Holy Moses...An Adventurous motorcycle ride in Laos.

Moto-Rex

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Day Eleven.

Xanamkhan to Hin Hoeup, via Feuang.

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From Xanamkhan, you need to ride the road that follows the Mekong from Vientiane to Xanamkhan, until you get to the Fueang rd, turn off. That road is the pits. Rock hard, lots of car/truck traffic, and so dusty that every time a vehicle goes past you have to stop for a few minutes till the dust settles.

There are some good views looking across the Mekong to Thailand.
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Once we turned off on to the road heading North to Feuang, there wasn’t much traffic, and dust was now red. There were many mountains like this along the way.
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The latest Lao people mover in one of the many little towns on this road.
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I like this shot. It was taken just outside another one of those little towns that would be great to spend a night in.
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Another flat tyre. They seem harder to fix when it’s the middle of the day, and stinking hot.
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Once the tyre was fixed, we had some food and cool drink in Feuang, before getting back on the road/river.
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This has to be the most picturesque river crossing I seen anywhere.
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The water was crystal clear.
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Another good little spot along the way.
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Great riding through here with the sun setting behind us, which made the mountains glow.
The photos don’t show just how big these mountains are.
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This was to be not only the last river crossing for the day, but the last for the trip.
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As we waited for the ferry to float across to pick us up. Brian walked down to the river. I got the feeling that he wanted to have one more river shattering ride on the submersible KLX just to finish off the trip with a bang. I was right, but even the man that had parted so many rivers over the last eleven days, knew this one was far too deep to conquer.

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So the ferry would have to do.
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At this point I knew we had one more day to go on the trip, but riding of this ferry for me felt like the end. It was the last river crossing, and no more dirt, just hwy 13 back to Vientiane.
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We arrived dry, and just on dark in Hin Hoeup and found a hotel.
Check out the stairs. One giant leap for a GT Rider. I was on the 3rd floor, and it was a long way up to the top, carrying all my riding gear.
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TO BE CONTINUED.
 

Moto-Rex

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Day Twelve. (Final Day)

Hip Hoeup to Vientiane, on hwy 13.

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It had been raining most of the night, and in the morning it was still coming down, but after breakfast it cleared a little, so we heading off to Vientiane on a very slippery hwy 13.
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We arrived in Vientiane and straight to the Tex Mex Alexia restaurant for bunch.
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The food at this place was fantastic.
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After a few coffees and our fix of western food, it was back on the bikes for the ride across the border to Thailand.

But we stopped at took a few photos at most famous monument in town, and where we decided the trip would officially end.
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This was a great 12 days riding in Laos, and although we had to change the plan a couple times mainly due to the weather, we still managed to arrive in Vientiane right on time. This was the second time that I’ve been on a riding trip in Laos with Brian. And just like the first time I really enjoyed the experience.

Brian report on the ride here. https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/showthread.php/37669-Northern-Laos-December-2012-(Moto-Rex-amp-BrianBKK)

The best dirt bike video on Youtube here.
GPS TRACKS HERE> https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/forumdisplay.php/121-Laos-Northern-GPS-Tracks

Just one more thing.

I, Moto-Rex, along with my fellow, beer Lao drinker, and KLX rider, BrianBKK, solemnly swear, that we had no intentions of eating this little girls dog. She, like most people in the town, probably think that we were serious. But, this was not the case.
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THE END>
 
Jul 25, 2010
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That was clearly a terrific trip Rex and followed by this brilliant report to match. It really brings the experience alive for us humble readers.
Thanks for posting.
 
Jan 9, 2011
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Awesome ride report Rex & Brian.
I really love your photos which showing you guys are up higher than clouds. And I also love the way you cross the rivers, save the old and poor bridges for locals by jumping into water to cross the rivers. :D

P/S:@ Rex:I saw you are using MapSource for GPS tracking. I had been using it for years, and now, I have switched to BaseCamp - it's also Garmin's. I 'd like to recommend you to try Base Camp - there are many better stuffs in there.
 

