Laos motorcycle ride east side of Phu Chi Far.
Riders. Me and 5000 Lao Locals on scooters.
Bike. Kawasaki KLX250. Voted the best Asia adventure rider bike ever manufactured.
The way. Ride to the bottom of Phu Chi Far on the Laos side.
The KLX, free of dirt and dust the day before crossing into Laos.
After a night of wine, women, and song in my new favourite fun town of Pha, it was an early start for the ride up HWY 101 to the Nan border crossing .
It was stinking hot when arrived at the border, and the immigration people on the Thai side were less than helpful, but I managed to sort it out, although the paper work was more like paper mache by the time I had filled it out due to the liquid that I had consumed the night before dripping from my ever expanding forehead.
Once finished on the Thai side it was on to Lao immigration and customs which was a piece of cake, although the funny thing was before I could ride away I had to get the KLX noise tested.
One guy held a decibel meter while he’s mate gave the bike a good rev. They looked at each other and nodded, with the guy that gave it a rev saying "it purrs like a 747" My translation may not be 100% correct. Anyway, they were happy to let me go on my way with a wave and a smile.
The whole process took about 80 mins.
The border where its probably a good idea not to have a noisy bike.
Not to far up the road to Pak beng I turned left in the Xiang Hon district which is a part of Laos that I had never been in before, and after riding in this area, I will definitely go back to and explore in more detail. The scenery and riding is amazing.
BrianBKK has a great report with some of the riding he did in this area. I did a loop and rode back out to Pak Beng, where as he rode straight through crossing the Mekong near the Thai border, and then headed up to Houei Xai.
I stayed a night in the sleepy town of Xianghon, riding to Phu Chi Far the next morning.
Fortunately I didn’t need to cross this bridge, although I reckon Brian would have given it ago just for fun.
Easy riding and you could it on any bike.
I stopped to check the map and all these kids came out of a school to say hello.
I did hear one little fella say to he's mate. "yes it does sound like a Boeing747"
Everywhere you looked it was like looking at a postcard. So good.
This is the sort of riding I like,…lots of bends, plenty of hills, and a few bumps along the way.
Such a good day out on the bike.
The KLX pointing west in the Phu Chi Far direction.
The track turns into a single trail, and comes to an end just past the village of Ban Chieng Tong which is about as close to Phi Chi Far as you can get… I think.
Ban Chieng Tong is one poor village.
Amazing scenery. My little camera doesn’t show just how stunning it is in this part of Laos.
About 10 kms from Ban Chieng Tong on the way back, I noticed a small road that went to this resort, so if you wanted to stay out that way you can. But you will need to take your own food. I asked how much a hut was per night. The smartarse said 400000 per night. There dreaming.
To complete to loop I had planned, I began to ride south from the Ban Chieng Tong turn off.
Looking at the track ahead I thought to myself this is going to be good.
But just around the corner the track turned onto a major construction zone.
This road will link up with the new Nan border crossing west of the one there using now.
Although it’s a bit of a mess at the moment, I reckon this is going to be one of the best road rides ever.
Once I had completed the loop I rode back to the main highway and headed north to Pak Bang.
It wont be to long before the new bridge crossing the Mekong will be finished.
But until the bridge is finished, we will just have to put up with being jammed in next to two fully laden fuel trucks.
I spent the night in Pak Beng which was buzzing with people staying over night on there way to and from Luang Prabang on the ferrys.
Next Morning I headed north towards Nong Khiew. This is a dam that’s being built by the lovely Chinese just a few kilometres north of Pak Beng.
I hadn’t been on this road for a couple of years and was amazed how much it has change. These banana plantations are huge.
This is truly a great area of Laos to ride. I did the loop to check out the condition of the road, ..but when I do it next time I will defiantly go the way Brian did, riding up to the border and crossing the Mekong, and on to Houei Xai.
At the moment the southern part of the loop due to road construction is the pits, and will be some time to came.
Moto Rex
Riders. Me and 5000 Lao Locals on scooters.
Bike. Kawasaki KLX250. Voted the best Asia adventure rider bike ever manufactured.
The way. Ride to the bottom of Phu Chi Far on the Laos side.
The KLX, free of dirt and dust the day before crossing into Laos.
After a night of wine, women, and song in my new favourite fun town of Pha, it was an early start for the ride up HWY 101 to the Nan border crossing .
It was stinking hot when arrived at the border, and the immigration people on the Thai side were less than helpful, but I managed to sort it out, although the paper work was more like paper mache by the time I had filled it out due to the liquid that I had consumed the night before dripping from my ever expanding forehead.
Once finished on the Thai side it was on to Lao immigration and customs which was a piece of cake, although the funny thing was before I could ride away I had to get the KLX noise tested.
One guy held a decibel meter while he’s mate gave the bike a good rev. They looked at each other and nodded, with the guy that gave it a rev saying "it purrs like a 747" My translation may not be 100% correct. Anyway, they were happy to let me go on my way with a wave and a smile.
The whole process took about 80 mins.
The border where its probably a good idea not to have a noisy bike.
Not to far up the road to Pak beng I turned left in the Xiang Hon district which is a part of Laos that I had never been in before, and after riding in this area, I will definitely go back to and explore in more detail. The scenery and riding is amazing.
BrianBKK has a great report with some of the riding he did in this area. I did a loop and rode back out to Pak Beng, where as he rode straight through crossing the Mekong near the Thai border, and then headed up to Houei Xai.
I stayed a night in the sleepy town of Xianghon, riding to Phu Chi Far the next morning.
Fortunately I didn’t need to cross this bridge, although I reckon Brian would have given it ago just for fun.
Easy riding and you could it on any bike.
I stopped to check the map and all these kids came out of a school to say hello.
I did hear one little fella say to he's mate. "yes it does sound like a Boeing747"
Everywhere you looked it was like looking at a postcard. So good.
This is the sort of riding I like,…lots of bends, plenty of hills, and a few bumps along the way.
Such a good day out on the bike.
The KLX pointing west in the Phu Chi Far direction.
The track turns into a single trail, and comes to an end just past the village of Ban Chieng Tong which is about as close to Phi Chi Far as you can get… I think.
Ban Chieng Tong is one poor village.
Amazing scenery. My little camera doesn’t show just how stunning it is in this part of Laos.
About 10 kms from Ban Chieng Tong on the way back, I noticed a small road that went to this resort, so if you wanted to stay out that way you can. But you will need to take your own food. I asked how much a hut was per night. The smartarse said 400000 per night. There dreaming.
To complete to loop I had planned, I began to ride south from the Ban Chieng Tong turn off.
Looking at the track ahead I thought to myself this is going to be good.
But just around the corner the track turned onto a major construction zone.
This road will link up with the new Nan border crossing west of the one there using now.
Although it’s a bit of a mess at the moment, I reckon this is going to be one of the best road rides ever.
Once I had completed the loop I rode back to the main highway and headed north to Pak Bang.
It wont be to long before the new bridge crossing the Mekong will be finished.
But until the bridge is finished, we will just have to put up with being jammed in next to two fully laden fuel trucks.
I spent the night in Pak Beng which was buzzing with people staying over night on there way to and from Luang Prabang on the ferrys.
Next Morning I headed north towards Nong Khiew. This is a dam that’s being built by the lovely Chinese just a few kilometres north of Pak Beng.
I hadn’t been on this road for a couple of years and was amazed how much it has change. These banana plantations are huge.
This is truly a great area of Laos to ride. I did the loop to check out the condition of the road, ..but when I do it next time I will defiantly go the way Brian did, riding up to the border and crossing the Mekong, and on to Houei Xai.
At the moment the southern part of the loop due to road construction is the pits, and will be some time to came.
Moto Rex
