The Golden Triangle Rider

Yunus · Posted: 16.02.2008, 15:28 Post subject:

Ok thanks.
Nice to know that the road is done up.
Abt the signature image, Very Sorry abt that...

Davidfl · Posted: 17.02.2008, 15:06 Post subject:

From Boten it was back track to Na Teuy & do the crappy road section to Oudom Xai.

I'd heard several complaints about this bad road before the trip, but to me it's the same as it has been the last few years: reasonable to good asphalt with short 30-50 metre dirt sections & 15 metre bumpy bits.???

Sorry no photos, but if anyone has any, please email them to me for uploading so that we can show people what I'm / we're talking about.
But if the Snail can do it alright on his Ducati & Back Door Alien clunked his way through on his VFR400, it's not seriously bad or difficult - just irritating, but you can get a rhythm going if you work at it & concentrate.

We arrived in Oudom Xai then.

(Sorry this is coming a bit slower than normal, but I'll get there eventually. Off to MHS now!)
_________________
Davidfl
Keep The Power On

Davidfl · Posted: 23.02.2008, 22:19 Post subject:

Aha. Back from MHS, the saga continues….Oudom Xai

Again it had been a few years since I’d over-nighted in Oudom Xai & wow is this place ever booming too! Lots of new hotels / shops / buildings. My old favourite GHouse had been the Linda, but even the last time I stayed there I was not that impressed.

Rhodie suggested we stay at a hotel he’d stayed at with RobertH on the way through last time, but I did not like it due to the lack of on premises parking, so it was time for a cruise around town & see what was going on.

This is something I don’t mind doing at length, exploring all the streets on arrival to get a feel of the town. But I’ve noted that not all my GT Rider mates are happy "time wasting" & getting hot & thirsty when I'm doing this before we've checked in.

We must have found another 10 new GHouses & a very attractive looking lake restaurant resort with a huge night club that definitely caught my attention. A good 20 mins pottering around had been chewed up, before I’d had enough & told Rhodie we could finally get some fuel & check into a big new hotel we’d sussed out.
The petrol station was only 1 ½ kms from the hotel. We topped up, paid & went to check into the hotel.

The Oudomkham, on the south side of town, 0.8 kms past the airport turn off & on the right heading out. It’s a good one, huge rooms, big secure car park & a mere 250 Thai baht a night.

Checking in was alright until Rhodie was asked to pay in advance. He had no money! Yep, lost his wallet. It’s gone. Unbelievable. Only 5 mins previously he’d fueled up & paid for his own fuel at the petrol station & the hotel – a mere 1 1/2 kms away. We raced back downtown in search of the magic wallet & it’s contents. And, if you know Rhodie, the contents were not insignificant. But as to be expected NO LUCK.

What to do next? Be cool & keep smiling....
1. Check into the hotel.
2. Borrow some money from the GT Rider himself. Unbelievable some of you might say, he had some to spare. Ha. Ha.
3. Then continue the search. ..first the tourist office, then to the police station who entered the report in their exercise book on the desk. Then off to the local TV station – news for the night’s TV& radio station in Oudom Xai. We were stars, but sadly no guest appearances on the tele or radio. I wasn’t sure either if it was such a good idea alerting the whole town to a lost wallet stuffed with gold credit cards & enough money for a week or two on the road, but what the heck. You never know your luck – give it ago.

And nothing happened. No news or reports.

It was a quiet night in Oudom Xai then. Never even got to the big lake resort disco. Next time…..

But we did eat at the Keomoungkol restaurant, in the main street, opposite the Linda Ghouse. The place looks a bit ratty from the outside, but believe me the food here is GOOD.

We expected a subdued breakfast the next morning, but it was definitely livened up by the” new love of my life”....
Getting off the bike outside the Keomoungkol a cute little 5 - 6 yr old girl appeared from the construction site next door ran over & said hello. Totally 100% full of confidence & precocious.
I asked her if she’d eaten & had breakfast. The reply was no. Well, why not come & join us for brekky with your brother. No reply.

