Xmas in Laos
This report is a bit late but it won’t be that long till the rains have stopped and it will be ideal to travel to Laos so hopefully it might inspire a few trips to a lovely part of Asia.
We set off from CNX late afternoon towards Phayao. I had been around Phayao few times but never been into the city so was looking forward to it.
Arrived early evening to a great view of the Kwan Phayao lake.
There was plenty of accommodation available with great views of the lake.
There was a some sort of a fair on in Phayao that night good food and lots of shoot em up side shows.
Left early next morning for the border.
er.
Stopped off at a Wat with the same name as my wife’s Grandfather. With so many wats around Thailand it’s good to find one with a bit of a hook.
Had a fair bit of local traffic till the 1148. But was worth the wait really great ride along that road.
After turning off the 1148 the roads were really bad to the border. Probably the worst roads of the trip.
The border crossing was fairly easy with Aor doing all the paperwork. Thai side took about 45 minutes. I think more than needed as the immigration guy had to tell Aor his family history the weather the political and local news just to pass his time. The Laos side was only 25 minutes.
Don’t forget insurance.
It’s an easy ride to the Kong from the border just a bit weird riding on the right side of the road.
There was a couple of ferries operating at that time so we had no problem just rode straight on to one. I think they had one for trucks and one for cars and bikes.
There was soft sand on the way down and also getting off the other side. I was full throttle digging a big hole after getting off the ramp on the other side, but like most of the trip a couple of locals ran up and helped me get through the soft sand.
It was a short ride to Pak Beng and like a few others have done before us we entered the back way into town.
We had plenty of choices with guest houses in Pak Beng as we arrived before all the river boats.
Had a lovely fresh fish meal that the owners were cooking up when we arrived. Washed down with some lovely cold beer Laos.
Even though Pak Beng is due to be flooding some people are still building guesthouses
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Had a walk around Pak Beng after tea and ended up at the only real night spot in Pak Beng, run by a lovely local young lady who’s been featured a few times already on the GT.
If that pic isn't enough to get you to NORTHERN thailand nothing will 555.
We had a lazy morning in Pak beng, and tasted the famous Baggets of which I had as many as I could throuthout the trip. The best bread rolls i've ever had.
Set off for Oudom Xai late morning. One of the nicest rides I've had in asia.
Stopped for lunch on xmas eve in a small restaurant.
Very surprised at the visitors who walked through the restaurant, Aor didn't get the joke never having had a Farang xmas dinner.
The ride to Oudom Xai was amaxing all the way just amazing scenery, and there seemed to be celebrations in nearly every village we went through. It was corn harvest as well and there were people loading trucks all along the ride. Unfortunatelly I forget my extra SD card so we had to delete most of the pics till we got tp LP and got an extra card.
This report is a bit late but it won’t be that long till the rains have stopped and it will be ideal to travel to Laos so hopefully it might inspire a few trips to a lovely part of Asia.
We set off from CNX late afternoon towards Phayao. I had been around Phayao few times but never been into the city so was looking forward to it.
Arrived early evening to a great view of the Kwan Phayao lake.
There was plenty of accommodation available with great views of the lake.
There was a some sort of a fair on in Phayao that night good food and lots of shoot em up side shows.
Left early next morning for the border.
Stopped off at a Wat with the same name as my wife’s Grandfather. With so many wats around Thailand it’s good to find one with a bit of a hook.
Had a fair bit of local traffic till the 1148. But was worth the wait really great ride along that road.
After turning off the 1148 the roads were really bad to the border. Probably the worst roads of the trip.
The border crossing was fairly easy with Aor doing all the paperwork. Thai side took about 45 minutes. I think more than needed as the immigration guy had to tell Aor his family history the weather the political and local news just to pass his time. The Laos side was only 25 minutes.
Don’t forget insurance.
It’s an easy ride to the Kong from the border just a bit weird riding on the right side of the road.
There was a couple of ferries operating at that time so we had no problem just rode straight on to one. I think they had one for trucks and one for cars and bikes.
There was soft sand on the way down and also getting off the other side. I was full throttle digging a big hole after getting off the ramp on the other side, but like most of the trip a couple of locals ran up and helped me get through the soft sand.
It was a short ride to Pak Beng and like a few others have done before us we entered the back way into town.
We had plenty of choices with guest houses in Pak Beng as we arrived before all the river boats.
Had a lovely fresh fish meal that the owners were cooking up when we arrived. Washed down with some lovely cold beer Laos.
Even though Pak Beng is due to be flooding some people are still building guesthouses
Had a walk around Pak Beng after tea and ended up at the only real night spot in Pak Beng, run by a lovely local young lady who’s been featured a few times already on the GT.
If that pic isn't enough to get you to NORTHERN thailand nothing will 555.
We had a lazy morning in Pak beng, and tasted the famous Baggets of which I had as many as I could throuthout the trip. The best bread rolls i've ever had.
Set off for Oudom Xai late morning. One of the nicest rides I've had in asia.
Stopped for lunch on xmas eve in a small restaurant.
Very surprised at the visitors who walked through the restaurant, Aor didn't get the joke never having had a Farang xmas dinner.
The ride to Oudom Xai was amaxing all the way just amazing scenery, and there seemed to be celebrations in nearly every village we went through. It was corn harvest as well and there were people loading trucks all along the ride. Unfortunatelly I forget my extra SD card so we had to delete most of the pics till we got tp LP and got an extra card.
. It was the final lesson for me that riding in Laos is about enjoying the scenery and forgetting your imaginary MotoGP dreams.