Prabang with Lunch in Vang Vieng..
Hit the road around 7:40 am.. Already a bit of traffic on the roads.. then riding along and all good.. until before and after Vang Vieng.. The road is a mess.. really rough.. Tony also has some footage of that... (Must say though.. only three days later and on the way back it was already improving - may be a month of so and the worst will be repaired)
The last 125 KM are the best.. road is good by Lao standards and not too much traffic..
Tim managed to get run off the road by a bus.. no injuries and some Thai's in a pick up stopped and helped..
Arrive LPQ around 5pm in time for sunset beer Laos...
The next day we take a rest and Tony and I walk around stop and just soak up all that is Luang Prabang..
Lovely town and never get tired of going back..
Then off to the waterfall just out side LPQ
That night back at the wine bar... and more carry on..
Then off to Vang Vieng...
Great ride to Vang Vieng.. Few photo's below are the highlights..
Rob
Tony
Me
All of my pics are here:-
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.499953436695260.117723.100000418237810&type=1&l=54fc6ed221
Just in case you want to see them all or Facebook decide to change the URLs again destroying the links above.
Rob and Tony then decided to ride Vang Vieng to Bangkok on the last day.. Left my bike at Kawa Udon and flew back with Tim
All in all.. a great trip, a bit of adventure.. and a new convert to off road biking.. Rob has decided to join the dark side..
Cheers
Brian