She just walked into the restaurant, pulled out a chair & sat down. Both Rhodie & I were gobsmacked. The next 20 mins were entertaining in the extreme. What a wonderful start to the day.

It’s a long long time since I’ve met such a smart happy young kid as this one living on a construction site with mum & dad pouring concrete & putting bricks together. So if you’re ever in Oudom Xai, eat at the Keomoungkol & if they are still building the bank next door, look out for a future Miss Oudom Xai beauty & brains champion. She’s definitely going to be a winner & go places!!

Eventually we got on the road & wandered our way down to LPQ. The road was perfect, the villages great & we almost had not a care in the world, except Rhodie with “no money.”

The Oudom Xai – LPQ sector really is great for hill tribe villages & wonderful friendly people, & it’s hard not to stop for photos…

OR lunch

I reckon that life on the road’s great with roads & villages like this

_________________
Davidfl
Keep The Power On

Davidfl · Posted: 03.03.2008, 03:08 Post subject:

Finally arrived in LPQ & I escorted Rhodie to his hotel, the Xaynamkhan; & checked into my guesthouse the Phousi 1.

I’d booked the Phousi because it had just been rebuilt; & had nice new aircon rooms / cable TV / fridge & was I thought excellent value for money at our negotiated rate of US$20 a night, down from US$25 as we weren’t interested in the breakfast.

For 1st time tourists the Phousi1 has a good location - in the soi alongside the museum & smack bag in the middle of one the evening market walking streets: perfect for the happy-go-lucky girlfriend singer, flying in from Cnx to tally up my brownie points.
Now if you’re on a bike it’s not that great because you need to have your bike either in or out before the walking street & then wait for it to finish around 10pm, but for the brownie points I could handle this.

The 1st night in LPQ I bumped into David & Mai from Chiang Khong, plus Lynn Brown & his yank rider gang. RobertH also appeared from out of the woodwork, then KTM Laurence. Chuck in Rhodie & it was a really good night.

The 2nd day happy-go-lucky arrived on the plane, Craypot arrived from Vte on RobertH’s ex BMW1150 GS = another big night ensued.

The next day I scored mega brownie points with the HGL G/F & an early morning photo shoot giving alms to the LPQ monks on their rounds.

Craypot & RobertH headed off to Vte the same day. Now I have to say Craypot really impresses me – he loves nothing better than a good long ride & a few beers with his mates. He rides from Vte to LPQ for the night; and has done the same thing Vientiane – Chiang Mai for a night just to have a beer with his fellow GT Riders, then ride all the way back to Vte to start work. What a great guy & rider!

After Craypot & RobertH left LPQ, Rhodie followed suit. Leaving me behind with happy go lucky.

Happy-go-lucky & I cruised town gossiping with the locals & generally feeling good.

And then the weather changed dramatically – cold & wet. Constant drizzle / rain with low low cloud cover = no fun.

My mega brownie point master plan had been for an overnight trip to pristine Nong Khiew & Muang Ngoi, but with no rain gear it all got canned.

48 hrs later, both happy go lucky & I got bored & claustrophobic in the room. Then happy- go-lucky got a cold, full moon hit & I thought time to hit the road. So I left happy-go-lucky to watch TV in the room & catch the plane back to Cnx the next day. Good move I thought, but....

1. On checking out of the Phousi 1, after 5 days the room rate had suddenly risen from US$20 - US$30 a night. After complaining, they explained we could have the room for US$25 as indeed we had not had any breakfasts, and that the reason for the higher tariff was that we had been given the wrong room & had stayed in a more expensive room - so had to pay more. I was not impressed, registered my disgust, paid & left.

2. At Hin Hoep approx 100 kms out of Vte karma got me & the AT died. Yep the old dodgy electrics were back to haunt me. It looked like the battery was dead, so after 45 mins I managed to source a Honda Dream battery, piggy back it onto the main battery & start it off a car battery. Ran it for 10 mins & it all seemed ok. Should do the trick I thought & get me into Vte; as long as I don’t stop the bike.
It was 5pm & I reckoned with a bit of luck I could get into Vte at dark or maybe ride 15-20 mins with the park lights or go local & ride with no lights…….ha.ha.

I set off at a fast pace & made it down the road for a considerable way before it all cut out again – a mega 15 kms down the road from Hin Hoep. Not very good eh? And almost in the middle of nowhere - 20 metres past a police box & checkpoint. Good luck I thought. And it was, sort of.

Unbelievably one of the cops came over & asked if I’d been on a big bicycle tour 5 years earlier. Well, yes I had actually, riding escort for 40 crazy pommy cyclists, peddling from LPQ – Vte.

Yep that was the one. He’d too had been one of the escorts for part of the trip. Absolutely incredible & almost unbelievable. Previously he’d been stationed at another police checkpoint further up the road, but under the local system they got rotated every 6 months through a series of provincial checkpoints & where I’d gloriously broken down now was his current post. .......
No trouble sir, just sit down, have a drink of water & we’ll get you a pick up to run you into Vte. Too good to be true? It was.
2 1/2hrs later the wooden plank the traffic cops had for a roadside seat had become a bit uncomfortable. Even the novelty of sitting roadside with them & watching how they made their pocket money had worn off.
Earlier on I’d made a phone call to Fuark’s in Vte asking for a pick-up, but he advised the asking price of 2,000 baht was a bit much & it was best to get a pickup from where I was. And there were lots of them, but all twin-cab vehicles with short trays. Not really enough space for an Africa Twin, unless they let the tailgate down, but no one wanted to be bothered with that. I reckon the police must have stopped at least 20 pickups & asked, but after one look at the lengthy AT, the driver always shook his head & drove off. I finally relented & phoned into Fuarks & requested the gold plated pickup – his elder brother. Another 1 ½ hrs later he arrived. The bike was loaded into the back & off we trundled to Vte. We hit town at 12.15pm, a mere 7 hrs after I’d broken down 100 kms away. Not exactly express travel you could say.....

(To finish soon!)
_________________
Davidfl
Keep The Power On

Davidfl · Posted: 12.03.2008, 20:41 Post subject:

The next morning I checked in with Fuark’s about the delivery of the new battery from Bangkok & it was late. T-I-L.
But 36 hrs after dumping the bike in Vte at Fuark’s it was there, so you cant really complain about the international service.

The next few hrs Fuarks went all over the bike charging system to conclude that indeed it was all ok & the culprit was….

Now this delightful discovery has already been written up under
Stuff Ups
http://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/fallibilities---funnies---stuff-ups-t937-s50.html

“The local expert in Cnx has simply joined wires by twisting & taping over a join. No soldering & not impressed!! He's now cost me a regulator, one battery & one 2,000 baht trucking fee. “

And I have to admit not wanting to taking a leaf out of the ambassador’s book so I won’t name the shop, as 1 mth later I’m still fuming!!

Anyway 24 hrs later it was still damp & wet-raining so I left Vte & headed home to Cnx in the rain. .......

In the drizzle at the Friendship Bridge on the Lao side.

And it was wet all the way until half way between Dan Sai & Nakon Thai.

At the gas station in Chiang Khan..

Note above: how light the GT Rider travels - 2 weeks on the road with that kit bag.

Early morning start. Kings Hotel Car Park Loei….

At the R2013 turn off into Dan Sai.

I forced myself to stop & get pix of the damp miserable conditions, just to break up the dreary drudge.
It’s funny though, how you seldom get photos of the boring bits – rain & wet roads, or even the really bad road sections as you’re always concentrating to get through / over it & don’t want to stop.
So even while these wet snaps are boring, it does take an effort to stop, get off the bike, take the gloves off & carefully take out the camera & not get it wet. Quickly snap away & then reverse the whole process. (Taking them in the dry is a breeze isn’t it Captain?)

