Long Cheng Travel Warning

[bsacbob]

Just got this from a friend not sure of the validity of the story or if it's surfaced in the Laos press.



Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[mactbkk]

Bob


The notice is legit.


Here it is at the Embassy's www site:


http://laos.usembassy.gov/warden_messages.html


Security Message for U.S. Citizens


November 20, 2015


U.S. Embassy Vientiane, Laos


Embassy Personnel Travel Restriction to Xaisomboun Province


U.S. Embassy Vientiane informs U.S. citizens travelling to or residing in Laos that effective immediately, Embassy personnel are prohibited from travelling to Xaisomboun Province due to shooting attacks occured in the evening hours on November 15, 17, and 18, 2015 in the area of Xaisomboun town, which is located 11 kilometers southwest of Phou Bia Mountain along the road between Thong Khoun and Ban Naxay in Xaisomboun Province.


The Embassy has received reports of vehicles being fired upon by unidentified assailants. One victim was killed on November 17, and another victim required hospitalization for injuries he sustained from the November 18th attack. The Embassy will inform any situational change when available.


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


FYI, we RONed at Anouvong the night of 9-10 November. Nothing strange noted then. We headed up toLong Tieng, Tuesday noon 10 Nov, but it was suggested that we not continue on through to the PDJ, so we headed back south to Tha Bok and spent the night at Paksane, up to PSV on Wednesday.


Mac

 

[KTMphil]

This is such a shame with the infamous region only just opening up to the public world.

 

[bsacbob]

I hope. It's a knee jerk by the us embassy myself and couple or guys passed through days after this incident with no issues

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[Lone Rider]

Remember that it is close to the Hmong New Year as well as the day that Lao PDR was established some 40 years ago on December 2, 1975. In case you are in Laos, watch out and be careful as the security forces may be jittery in particular after these shooting have taken place.

 

[Rob7711]

Wow ... and we were in Xaysamboun on 15/11/2015 and stayed overnight at Doch Ban Guest House in town. We even stopped at the police station in town to enquire if we could visit Long Cheng the next day and we were informed to come back next morning, it being a Sunday and they were off. The next morning we went back to the police station and we were informed that it was ok for us to go but no written permit was issued to us.

That night after dinner while on the way back to our GH we encountered a police road block in town. We were informed that there was "trouble" but the police did not elaborate further. We on the other hand thought that the road block was routine since a fun fair was in town that day. We also saw a military truck full of armed soldiers moving through town.

The next morning we headed down to Pu Bia Mining and then up to Long Cheng without any issues nor was there any military road blocks along the way.

After a lunch stop in Long Cheng we continued on to Phonsavan via the northern route again without any problems.

 

[KTMphil]

Mac is there a specific area around Long Cheng thats a hot spot? If there is I would have thought its somewhere near the are highlighted on the map below?



lc hmong by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr

Bob


The notice is legit.


Here it is at the Embassy's www site:


http://laos.usembassy.gov/warden_messages.html


Security Message for U.S. Citizens


November 20, 2015


U.S. Embassy Vientiane, Laos


Embassy Personnel Travel Restriction to Xaisomboun Province


U.S. Embassy Vientiane informs U.S. citizens travelling to or residing in Laos that effective immediately, Embassy personnel are prohibited from travelling to Xaisomboun Province due to shooting attacks occured in the evening hours on November 15, 17, and 18, 2015 in the area of Xaisomboun town, which is located 11 kilometers southwest of Phou Bia Mountain along the road between Thong Khoun and Ban Naxay in Xaisomboun Province.


The Embassy has received reports of vehicles being fired upon by unidentified assailants. One victim was killed on November 17, and another victim required hospitalization for injuries he sustained from the November 18th attack. The Embassy will inform any situational change when available.


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


FYI, we RONed at Anouvong the night of 9-10 November. Nothing strange noted then. We headed up toLong Tieng, Tuesday noon 10 Nov, but it was suggested that we not continue on through to the PDJ, so we headed back south to Tha Bok and spent the night at Paksane, up to PSV on Wednesday.


Mac

 

[mactbkk]

Phil

The U.S. Embassy report mentions Thong Khoun, which is about half way between the PBM Site at Nam Ngone/Phou Kham and Anouvong, the new name for Xaysomboun town. I don't know where "Naxay" is located.

