North Laos Brief Road Summary

DavidFL

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North Laos Brief Road Summary
Back from a 2,700 kms ride a couple of weeks ago.
2nd June – 21 June 2016
Chiang Mai - Luang Prabang - Phonsavan & return.

Chiang Mai – Pua
Routes: 118-120-1021-1148-1080
Pua – Huay Khon – Muang Ngeun – Xayaboury – Luang Prabang
Routes: 1080-Laos-2W-4A-4-13

Chiang Mai - Luang Prabang via Pua - Huay Khon - Xayaboury
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Luang Prabang – Phou Khoun – Phonsavan
Routes: 13 - 7

Luang Prabang - Phonsavan
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Phonsavan – Mouang Khoun – Phonsavan

Routes: 7 – 1D

Mouang Khoun - Phonsavan
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Phonsavan – Phou Khoun – Luang Prabang

Routes: 7 - 13

Luang Prabang – Pak Mong – Nong Khiew
Routes: 13 – 1C

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Nong Khiew – Oudom Xai – Luang Namtha
Routes 1C – 13 - 3

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Luang Namtha – Houei Xai – Chiang Khong
Routes: 3 – Thailand - 1021

Chiang Khong – Chiang Rai – Chiang Mai
Routes: 1021 – 1174 – 1152 – 1020 – 1 – 118

Summary
A rainy season ride, but unbelievably I only rode in rain for less than 30 kms total over the 18 days / 2,700 kms I was away.
Also unbelievably I thought all the roads were good!

Only in Laos, route 1C from Pak Mong – Nong Khiew still sucks.
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R4A from Hongsa – Xayaboury was as good as I’ve seen it, with zero road works
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R4 from Xayaboury to Xieng Ngeun / R13 is still a race track.

R13N from Xieng Ngeun to Luang Prabang is still a bit ratty with patchy bumpy asphalt.
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R13N Xieng Ngeun to Kiu Kacham & Phou Khoun is as good as I’ve seen it for years. All the potholes have been filed & patched up. There’s no loose gravel or stone on the road.
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Kiu Kacham the original trucker's stop on R13 south of Luang Prabang
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R7 Phou Khoun – Phonsavan is still all good & a race track the last 30 kms into Phonsavan.
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R1D from Phonsavan – Mouang Khoun is all ok, no real potholes. Towards MK several sections have / are about to be resurfaced with some loose stone on the road, but is all smooth & good. The traffic on R1D was surprising – it’s going to be an important road & I counted 30 petrol stations in the less than 30 kms to MK from Phonsavan. There’s money in that juice out there somehow.

Heading North from Luang Prabang R13N to Pak Mong has all been patched up, with no potholes. In April it was a pig of a road.

R13N from Pak Mong to Oudom Xai is a race track. One of the best surfaces I’ve ridden on for a long, long time. I enjoyed it so much the GF- pillion got motion sickness twice, necessitating lengthy stops.
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R13N from Oudom Xai – Na Teuy & the China border . Luang Namtha border junction is all good.
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R3 from Na Teuy – Luang Namtha, has some broken asphalt at the Na Teuy end. It’s been like that for a couple of years now & is being repaired.

R3 from Luang Namtha – Houei Xai is generally a beauty.
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At the LNT there are a few bumps in the asphalt, but overall the road is magic to ride. At the HX end it gets busy & a bit ratty in places about 20 kms out of HX.

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So to summarize I reckon the North is as good as I’ve ever seen it, if you want to do a quick Luang Prabang loop from Chiang Mai.

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+ Updated accommodation info
Luang Prabang Accommodation

Phonsavan Accommodation

Nong Khiew Accommodation


+ Updated restaurant info
Luang Prabang Restaurants

Phonsavan Restaurants

Muang Khoun - R1d - Restaurants

Nong Khiew / Khiao

Oudom Xai Restaurants
 
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DavidFL

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A brief update on some roads from Peter who was out in Phonsavan on his car a few days ago.

Just made it back, 9303 is complete toast from the spoon village to Ban Xamthong as well as from Long Cheng to past Sanasomboun.
The 255 kms took effing ten hours, half the distance was all on 4WD.

Started off from Vientiane to Vang Vieng on the new highway = Germans could learn how to build the autobahn.
Took USD 11 but was definitely worth is and literally nobody on the road; guess too expensive.
From Vang Vieng to Kasi it was the normal upcountry treat with the occasional pothole on 13N.

From Kasi to Phou Khoun then 4 hours, road completely destroyed.
A Chinese trailer broke down and we passed (jumping from one empty slot between trailers to the next one) a total of 198 trailers.
After the broken down trailer another 162 trailers were waiting to get down from Phou Khoun to Kasi.

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Phou Khoun no surprises to Xieng Khouang; stayed two nights.
Lao-Falang gone, Bamboozle gone, many guest houses gone.
Nisha on a "survival" menu, tandoor only operating on Saturday

Long Cheng
Night stopped, most likely for the last time, in Long Chaeng.
That place is as entertaining as a graveyard on Good Friday; two new guest houses finally gave Saysamone the long overdue kick in his lazy drunken arse. A health clinic opened where the old hospital was - would not recommend for brain surgery though.
Also managed to get the boys to let me do a thorough go-around in General Vang Pao's residence, 21 rooms of which one is occupied; the building as such in remarkable good condition (given the non-maintenance since 1973).
The Royal residence on top of the hill is life-threatening and hence I refrained from going inside. The lone soldier in charge of "protecting" the property was more than glad to see me and some "Lao Lao" enlightened his boring Saturday afternoon.
Foodwise the only place is Tadam's noodle cannon, a far cry of what it was in the past.
Just south of Saysamone a sing-along eatery with the mandatory old Katoey in service served some "a la carte".

The only way to reach Luang Prabang is an extended detour west from Vientiane on Road 211 to Xanakham, then up North, cross the Mekong at Pak Lay, carry on via Xayabouly, Muang Nan to Xieng Ngern on Road 4 and turn left into 13N for the last 20+ kms into Luang Prabang.


For me it is absolutely clear, that the good old happy days are a thing of the past for good.
The Chinese and Korean will not compensate the missing rest of the tourist business, in numbers possibly yet but certainly not in monetary terms.
 
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