The Golden Triangle Rider

[Philippe]

Regarding border crossing to Laos.

I would like to share this story:

" Some weeks ago", a group of off road bikers going with a wellknown biker who organizes off road bike tour in Cambodia went North of Siem Pang (North of Banlung) Ratanakiri.
Z . and his fellows bikers entered illegally into Laos (I guess they have GPS, so they probably know where they were??).
Anyway, they ended up somewhere on Nat # 13 and have tried to cross back " Legaly" into Cambodia.
I don' t know what kind of troubles they had with Lao authority and didn' t meet them. I just met friends who tell the story.
Of course, Laos authorities don' t like at all this kind of problem and this may explain the closure of border for bike in & out of Lao.
If our good friend Z.. want to share his story and tell us more, we may understand more about the situation.


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pH

[jimoi]

Lovely.

It is odd how they did the crossing because the times I've been on that run, there is a police shack out way past Siem Pang redirecting riders. This kind of thing is not helpful to other riders looking to get in and out of Laos. While it makes a great story for the riders, it's pretty lame that a guide can't navigate a pretty simple stretch of track where there is not only unmarked borders but many things that go boom when you run them over.

So what company, we are looking to send a tour group to Cambo on bikes and using someone down there...
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Ride Safe - Ride Smart
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[Rhodie]

I crossed over from Laos into Cambo on the 1 Feb and had no trouble except finding the border crossing as it has moved from that squalid little track.

I believe this has been upgraded since.

But it is disquieting to read of others' selfish & irresponsible actions that can do irreparable harm to travellers' plans.

You can see the old track here @ YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCKrVla_oxA

This time Laos customs just waved me through and I found what I believed was a newly graded jungle track.



In fact what I was looking for was this red road highway with burning brush and earth obstacles.

No matter I was soon through both Laos &Cambodian immigration.
Cambo customs hadn’t woken up yet and I was told to complete the paperwork for the bike in Stung Treng 50+ clicks further south.
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The Dogs bark, but the Caravan moves on ...
Eastern Proverb

[BignTall]

Disheartening to have the selfish actions of some potentially affect the travel options of many.

Rhodie - loved your youtube video. A heartfelt thank you as your video transported me back to a place of smiles and discovery. Working on a busted sewer main line with raw feces and the accompanying odor currently at my house . Your video instantly removed me from the issues at hand back onto the seat of the motorbike, smiling at passers by and inhaling the new experiences as they unroll before you. Delicious stuff.
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Cheers all.

"Looking for the woman that takes the wheel when I'm seeing double."