Therefore, the "sensitive" area, if it still is, is along the E-W road through Anouvong, but whether it's east or west of town, not enough info to tell.

Mac

 

[KTMphil]

I found Naxay on Auke's new Laos GPS map, which from their direction would indicate this area. I have a Laos friend in Xaysomboun/ Anouvong, so im trying to find out the locals story of events



naxay 2 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr

Phil

The U.S. Embassy report mentions Thong Khoun, which is about half way between the PBM Site at Nam Ngone/Phou Kham and Anouvong, the new name for Xaysomboun town. I don't know where "Naxay" is located.

Therefore, the "sensitive" area, if it still is, is along the E-W road through Anouvong, but whether it's east or west of town, not enough info to tell.

Mac

 

[mactbkk]

Phil

The "Naxay" you point out is just one of probably many in Laos, much like "Vieng Thong," lots of those, too.

Mac

 

[Lone Rider]

Phil

The "Naxay" you point out is just one of probably many in Laos, much like "Vieng Thong," lots of those, too.

Mac

Yes, Mac is right as there are at least 12 villages which are named Naxai and another 5 which are called Naxay. In addition there are quite a few with Naxai or Naxay in the name like Naxay-Gnai, etc. In addition there are probably quite a few more which officially don't exist anymore as Laos has been trying to reduce the number of villages from about 12000 to about 9000 during the period from 2005/2008 till now.

 

[KTMphil]

This is a computer programmer friend who lives in Xaisomboun Province's photo on fb today, with the comment "Time to protect our country". Trying to find out more.



lc guns by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr

 

[KTMphil]

Hot of the press, these are some photo's my friend took at the fighting near Long Cheng a few days back.


Security forces trying to get things back under control

lc 3 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Military personnel being flown in


lc2 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Tempers running high in the village


lc1 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



lc 5 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr

 

[brake034]

Looks like Chinese Type 56's to me.

 

[bsacbob]

Further to the previous report here is another development that may spoil people's chances to reach LS20A, this event may be timed to spoil the opening of the celebrations of the new Xaysomboun district In which Long Cheng is now part of and the forthcoming parades planned later this week, more detail of the parades can be found in the latest Vientiane Times according to Auke.

http://www.bignewsnetwork.com/news/...at-kills-three-soldiers-in-north-central-laos

 

[bsacbob]

Just to update, things still have not improved regarding access to Long Cheng, forum member Pounce, just got turned away just north of Sam Thong he was told it is dangerous to visit at the moment.

 

[Lone Rider]

Not directly related to the Longchaeng area but for sure will have an influence on access to the Longchaeng area:

'Bandits' Shoot Up Passenger Bus in Northern Laos

Unidentified gunmen shot up a passenger bus in northern Laos last week in an incident that officials and witnesses said was the work of bandits in an attack that was thwarted by the actions of the alert driver. The midnight attack on Jan. 14 on Route 13 North in Kasy district, 175 km (105 miles) north of the capital Vientiane, left one of about a dozen passengers in the vehicle injured, but caused no deaths.

"While the bus was moving up a hill, the bandits fired about 50 shots at the vehicle. At first they shot front of the bus, then the side and back of the bus," said a passenger who was on the bus when it was attacked and spoke to RFA's Lao Service on condition of anonymity. "The driver sped up the bus after he realized the bandits were shooting at us," added the passenger.

The bus, which was plying the route between Vientiane and Luangnamtha province in northern Laos, was attacked at Namkhean village near Phoukhoun Mountain, he added. "At first I heard the front window breaking and thought it was the explosion of a tire," said the passenger. "Meanwhile, the driver steered the wheel away from the shooting and passengers fell out of their seats," he said. An official in Kasy district said the local government had "heard of the incident" but had not officially confirmed it. Police are investigating, he added.

"This was done by a group of bad people who might be ordinary robbers, because no one was killed," the official told RFA. "If they had wanted to create unrest, the incident would have been worse than it was," explained the official. "According to the investigation by officials, it seems that they are not skillful with their weapons."