Finally finished this mediocre report, but I feel guilty if the job's not done.

But the Luang Prabang loop from Chiang Mai is a real beauty & one that any resident biker living in North Thailand, or passing through MUST DO! You really don't have any excuses now.

Check out
1. Silverhawk's report: Laos the EZ Way
http://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/laos-the-ez-way-who-needs-adventure-t3572.html

2. Blkphantoms report: Phantoms on the Luang Prabang Loop
http://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/phantoms-on-the-luang-prabang-loop-t3737.html

3. Scotty007’s Report: Chiang Mai – Luang Prabang – Round Trip Jan 08
http://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/chiang-mai---luang-prabang---chiang-mai-round-trip---jan08-t3622.html

Just get out & ride. It doesn't matter what bike you ride just as long as you do ride & try to enjoy life.
_________________
Davidfl
Keep The Power On

Yunus · Posted: 28.03.2008, 04:26 Post subject:

Hi,

I'm riding up to Laos this April with two other friends.We were thinking of meeting up with you David or any other bikers who may be in the area at the time.
How do we contact you to arrange a meet-up when we are at the GT?
My estimation will be that we will reach GT between the 17th-19th of April.
By the way, do we deal in Thai Baht when we are in Laos or do we have to do currency exchange?If so, please advise. Where to change etc..

Thanks in advance. Razz

burnjr · Posted: 28.03.2008, 10:46 Post subject:

yunus,
are u going with adi hayabusa...and abol malayisan...take care bro..yap
in loas u can use bath no problem..u can meet davidfl at changmai. abd buy the map from him is nice and helpfull person ..i meet david one went we all going to loas and vietnam boarder.but the road from luang lamtha to luang prabang a bit bad..fromluang lamtha to pak don ..
take care bro Very Happy

scotty007 · Posted: 29.03.2008, 14:37 Post subject:

You should exchange your Thai Baht for Kip as soon as possible as there is often exchange confusion, especially when you are off the beaten track, and often if not always the rate will go against you anyway!

Renember a dinner in Loas with FL, Lloyd and Walter where we paid in US, Baht, Yuan and Kip, that took a while to sort out!
_________________
"Four wheels move the body. Two wheels move the soul."

Yunus · Posted: 31.03.2008, 12:17 Post subject:

Yunus · Posted: 31.03.2008, 12:19 Post subject:

burnjr · Posted: 31.03.2008, 13:51 Post subject:

yunus,
yap we can meet up in kl when u come down to kl just calme or sms me at +6012-2568742. cu bro.. Very Happy

did done the china visa and get a latter fromloas ambesy..if u get loas latter easy for u to entre and out from loas..no need to pay money to the custom..just buy ur insurence ..
take care bro. Very Happy

Yunus · Posted: 31.03.2008, 20:01 Post subject:

burnjr · Posted: 01.04.2008, 08:10 Post subject:

Yunus,
i means insurence for third party in loas/thai/china..and ur personal insurence to cover u during travel..spore have good insurance cover..it what happen to one of couple rider( malay}.from spore make accidents in loas..so the insurance cover them until return back to spore..
hope u enjoy ur ride..and just cal me if u arive kl.anyway can u gve me ur contact number ..may be this ssaturday i will go down to jb..for mee rebus tulang at danga bay.around 7pm..will call u if i ride to jb.
c u bro.. Very Happy

dad · Pedestrian Joined: 21 Jan 2008 Posts: 2 Location: Mai Sai

have just completed the luang prabang loop on suzuki gsx1400 without
any problems.about 80km of non sports bike road,just slow down & no
broken bits....plenty of beds avail everwhere we stoped.one important
factor is almost NO MEDICAL SERVICES avail & could be hours away.so
wear lots of padding & ride sober..

my trip was 12 nights ex mai sai to nong khai +splash out in utaradit (1 night) & all up b15000.including visa, laos customs & insurance,two persons..one 66yo.

dad...

Davidfl · Posted: 03.04.2008, 16:13 Post subject: