Jungle Run,Dams,Tiger Road

[Midnitemapper]

Up up the mountain



Fun stop for Pineapple sellers



Typical scenery along this stretch



Parachute party Laos style, Mac were to you suppose this came from?



Phoukhoun Phiengfa Restaruant view point, a must stop



Rolling along Road 7 Eastwards is an inviting track running south





What do we have,but a Stone Jar site along the road.


A newly settled village in the valley

I soon stumble on to some newly cut roads?


​

 

[2wheels]

Wow!
That magnificent timber house; where is it?

 

[Midnitemapper]

I was told that is the Blue Lagoon owners house, yes it is a beauty anywhere, especially in Laos!

 

[Steve Canyon]

What a shot...

Nice one Don, weather looks great out there, thought it would be all wet :RO

 

[Midnitemapper]

many roads and interesting sites, here is a stockpile of tunnel liners.





This is the truck they drive into the tunnels to spray cement on the walls and ceiling





Happy Chinese workers



One of the many work camps


Happy tunnel workers

I wandered into the power house to see if any of the machinery was in place, it looks like this is were the turbines will go.

The power house under construction





Its getting full on dark now, so its sleep in the jungle or make some friends and ask for shelter.
The friendly workers let me hang my hammock in this hallway and gave me a few shots of Chinese whiskey!
Day 1
*314 ks
*10:19 moving time
*800 photos
*108 waypoints
​

 

[KTMphil]

Welcome back to the civilized world Don. Amazing photo's as usual appreciate you sharing them, looks like a fantastic trip.

Now you've been using both cameras for a while, how's the Sony NX5 working out?

 

[Midnitemapper]

I am learning how to use this new machine, most shots with the G12, I really like the Sony but it is a different animal, it will take some time to get the most out of it.

 

[Lone Rider]

Wow!
That magnificent timber house; where is it?

Ron,

The Blue Lagoon is at the shores of the Nam Ngum 1 reservoir on the way from Vientiane to Vang Vieng and the north just a bit south of Ban Thaheua (the place where you will see a lot of dried/smoked fish for sale along the road) and just before the turnoff to Xaysomboun (Rd 5B).

 

[2wheels]

Thanks Don; will be there November.
Superb images.
The Jars site you found is very noteworthy.
Rgs

 

[MartinThai]

Great tr and pics, many thanks.

 

[Midnitemapper]

Thanks for the comments,and help with the location.
More Blue Lagoon info..
Heres what to look for on the road.

A copy of their brochure

Best view toilet in Asia!

 

[KTMphil]

Will definitely give the Blue Lagoon a shot next time i'm in the Vang Vieng area - nice find Don.

 

[2wheels]

Will we find Brooke Shields at the Blue Lagoon?

 

[mactbkk]

MM

Sure a lot of cargo parachutes dropped all over Laos during The Festivities. Often to normally, difficult to get them back for reuse!! They're just too good for parties and as we all know, the Lao would rather party than fight, now as back then.

Re Rt 5, kinda blocked by the Nam Ngum II lake if trying to get to Xaysomboun from Rt 13N, there is, however, longtail boat service available E-W across the lake.

Mac

 

[Midnitemapper]

OK Mac you have answered the question I have been wondering about for years! [highlight=#ffff80:35bjbzvy]Cargo parachutes of course.[/highlight:35bjbzvy]This photo taken on LS 249 at Kasi, I owe you a beer Lao!
N19.19854 E102.23813

 

[mactbkk]

Aw, yes, LS-249, the "new" runway, built right on a section of Hwy 13N when the USAID funded FHWA & Lao Travel Public guys were rebuilding the road from Vientiane to Luang Prabang, perhaps about 1968-'69. Made it C-123 capable.

A couple years back I asked the folks in Kassy why houses and shops hadn't been built on the runway area. Reply was that that land is reserved by the government, who knows, they might want to use it for a runway sometime in the future.

Here's the old Kassy runway, long gone and overgrown now. I was only on the ground there once, as a pax, we were on a Do-28, a light STOL plane, dropped off some goodies for the two IVSers living there, then headed on up to LP to RON.

LS 153 Moung Kassy/T TG 1130

NE 48-1, J-11D 19-15N, 102-15E
Elev 1300 1113x75' Sod 16/34

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Both airstrips are shown here:

http://www.nexus.net/~911gfx/vietnam/ma ... 8_01e.html

The full map sheet here: http://www.nexus.net/~911gfx/ne4801.html

Mac

 

[Midnitemapper]

Just looking through my photos,
I ran across a group of riders from China heading to Phonsavan, Looks like around 10 bikes, hoping to catch up with them but I was delayed and never saw them again.
A new trend of Chinese bikers coming to Laos?
Did anyone run across this group

 

[Midnitemapper]

Mac,
Now I see, those cargo chutes, are easy to identify by the thick webbing sewn into the canopy to carry the heavy weight of that cargo, in this case mostly from " rice drops".

The standard Personnel parachute, would have much lighter line used to attach to the, Jumper.

So these cargo parachutes seen around Laos are from the "Secret War"
"And so it was no surprise that the Hmong called their CIA paramilitary advisors 'Sky Men'. The psy-ops people at CIA Udon appreciated the value of this mythical aura around their operatives, and actively encouraged it. The fact that Air America planes dropped supplies from the sky only reinforced this conviction."
Cargo chute with "heavy Webbing"

Military cargo drop

Parachutes seen around Laos, Like this one at Landing Site, 249 at Kasi, used as a sun shade at parties weddings ect, are leftovers from the "Secret War".

 

[KTMphil]

Its definitely a growing interest in China. There's a group of Chinese riders from the Kunming area that do a loop every year into Thailand, Cambodia, then north through Laos back to China.

One of them told me he rode from Chiang Mai, Thailand to Kunming, China in 2 days!

Just looking through my photos,
I ran across a group of riders from China heading to Phonsavan, Looks like around 10 bikes, hoping to catch up with them but I was delayed and never saw them again.
A new trend of Chinese bikers coming to Laos?
Did anyone run across this group
[attachment=1:3hmhhzt1]China-rider.jpg[/attachment:3hmhhzt1]
[attachment=0:3hmhhzt1]china-rider-2.jpg[/attachment:3hmhhzt1]