Everyone was friendly and we made plenty of stops on our walk to chat
We came across the preparations for a housewarming party. It was 6 am and the guests were arriving.... and the food prep. was well under way
Even the monks were there already. I had a quiet chuckle, as the one smoking a cigarette made sure it never made it into a photo... and I didn't chase him on it, of course
Che Guevara would have to have one of the most recognisable faces on the planet, eh?
If you saw that truck in most countries, you'd think it was dead. I saw it again the next day, out in the hills.
I've never been much into wats and temples, but Monica insisted. It was actually quite interesting.
The "bell" this young monk is ringing is actually a hollow tree trunk. Had a good tone to it too
It seems the western "angel eyes" look has made it to Laos.
One thing about the meat in Laos. Its fresh. The morning's kill
Plenty of Chinese workers about. They all wear blue. I'm told that there's plenty of prisoners working there too. Apparently the deal is that prisoners with long sentences, say 15 years, will be offered a significant sentence reduction for working on projects like the power station. They might do 3 years and when the project is finished, they stay on... can't return to China. It sounds a bit like 18th and 19th century Britain, eh?
A local with a bit of character to him
I've eaten the crickets a few times. Bloody wings and legs get stuck in your teeth
Not even 6:30 am and I've worked up a sweat. One way to get rid of that weight. Did I mention, I stepped on the scales in Chiang Mai before riding out of town. Oops 123 kg. I was 106 kg when I got out the bottom end of Laos in October '12.
Some more of the local characters and market scenes
I've eaten the squirrels before, but the only rats I've eaten or even seen in the markets have been the good old standard rats. These are lesser bamboo rats - very different looking
Monica's housekeeper's brother stopped for a chat too
I was duly instructed to include some pretty flower photos from the pond at Jumbo Guesthouse
... and brekkie was all very civilised and western.
Come 4pm, plus a bit, Souk turned up and it was time to head out to Hoauy Xong, to find out how Mrs Mon was doing.
I can't say I was happy with his guiding... he disappeared whilst I was starting my bike. I took off to the petrol station to fill up... nope, not there. Filled up and stuffed up my currency... handed her ten times the amount - hey... I was under pressure, hadn't paid for anything in Kip yet... the pumps display the wrong numbers... and she did it in two goes. So, I figured out later, I'd given her $35 instead of $3.50. Oops. I guess that's a couple of weeks wages for her, so she wasn't going to be co-operative when I mentioned it to her a couple of days later.
After a bit of stuffing around, I discovered the correct road and chased him down.... about 15 km out of town. I had to be a tad careful... we'd had rain and these roads can be diabolical. Last time out here, on the Super Enduro, I'd nearly dropped it in some very, very slippery bulldust. No bulldust this time... but look where someone had almost gone over a washout. That slice into the road is metres deep...
I stopped for a quick view back into the valley. The power station on the right and the coal mine beside it. It is going to really stuff up the valley. Monica has recognised it and is moving to Luang Prabang next year, when the power station opens.
I'll try to not repeat the photos I posted when I started this report... but will throw a few more in from the trip out to
Houay Xong. A rare good bit of road and an overtaking opportunity
We'd just passed one of these trucks, broken down and blocking half the road
This guy ended up getting a flat tyre and was blocking the rest of the road, just a few metres from the broken down truck when we came back the next day. He was out in the rain, trying to fix it. I had another "interesting" moment taking this shot... hit some soft stuff and went a bit sideways again, one handed. Oops
I never used to have those problems... and I'm thinking its how I've got the camera tied on to my new jacket. I'm going to have to experiment a bit
This was the start of the side road into Hoauy Xong... and apart from the huge quagmire I'm avoiding here, things looked good
But 50 metres later, we were down to single track... where we'd taken in 2WD trucks last time on a brand new road in Nov '12. Souk asked the ladies and they said we could get through
... and I've posted some of the washout stuff already
Here's a still from the dawn video the next morning, on the way out....
That's one of the big drops... right down to the river. I checked my GPS track altitudes later on and I make that drop around the 110 - 120 metre mark...
Fun eh?
Even on the good bits... how it had been at the end of 2012, there were "issues"
The steepness of the terrain can be picked up in this shot. We were going down a very steep hill - which never seems to show in the photos - but take a look at the other hills around.
Sorry for this next one being blurry, but it was right on dusk and I was moving. Worth posting though, just to show the ladies coming in from the fields in that last shot... they've been out since dawn, babies with them
Anyhow, enough of that. A couple more shots from the village
We ended up being hosted in the house behind the bikes. I paid the owner the standard, government-endorsed, $3 for a night. My Communist Party interpreter didn't have to pay.
Not much had changed, except a new brick-walled kindergarten class had been added to the end of the school.
All the village kids and plenty of adults turned out to see what was happening
A couple of panoramas from the village. Sorry about the distortion on the guy in the green shirt towards the left
Another shot to add to my earlier dining shots in the Naiban's house. He had some softdrinks... but no beer
I posted the meal we had there, in my start to this ride report, before everything went to crap... the chicken and dog meal.... which was fine, but when we got back to the host's house, he was there and I was expected to share his meal. I stuck mostly to the sticky rice, as it was spicier than hell
They told me that if the village had known I was coming, they'd have put on some Lao Hai for me. Someone scouted some out, but I had to pay... cost me $5. We drank all that... and then a freebie came out for round two. The first jar was based on sticky black rice and produced a thick, sweet, dark drink. Easy drinking but powerful enough. They use bamboo straws to siphon it out into bottles or glasses... and they top it off with water as they go
Not a lot of light in the house... one bulb, powered by a micro hydro generator, down in the stream beside the village
There were about 20 of us in the house, including a few kids. Souk and I were sitting in front of our "beds"... some thick blankets on bamboo mats.... and we got to share a mosquito net. I was first to flake... as they'd been plying me with the Lao Hai. The party went on till well after midnight. I woke up a few times to find Souks face closer than I'd prefer... but all was well... until 5am, when the thunder rolled in.
Souk had said he was leaving at 6am to go to work. I'd intended to stay on and check out more of the village... and then get a boat back to the main road. The impending storm changed my mind... it was sounding big... and we were on the "road" again at 5:40 am.
Fortunately the rain held off until we were on the main dirt road, but it was a wet and muddy ride back into Hongsa. I decided I wouldn't do Route 4B whilst it was raining and stayed another day.
(just joking of course).
