luang nam tha - huay xai

[Marc]

hello everybody

just completed the ride from luang nam tha to huay xai (thai border) on my bmw r80 gs. it's about 190 km of unsealed adventurous road, rough but doable. the first 60 km took me 3.5 hours, the whole journey in total 8 hours including a short break. the road offers everything you need for some fun: mudholes, stones, sand, rivers to cross, little bridges made of just some logs put together parallelly a.s.o. the first 60 km are the toughest. the good news is that there are villages every 5 km, in some of them drinks & food can be bought, one or two even have a guesthouse and basic restaurants.
btw: the car ferry at huay xai over the mekong doesn't work on sundays! the only option is a small passenger boat...

 

[DavidFL]

Marc
Thanks for the report on this road & the Strung - Veun Kham on the Laos / Cambodian border.
I'm in Luang Nam Tha (N Laos) now, waiting for a new battery for the 'ol Africa Twin & for the sun to come out, after last night's rain.
Hopefully it will clear up & the road dry out enough for us to tackle the 'ol jungle trail, in a couple of days when my mapping work is done.
And yes you're right about crossing the 'Khong at Huay Sai / Chiang Khong. Customs on both sides, dont work on Saturday or Sunday, unless you book them & pay overtime - so that's why there is no car ferry service & "no" vehicles cross on the weekend.
If you crossed into Thailand on the Sunday, then I hope you got your bike stamped in by Thai customs on the Monday, otherwise when you leave it could be complicated, as your bike is illegally in the country.
Stay in touch & see you in Chiang Mai "soon."

Davidfl
Keep the power on

 

[Marc]

heya david

wish you a good ride to huay xai. gonna stay in chiang may for a couple of days so maybe catch up with you over a beer here. btw: the french trio just arrived tonight in chiang mai. so they managed their ride to huay xai just fine.
thx for the info on thai immigration. actually, the head of customs in chiang kong took a break from his weekend for me. so i got all the paperwork done, what can i say, thai hospitality...

marc