bsacbob
Administrator (Retired)
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2012
- Location
- Chiang Rai
- Bikes
- Honda CRM-AR 250, Honda CRF 250-L, Suzuki V Strom XT 650 Honda XR250 Baja BMW F650GS
With the usual Songkran madness about to begin, it was time to be heading over to Laos where Songkran is a more relaxed experience and hopefully get away from the dreadful smoke. My mate Nick was to join me on his beautifully restored BMW Dakar, it was to be a short but fun 2000 km trip i assured him (i lied).
We decided to cross individually and meet up in town for the night, no issues crossing other than a grumpy immigration officer who had obviously got out of the wrong side of the bed.
Checked into the Oudomsin Hotel, one of the newer places in town @ 400 baht a night it was reasonable value for money, have yet to find good accommodation in HX.
N20.27570° E100.41377°
We walked into town for a beer as these ladies got ready for the coming festivities, health and safety being the key here.
Spent the night at the riverside sipping cold beer watching the sun set into the blanket of smog !!
470 km of mixed surfaces ahead.
Looks pretty stylish from the outside.
Nick and the bike looking spotless, so far.
Only a few km's out of town he was already sporting a golden tan as we stopped roadside for a good breakfast
Always smiling Laos kid's or maybe because it was the last day before the holiday.
A fine breakfast that should see us good all day.
N20.11665° E100.59397°
The sun struggling to get up over the smoke filled valley.
So of the slopes getting pretty deep with bulldust, this was to be a factor the whole trip.
Lot's of grading work being carried out and the once nice trail was unrecognisable in places.
Nice artwork.
As we headed for Pakbeng and gained elevation the road is a mixture of paved and gravel, with many small villages along the way but I had plans to stop at one of my favourite villages.
A much needed drink stop at Moksatong Village got everyone's attention as usual.
I sat on a log and opened my tank pannier of candy and told Nick to watch the show.
In no time I was besieged by the young kid's of the village.
They all patiently waited as I handed out some candy to each of them, I know people say its not a good idea, but if it brings a moment of joy to them it's well worth what damage a few sweets will cause.
This village would be on top of my list for a future memorial for Auke, as and when border restrictions ease on the borders for group travel, i have since been told of a group of 5 who had to pay 5k baht each to bribe their way across.
All very closely related.
Lot's of kid's in this village remain naked most of the day, very sad indeed.
Time to move on and back into the dust.
Nick looking decidedly different from a few hours ago.
I was at the front but didn't fare much better as we passed the heavy trucks.
We pulled over as Nick was saying the rear of the bike was not behaving on closer inspection his new YSS rear shock was losing oil and was pretty much useless, so we needed a plan B.
We had planned to stop in Hongsa overnight, but we hatched a plan to head for Paklay and had made contact with Steve in Loei who would bring a spare shock Nick had in his workshop to the border, it would make a longer day of 470 km but needs must.
We arrived as darkness fell and checked in the Anousone Gh 2, the sister of the Anousone just down the road, both spotlessly clean and great nights sleep guaranteed, but not before heading to the Sabiadee restaurant for some much needed beer and food.
The sunrise not what you would expect, time to head to Tha Li and see what the day brings.
GPX viewer
We decided to cross individually and meet up in town for the night, no issues crossing other than a grumpy immigration officer who had obviously got out of the wrong side of the bed.
Checked into the Oudomsin Hotel, one of the newer places in town @ 400 baht a night it was reasonable value for money, have yet to find good accommodation in HX.
N20.27570° E100.41377°
We walked into town for a beer as these ladies got ready for the coming festivities, health and safety being the key here.
Spent the night at the riverside sipping cold beer watching the sun set into the blanket of smog !!
470 km of mixed surfaces ahead.
Looks pretty stylish from the outside.
Nick and the bike looking spotless, so far.
Only a few km's out of town he was already sporting a golden tan as we stopped roadside for a good breakfast
Always smiling Laos kid's or maybe because it was the last day before the holiday.
A fine breakfast that should see us good all day.
N20.11665° E100.59397°
The sun struggling to get up over the smoke filled valley.
So of the slopes getting pretty deep with bulldust, this was to be a factor the whole trip.
Lot's of grading work being carried out and the once nice trail was unrecognisable in places.
Nice artwork.
As we headed for Pakbeng and gained elevation the road is a mixture of paved and gravel, with many small villages along the way but I had plans to stop at one of my favourite villages.
A much needed drink stop at Moksatong Village got everyone's attention as usual.
I sat on a log and opened my tank pannier of candy and told Nick to watch the show.
In no time I was besieged by the young kid's of the village.
They all patiently waited as I handed out some candy to each of them, I know people say its not a good idea, but if it brings a moment of joy to them it's well worth what damage a few sweets will cause.
This village would be on top of my list for a future memorial for Auke, as and when border restrictions ease on the borders for group travel, i have since been told of a group of 5 who had to pay 5k baht each to bribe their way across.
All very closely related.
Lot's of kid's in this village remain naked most of the day, very sad indeed.
Time to move on and back into the dust.
Nick looking decidedly different from a few hours ago.
I was at the front but didn't fare much better as we passed the heavy trucks.
We pulled over as Nick was saying the rear of the bike was not behaving on closer inspection his new YSS rear shock was losing oil and was pretty much useless, so we needed a plan B.
We had planned to stop in Hongsa overnight, but we hatched a plan to head for Paklay and had made contact with Steve in Loei who would bring a spare shock Nick had in his workshop to the border, it would make a longer day of 470 km but needs must.
We arrived as darkness fell and checked in the Anousone Gh 2, the sister of the Anousone just down the road, both spotlessly clean and great nights sleep guaranteed, but not before heading to the Sabiadee restaurant for some much needed beer and food.
The sunrise not what you would expect, time to head to Tha Li and see what the day brings.
GPX viewer
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