The bus attack in Kasy follows a series of attacks on vehicles passing through central Laos that were revealed to RFA by a retired Lao soldier. In the first incident on Dec. 15, 15 bandits shot two motorcyclists in the Anouvong district of Xaysomboun province, killing one and injuring another. In another incident three days later, bandits shot at a truck transporting beer in Anouvong district, injuring two people in the vehicle, one seriously. Xaysomboun Province had imposed a curfew last month after a spate of violence in November which three government soldiers and three civilians were killed, according to police and other sources.

Source: Radio Free Asia 200116

 

[Pounce]

Just to update, things still have not improved regarding access to Long Cheng, forum member Pounce, just got turned away just north of Sam Thong he was told it is dangerous to visit at the moment.

GPS co ordinates of the checkpoint
N19 12.685 E103 04.255

 

[Lone Rider]

Just got a note from a friend that the road from the north (Phonsavan) to Longchaeng is still closed. He was stopped at the old Checkpoint at Ban Latkhoy near Jar Site No. 3 He was told the road was not safe as there was trouble that way.

 

[KTMphil]

A friend told me N 19.18' E 103.08' is roughly where they ve been stopping people.

 

[Pounce]

GPS co ordinates of the checkpoint
N19 12.685 E103 04.255

 

[KTMphil]

High security for the Laos Prime Minister, new Governor Thorng Loy, visiting the sensitive town of Xaysomboun the other day. I'm told visiting due to upcoming elections.


laos pres 1 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



laos pres 2 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr

 

[mactbkk]

Phil

To be technically correct, the name of the town was changed last year from Xaysomboun to Anouvong.

Mac

 

[KTMphil]

http://www.rfa.org/english/news/laos/new-governor-appointed-to-ensure-security-in-laos-xaysomboun-province-02242016121916.html


Welcome Mr Thorng Loy:


A Lao military officer who was deputy minister of national defense has been appointed governor of Xaysomboun province to tamp down increased unrest since last November, which has left 10 dead, a retired soldier close to a high-ranking officer in the Ministry of National Defense said.
Major General Thongloy Silivong, a member of the Party Central Committee and former chief of the National Defense Academy, was appointed the new party secretary of Xaysomboun province on Feb. 16, replacing Sombath Yialiher.
Thongloy was one of 69 people elected to the Party Central Committee during the 10th Party Congress of the ruling Lao People's Revolutionary Party, the country's most important political event, held in the capital Vientiane in January.
"The appointment of a high-ranking military official to govern the province was expected because of the unrest," the retired soldier, speaking on condition of anonymity, told RFA's Lao Service.
Unrest in the mountainous province in central Laos is nothing new, but recent violent incidents mean it can no longer be ignored because of the effect on local development and the lives of area residents, he said.
Lao authorities imposed a curfew in the north-central part of the province in early December after a spate of violence the previous month in which three government soldiers and three civilians were killed.
Last month, a bomb blast at a road construction site near a work camp outside Pha Nok Kok village, Long Cheang district, killed two Chinese officials and injured a third, and forced work on the project to stop temporarily. Previously, soldiers defused another bomb on the same road in Namphanoy village on Dec. 30.

Anti-government group
While authorities blamed the events on bandits, a source close to the government told RFA that an anti-government resistance group was behind the killings, a rarity in the tightly ruled country where no known armed rebel groups have operated in recent years.
"It is well known that the province is the base of an anti-government group, and no one can deny it," the retired soldier said. "The reason the government has appointed Major General Thongloy to oversee that province is because he's not a hard-line soldier, but a politics-minded one who will focus on a peaceful strategy."
Some believe that ethnic Hmong who live in the province may be the ones behind the recent attacks, he said.
The Nam Ngiep 1, a 290-megawatt hydropower dam being built in Xaysomboun and neighboring Bolikhamxay province, has forced about 300 Hmong families to relocate to two other villages in Xaysomboun.
"The villagers did not want to be moved because they were not satisfied with the compensation offered to them," he said.
Behind the scenes
At first, General Souvone Leuangbounmy, a military hard-liner, was supposed to be appointed governor of Xaysomboun province, but the government decided on Major General Thongloy to work out a peaceful solution, the retired soldier said.
Thongloy was not endorsed by former President Khamtay Siphandone, who has played a key role in selecting new Central Party Committee members and the 11 Politburo members. He campaigned hard before the party congress to ensure that certain candidates were elected.
"Before the 10th Party Congress, former president [Khamtay], backed by Vietnam, worked hard to get involved in the selection of the new Central Party Committee members and eliminate any pro-Chinese leaders," the retired soldier said.
The 92-year-old worked so hard behind the scenes that he fell ill after the congress and is currently receiving medical treatment in Vietnam, he said.
"After the congress, it was clear that Mr. Khamtay still had the power and influence to decide the nation's future and is one of only two people that can determine the destiny of the country," he said.
Xaysomboun was once a base for thousands of ethnic minority Hmong who fought under U.S. Central Intelligence Agency advisers during a so-called "secret war" backing the Lao Royal Army against Pathet Lao communist forces.
After the communist takeover in 1975, a ragtag band of Hmong resisters hid in the jungle, fearing government persecution for having fought for the pro-American side during the war.
Reported by RFA's Lao Service. Translated by Ounkeo Souksavanh. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

 

[Lone Rider]

One Chinese Dead, Three Wounded In Attack

Source: Yahoo News through J&C Expat Services Laos

A Chinese national was killed and three others wounded in an attack in Laos, state media reported Wednesday, the second time this year workers from China have been targeted in the resource-rich nation. The assault took place late Tuesday on property belonging to a Chinese-backed company in Laos’ Luang Prabang province, Xinhua news agency said, without naming the business. The report did not say who was behind the violence or why the workers may have been targeted. But it said a pick-up truck and bus passing through the same district were also attacked later that night, leaving at least five Laos nationals injured. Laos police were dispatched to “wipe out the militants,” the report said.

The district where the attack took place is north of Xaisomboun, a province that has seen a spate of deadly bomb and gun attacks in recent months. In January, two Chinese nationals were reportedly killed, including an employee of a Chinese mining company, and one injured in a suspected bomb attack in a mountainous region, prompting a travel warning from the US Embassy in Vientiane. In the past, the area has hosted a shadowy insurgency by ethnic Hmong against Laos’ Communist rulers. The rebels are believed to be the remnants of anti-Communist militias recruited by the United States during its secret operations in Laos amid the Vietnam War.

Neither Laos nor China’s Communist leaders touched on a suspected motive behind the assaults against Chinese nationals. However Beijing’s growing footprint in the poor nation has stirred unease in among locals in recent years. China has invested heavily in Laos and funnelled its water, forestry and mineral extracts back to the mainland.

 

[Lone Rider]

One Chinese Dead, Three Wounded In Attack

Source: Yahoo News through J&C Expat Services Laos

A Chinese national was killed and three others wounded in an attack in Laos, state media reported Wednesday, the second time this year workers from China have been targeted in the resource-rich nation. The assault took place late Tuesday on property belonging to a Chinese-backed company in Laos' Luang Prabang province, Xinhua news agency said, without naming the business. The report did not say who was behind the violence or why the workers may have been targeted. But it said a pick-up truck and bus passing through the same district were also attacked later that night, leaving at least five Laos nationals injured. Laos police were dispatched to "wipe out the militants," the report said.

The district where the attack took place is north of Xaisomboun, a province that has seen a spate of deadly bomb and gun attacks in recent months. In January, two Chinese nationals were reportedly killed, including an employee of a Chinese mining company, and one injured in a suspected bomb attack in a mountainous region, prompting a travel warning from the US Embassy in Vientiane. In the past, the area has hosted a shadowy insurgency by ethnic Hmong against Laos' Communist rulers. The rebels are believed to be the remnants of anti-Communist militias recruited by the United States during its secret operations in Laos amid the Vietnam War.

Neither Laos nor China's Communist leaders touched on a suspected motive behind the assaults against Chinese nationals. However Beijing's growing footprint in the poor nation has stirred unease in among locals in recent years. China has invested heavily in Laos and funnelled its water, forestry and mineral extracts back to the mainland.

Another story about the same incident from Radio Free Asia

Construction of Nam Ngum 3 dam foments unrest as local people fear relocation and another bus shooting occurs on Route 13.

Chinese Man Killed and Others Injured in Laos Shootings

A Chinese man was killed and eight other people were injured this week in a three near-simultaneous shootings about 125 miles north of the Lao capital of Vientiane, RFA's Lao Service has learned. On March 1, a shooting in Phoukhoun district in Luang Prabang province killed a Chinese man and injured three other Chinese nationals who were working for a logging company that is clearing land for the Nam Ngum 3 hydropower project, according to a retired soldier with high ranking contacts and Lao authorities. "On March first, a group of armed people shot the Chinese workers around 8 p.m. as they were logging in Viengkham village in Luang Prabang province' Phoukhoun district," said the retired soldier who spoke on condition of anonymity. "The shooting left one Chinese dead and three Chinese injured."

The shooting comes as local villagers are becoming increasingly restive over construction of the dam on the Ngum River. It is unclear who carried out the shooting, but the dam has caused ill feelings in the area as it will uproot the local communities and destroy their way of life.Those feelings of ill will are exacerbated as the villagers are prohibited from cutting the timber themselves. "The villagers disagree with the government's decision to have the Chinese to do the logging near their community, and they do not want to be removed from their homes," the retired soldier said. "The conflict has taken place since last year." Dam building is at a fever pace on rivers throughout Southeast Asia. Laos has made hydroelectric power production a priority as the government wants the nation to become one of the top exporters of electricity in the region.

On the same day as the shooting near the dam, what are described as bandits mounted two separate attacks on on a public bus and a truck traveling on Route 13 North also in the Phoukhoun district. Five were injured in those attacks and they are being treated in Luang Prabang hospital, health officials told RFA. One of the injured sent for treatment in Vientiane is a soldier in charge of security on the bus. He is now being treated at a military hospital in the capital city, according to authorities. Luang Prabang authorities told RFA that soldiers have been sent to hunt the bandits.

That shooting marks the second time in 2016 that people described as bandits have attacked a bus on Route 13. The road connects Vientiane to Luang Prabang in the north and roughly follows the line of the Mekong River down to the border with Cambodia. Unrest in the mountainous provinces in central Laos is nothing new, but recent violent incidents have made it difficult for the government to ignore because of the effect on local development and the lives of area residents.

Major General Thongloy Silivong, a member of the Party Central Committee and former chief of the National Defense Academy, was appointed the new party secretary of nearby Xaysomboun province on Feb. 16. His selection is widely seen as a move to tamp down violence there. Lao authorities imposed a curfew in the north-central part of the province in early December after a spate of violence the previous month in which three government soldiers and three civilians were killed. Last month, a bomb blast at a road construction site near a work camp outside Pha Nok Kok village, Long Cheang district, killed two Chinese officials and injured a third, and forced work on the project to stop temporarily. Previously, soldiers defused another bomb on the same road in Namphanoy village on Dec. 30.

Reported by RFA's Lao Service. Translated by Ounkeo Souksavanh. Written in English by Brooks Boliek.

 

[mactbkk]

Here's another "who to believe" gram, this one from Rebecca Sommer. One reason why travel is restricted up Xaysomboun way.

FYI, Muang Om, LS-22, mentioned below, we have a couple good TLCB school projects in this valley. Neat area, lots of cattle.


Mac

http://unpo.org/article/19074



April 8, 2016
[h=2]Hmong: Laos Military Incursion into Indigenous Territory[/h]

​

Photo Courtesy of Tholakhong and Bounsa Phensenghack​

Reports from Laos indicate that the Lao military, with the assistance of Vietnam, is conducting a sustained incursion into the Hmong ChaoFa Indigenous community's territory, isolated areas where many Hmong have fled to avoid persecution at the hands of the regime. The regime has been accused of expropriating the Hmong territory for economic benefit. The leader of the Hmong in the affected region, Mr Chong Lor Her, has called on the international community to provide immediate humanitarian assistance to the Hmong people.

Reports have emerged of an ongoing incursion by the Laotian military into the Hmong ChaoFa Indigenous community's territory in the Phou Bia region of Laos. Phou Bia, the highest mountain in Laos, is located in the Annamese Cordillera, at the southernmost end of the Xiangkhoang Plateau in Xiangkhouang Province. Many Hmong fled to mountainous and jungle regions of Laos in an attempt to seek refuge from continuing persecution and violence, and it is estimated that between 2000-12000 Hmongs are still displaced in these remote areas.During the Vietnamese war, the Hmong people were recruited by US forces to counter the invasion of Northern Laos, and to this day are subject to continued discrimination manifesting in routine violations of their basic rights, including uncompensated land confiscation, arbitrary arrests and denial of their economic, social and cultural rights. These abuses are exacerbated by the oppressive and authoritarian nature of the ruling Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPDR), whose regime is responsible for the suppression of freedoms of expression and association, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances. The ruling party are also accused of using rural development and poverty alleviation as a pretense for an increase in environmentally unsustainable activities in Hmong territory, including dam building projects and illegal wood logging.According to the Hmong community, the incursion into their territory began in November 2015 and since then the situation has deteriorated. Sources say that there are currently 300 Lao soldiers and one military tank stationed in Muang Om, along the road from Moung Ong to Moung Cha, and one military base in Moung Cha. The US embassy in Vientiane has issued a travel warning for some of the affected areas, including Phou Bia and Moung Cha. Furthermore, it is claimed that the Vietnamese military are assisting in controlling the area of Ha Qhoua, south of Phong Savan. Vietnam, along with Thailand, have collaboration agreements with Laos that involve the forced repatriation of Hmong refugees along with joint military campaigns within Laos to target Hmong communities seeking refuge in jungle areas.Mr Chong Lor Her, leader of the Hmong community in the affected regions, has said that the LPDR government's agenda of invading Hmong territory is a continuing violation of their economic, social and cultural rights. International legal norms regarding the protection of the rights of indigenous peoples were established under the 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Persons, signed by 144 countries including Laos. However, the situation of the Hmong is particularly difficult, as Laos does not recognize them as an indigenous people. As a result, they have failed to implement any special legislation in this regard. Without such explicit recognition of their status, they remain vulnerable to ongoing land confiscation, natural resource exploitation, and other abuses of their cultural and religious rights. Mr Chong Lor Her has called upon the international community to provide immediate humanitarian assistance to alleviate the desperate situation of the Hmong people.

 

[Lone Rider]

I got a message yesterday that a group of riders attempted to go to Longchaeng from Phonsavan but they were stopped at one of the checkpoints and told that Longchaeng is still off-limits.

Also a snippet from the UN Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) in Laos discussed during the April meeting between the UN and the International NGO Community active in Laos. Within the UN system in Laos very little is known about the reasons for the attacks other than what is shown below - not a lot but, as the Lao Government has not released information about what is the driving force between the attacks, it is better than nothing:

A group armed with small arms

Has basic IED making capability

Attacks are hit and run – in darkness

No apparent recognition sought or ideology expressed – Hmong

No evidence of theft/kidnapping

Chinese interests have been targeted

No rhetoric related to UN

Additional security checkpoints

 

[CraigBKK]

Took a ride from Phonsavan down to the Army checkpoint at N 19.21155 E 103.07011 this afternoon.

Was told that I couldn't pass due to the road being built and its current poor condition due to it being the wet season. No mention of "Foreigners not allowed in".

The men at the post obviously did not want me there and suggested I "Returned now before it rains" even though the sky was bright and sunny. When I said I wanted to talk with the soldiers first I was told I couldn't as they were 'working'.

Amazing landscape along the side of the track down the checkpoint, virgin forest on karst rock.



On the way back I popped into Ban Naphia to buy a coffee spoon made from old bombs. Looks like a certain motorcycle touring company have had key rings commissioned there too...

 

[Lone Rider]

After having talked to various people during my last trip to Laos a few weeks ago, the consensus is that it is possible again to visit Longchaeng - LS 20a. However, you need to bring your passport - No Passport is No Entry. By the way, don't lose your passport as someone did while on his way to Longchaeng as this will make the authorities very unhappy and it will take ages to get a replacement travel documents to get out of the country - apparently it took him more than a week getting a police report, getting a copy of the form you fill in when you enter Laos, etc. before he was able to return to Thailand.

The track from Nam Ngone (the gold mining place south of Longchaeng) is OK but the track from the north from Phonsavan is very bad at the moment due to heavy rains and some landslides

 

[KTMphil]

Things starting to get busy again in Long Cheng. Reports are if you have your passport, its do-able again.