Moto-Rex

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bsacbob;288035 wrote: Rex,
Coincidentally did this route in reverse last week, did you pass the old American traffic control tower ? Has to be one of the better trails at the moment with more river crossings than you can shake a stick at, although it's changing rapidly as the power poles proceed along the track.

https://plus.google.com/photos/103725386903073179190/albums/5849541775477532369/5849541803236792066?banner=pwa
Gday Bob.

No I didnt see the old American traffic control tower. Looking at your route map, I think we went a slighty differant way then you did.

The way you went, I intend to ride on my next trip.

Rex
 

Moto-Rex

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VietHorse;288047 wrote: Awesome ride report Rex & Brian.
I really love your photos which showing you guys are up higher than clouds. And I also love the way you cross the rivers, save the old and poor bridges for locals by jumping into water to cross the rivers. :D

P/S:@ Rex:I saw you are using MapSource for GPS tracking. I had been using it for years, and now, I have switched to BaseCamp - it's also Garmin's. I 'd like to recommend you to try Base Camp - there are many better stuffs in there.
Thanks for the kind words VietHorse.

Ill check out BaseCamp too. Thanks for the tip.

Moto-Rex
 
Mar 30, 2010
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Brilliant write up Rex.. Love the way you tell it..

On Tuesday Tony and I rode past through this village and when I looked at the shop the same family / local kids etc were hanging out.
Felt like we had never left..

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Looking forward to our next ride together mate.

Cheers
Brian
 

fm2002

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What a ride ! Can't tell you how jealous I am. Almost all of the tracks you did I wanted to do before I had to leave Thailand a year ago. Especially Day2, 4 & 6. Didn't even know about the tracks you did south of Udomxai.

I'm almost sorry I read it as it's made me EXTREMELY homesick.

Gotta find a way to get back to Chiang Rai and riding my bike in Laos !

Thanks guys.
 

DavidFL

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Moto-Rex;287984 wrote: Day Eleven.

We arrived dry, and just on dark in Hin Hoeup and found a hotel.
Check out the stairs. One giant leap for a GT Rider. I was on the 3rd floor, and it was a long way up to the top, carrying all my riding gear.
2FieGXd.jpg


TO BE CONTINUED.
A night in Hin Hoeup eh?
Ive often pondered on spending a night there riding through.
Is it worth or not?
The smell of salted fish, a breeze off the lake, loads of restaurants hanging off the side of the road & lake.
 

Moto-Rex

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Davidfl;289011 wrote: A night in Hin Hoeup eh?
Ive often pondered on spending a night there riding through.
Is it worth or not?
The smell of salted fish, a breeze off the lake, loads of restaurants hanging off the side of the road & lake.
Personally I think every town in Laos has its own charm, weather its Luang Prabang or Vientiane with all there modern conveniences, or a small one guesthouse town where the beer is sold out of a hut, and there’s nothing I can eat but out of date Chinese’s noodles. I reckon no matter what town you spend a night in, its all good. Basically, it is what it is.

As for Hin Hoeup, we stayed there because we had too. We still had a good night, but I wouldn’t stay there again unless it was necessary. It’s not a town you would go out of your way to spend a night in.

Id like to try a night in Tha Meua which is up the road towards Vang Vieng from Hin Hoeup. That looks like a real wild west kind of town.

Cheers Moto-Rex
 

DavidFL

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Moto-Rex;289025 wrote: Personally I think every town in Laos has its own charm, weather its Luang Prabang or Vientiane with all there modern conveniences, or a small one guesthouse town where the beer is sold out of a hut, and there’s nothing I can eat but out of date Chinese’s noodles. I reckon no matter what town you spend a night in, its all good. Basically, it is what it is.

As for Hin Hoeup, we stayed there because we had too. We still had a good night, but I wouldn’t stay there again unless it was necessary. It’s not a town you would go out of your way to spend a night in.

Id like to try a night in Tha Meua which is up the road towards Vang Vieng from Hin Hoeup. That looks like a real wild west kind of town.

Cheers Moto-Rex
Arh yes, I meant Tha Heua. Ooops.:oops: :oops: :oops: