if you havent read the previous topic - clueless in huay xai, read that first then come back to this one.
well, i went back to customs in huay xai the next morning and the guy i saw the second time the day before was sitting at the desk. i just walked up with my paperwork and a smile and told the guy that i wished to temporarily import my motorcycle from thailand. before i could finish the sentence the guy started pulling out the laotian paperwork and looked at my thai paperwork. i mentioned that i was going on the slow boat that morning to pak beng and he seemed to pick up the pace a little. he was done in less than 10 minutes, didnt even look at the motorcycle, and gave me the sticker and paper, all for 10000 kip, $1 US. don't know why the guy was trying to push me off on the tourist agency the day before, guess he had a friend there he wanted to hook up with some business.
paid 500 baht to get me and the bike over from chaing khong. paid a total of 800 baht for me and the motorcycle to get to pak beng on the slow boat. they really crammed the boat full, 110 people and my bike on not that big of a boat. it was quite interesting getting it on the boat, even more so getting it off in pak beng and getting it up the steep hill. ended up giving the 4 guys that helped get it off the boat and up the hill 10000 kip each.
spent the night in a guesthouse in pakbeng for 40000 kip, then up the next day and left around 8:30. COLD riding the first 50 km until fog lifted. the road to udomxai was awesome, guess i averaged about 80-100 km/hr. loved that there is no sign showing the turn to pak mong or luang prubang. got gas in udomxai then found out about the turn 6 km south of town heading east to pak mong. you'll want to keep your speed down on that road due to serious turns, potholes, but the scenery was incredible. rear wheel bearing started to give out in pak mong, got it fixed on the side of the road by a mechanic whose brother in law was in town from upstate new york and did the translating. cost me about 100,000 kip. the road south to LP was fairly good, just some decent sized potholes that MOST of the time you could see well in advance. guess i average about 80 maybe 100 in parts. got to LP about 5 pm, with about 2-3 hours stopped for lunch, gas, bearing and just checking out scenery. good day's ride. dave, do they sell your gt-rider laos map anywhere here in LP? couldn't find it in chiang rai and haven't seen it here in laos yet. also, is anyone sure about crossing the border in at vieng xai into vietnam? hearing some mixed stories here and have been told that the northern most border i can use with the bike is at cau treo. thanks in advance for any help and hope the report is of some use.
well, i went back to customs in huay xai the next morning and the guy i saw the second time the day before was sitting at the desk. i just walked up with my paperwork and a smile and told the guy that i wished to temporarily import my motorcycle from thailand. before i could finish the sentence the guy started pulling out the laotian paperwork and looked at my thai paperwork. i mentioned that i was going on the slow boat that morning to pak beng and he seemed to pick up the pace a little. he was done in less than 10 minutes, didnt even look at the motorcycle, and gave me the sticker and paper, all for 10000 kip, $1 US. don't know why the guy was trying to push me off on the tourist agency the day before, guess he had a friend there he wanted to hook up with some business.
paid 500 baht to get me and the bike over from chaing khong. paid a total of 800 baht for me and the motorcycle to get to pak beng on the slow boat. they really crammed the boat full, 110 people and my bike on not that big of a boat. it was quite interesting getting it on the boat, even more so getting it off in pak beng and getting it up the steep hill. ended up giving the 4 guys that helped get it off the boat and up the hill 10000 kip each.
spent the night in a guesthouse in pakbeng for 40000 kip, then up the next day and left around 8:30. COLD riding the first 50 km until fog lifted. the road to udomxai was awesome, guess i averaged about 80-100 km/hr. loved that there is no sign showing the turn to pak mong or luang prubang. got gas in udomxai then found out about the turn 6 km south of town heading east to pak mong. you'll want to keep your speed down on that road due to serious turns, potholes, but the scenery was incredible. rear wheel bearing started to give out in pak mong, got it fixed on the side of the road by a mechanic whose brother in law was in town from upstate new york and did the translating. cost me about 100,000 kip. the road south to LP was fairly good, just some decent sized potholes that MOST of the time you could see well in advance. guess i average about 80 maybe 100 in parts. got to LP about 5 pm, with about 2-3 hours stopped for lunch, gas, bearing and just checking out scenery. good day's ride. dave, do they sell your gt-rider laos map anywhere here in LP? couldn't find it in chiang rai and haven't seen it here in laos yet. also, is anyone sure about crossing the border in at vieng xai into vietnam? hearing some mixed stories here and have been told that the northern most border i can use with the bike is at cau treo. thanks in advance for any help and hope the report is of some use.
