Long Cheng To Phonsavan & Meander

[bsacbob]

After two nights in Long Cheng it was time to move on, i had the idea to show Steve a few interesting spots along the way so we had a lot to cram in on the way to Phonsavan.

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Only 210 km but we squeezed a lot in.

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The mist hangs heavily until around 8.30 or so we we hang around so we can enjoy the views along the way.

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First port of call was a quick meander up Skyline ridge.

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​You don't need to walk too far before you start to see ordnance laided around, we had been told MAG had been given permission to clear the ridgeline but no sign yet.

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Lot's of foxholes still visible.

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You could spend a day up here carefully poking around but we had to go.

Back on the road you soon arrive at the shop in Sam Thong for refreshment. Look's like he has a few more additions to his war scrap display.

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Steve handing out some coloring books to the kid's.

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I wandered up a little ways to take some pictures of this lady weaving some beautiful fabric.

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The guy to the left in the picture was allegedly a policeman, he keep waving a book at me asking me to go to the building opposite, as soon as Steve caught up we got the hell out, all looked a bit fishy to me.

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Chimney of old school building.

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Shot back down the hill of Sam Thong, lower centre is the building i was asked to go to.

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This was a proper mess three of them stuck blocking the way.

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Kid's munching on bamboo.

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I had spotted an unusual what i thought structure on Google Earth so along the way we went to investigate, still not sure what it was it was square with a metre deep trench around it with a gate, inside people had been dumping trash,
my only thought was the trench was there to keep vermin out ?

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Passed by a couple of teams of MAG people hard at work and popped into Naphia to see if they had any spoons for sale, looks like they have branched out into other knick knacks.

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Obviously heavily bombed area, bomb craters all around.

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Good use of bomb casings.

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Back on the road next stop the P76 tank.

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Moving on we rode over to Khuan to check out the main attractions.

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My poor eyesight, initially i thought these to be bunkers, i have later been told they are bird traps !!

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We headed south to view the army personnel carrier which has now disappeared, got caught in a freak storm on the way back shot some more pictures of another hydro project south of Khuan.

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Next stop the Mig fighters this time i counted 14 visible.

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With no time to spare it was on to the secret tunnel at Phou Keng.

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Now be warned don't be stupid like us and visit in your riding gear at the end of an already long day with no water, it's a bloody LONG way up those stairs trust me.

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The young lad breaking out in front only to peak too soon.

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When you finally get there you have two tunnels, note you need a lamp.

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Exit.

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View from the main tunnel exit.

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The other tunnel is a natural one.

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This was cute, Laos couple sharing shoes for the hike up.

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This place must have been a big target lot's of marked bomb craters.

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Some jars visible along the stairway.

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So that was it a long day we arrived in Phonsavan in darkness, first priority was a beer while we decided on a place to stay.

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[The Bigfella]

Great photos and report Bob. Thanks.

That shop in Sam Thong is where the cops got me... four of them came over, including one with an AK. "You have to come with us for two or three hours while we check your cameras". They found a photo of them that I'd snuck too... and were NOT happy about that. They deleted about 30 photos in all. They copied everything on my cameras onto their laptop... photos of Dubai, Turkey, Oz... I was out in about 90 minutes.

 

[bsacbob]

Here is a pretty rough video to give people some idea of the conditions of the trail right now if you thinking of entering from the North, obviously the gradients dont show on the video but there are a few steep areas that should give bigger bike riders something to think about.

 

[The Bigfella]

Good stuff Bob. That section where the three trucks were stuck was a real bog a month ago

I took the high road option



and was glad I did



They seem to have graded some of the earlier stuff since I went through. Did you see many landslides? This one was NASTY

 

[KTMphil]

Looks like you did some great research there Bob and fabulous photos.

I still havnt got around to getting a photo of this

 

[Johnsy]

Thanks Bob, lots of info here and great photos

 

[kchow24]

still raining over there?

 

[Lone Rider]

still raining over there?

Normally around this time it should be dry

 

[The Bigfella]

The rain moves out.... the dust moves in.

I think Bob's timing was pretty good.

 

[bsacbob]

The weather was perfect, just starting to get a little cooler a couple of freak rain storms but drys out quickly but like Ian said on the dirt routes that have a lot of traffic the bulldust soon appears.


If you take a closer look at the video i posted for updated trail information.