 

[Lone Rider]

Just saw a SPOT message (sent yesterday evening) that my mate (UK National) is staying in the guesthouse in Longchaeng so it is open again for visitors but bring your passport.




and now just got an email message: No problem getting here the road is better than I remember, soon as we checked in the army came, all ok just wanted money

 

[Lone Rider]

The latest news from a few days ago is that improvised explosive devices may have been planted along the roads - so be very careful in case you travel in that area.

Laos Travel Alert issued by the USA State Department - LAST UPDATED: OCTOBER 5, 2016

The Department of State alerts U.S. citizens to the risks of travel in parts of Laos due to the unpredictable security situation. U.S. Embassy personnel are restricted from traveling in certain areas due to reports of violence, combined with the unusually heavy presence of Lao government security forces in some areas. This replaces the Travel Alert issued on July 1, 2016, and expires on December 30, 2016.

The U.S. Embassy in Vientiane continues to restrict Embassy staff from travel in the following areas:

Road 13 from Km 220 north of Kasi in Vientiane Province to Km 270 at the Phou Khoun junction in Luang Prabang Province
the “new road” from the Kasi junction to the Road 4 junction between Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng
all of Xaisomboun Province

The Embassy continues to permit personnel to:

travel between Vientiane and Vang Vieng on Road 13
travel northward from Luang Prabang
travel by air to Luang Prabang

 

[KTMphil]

Have they closed Long Cheng?

 

[Lone Rider]

Not as far as I know - just being warned that IED's might have been planted along the road.

 

[mactbkk]

Which road is the real question.

-- Rt 13N south of Vang Vieng-Long Tieng?

-- Tha Bok-Nam Ngone?

-- Nam Ngone-Anouvong?

-- Nam Ngone-Long Tieng?

-- Long Tieng-Sam Thong, and on to PDJ?

Details not reported....

Mac

 

[bsacbob]

Hi Mac,
the easiest route imho coming from the south from Tha-Bok its reasonably well maintained because of the mining area and tarmac 70% of the way. Coming from the north the road is plagued with landslides and in Sam Thong they can be a little frosty.

 

[Toyota Uncle]

Hi all,

First things first - a big Thank You for all the information so freely shared - it helped heaps when I was doing homework planning my Long Tieng trip.

I was there on Wed 9 Nov - Thu 10 Nov 2016.
Routing was Vientiane - Thabok - Longsane - Hom - Xaysomboune - Long Tieng in 2 Ford Ranger double-cab pickups.
After Long Tieng I went to Phonsavan.

No security issues.

It was raining so there was plenty of mud and we got stuck a few times.

A video of my wanderings on the morning of 10 Nov 2016 on the runway is here:
https://vimeo.com/191236512

Later we made a video of ourselves driving on the Long Tieng runway by drone.
A Lao Army major saw us, rode his little moto towards us and stopped us.
My driver / fixer / guide then produced a letter from the chief of Long Tieng and all was well.

 

[bsacbob]

First of all welcome to Ride Asia, not many people are brave enough to shoot video in LC, and never heard of anybody getting away with a drone on the runway, well done ....

 

[Toyota Uncle]

First of all welcome to Ride Asia, not many people are brave enough to shoot video in LC, and never heard of anybody getting away with a drone on the runway, well done ....

Thanks!

When I was wandering around alone in the morning I just casually used the phone to shoot the videos. Looks like I was blissfully unaware of the consequences!

I also had a big shoulder bag full of camera gear, and when I took a photo of the old control tower structure the army sentry yelled out and signalled no photo taking so I slowly stowed the camera (since I had a shot already). He did not approach me so I continued ambling along making more videos with the phone (not surreptitiously but quite clearly and openly).

The drone belongs to an Italian documentary crew that came along for the trip. It wasn't really planned that way - about a week before my trip the guide e-mailed me to say if it was OK for them to come along and I agreed. We met the team on the night before leaving Vientiane and talked about how things would go. And so here we are!

I don't have the drone footage yet although the guys agreed to let me have some stills or maybe even a few seconds of video. The drone took off from the old temple and actually managed to capture the army major approaching and stopping us. So there's some interesting footage there!

These are the guys making the documentary:
http://www.theremnantsdoc.com/

Trailer: