Its a long boring ride north from Chiang Mai to the Laos border, not helped by stopping in Chiang Rai to see if I could get any chain lube which wasted a good hour. I checked in about 10 bike shops, none of which had any chain lube with most suggesting an equivalent of WD40. I arrived in Chiang Khong by the Mekong river around 4pm and hoped I could get across the river, get the paperwork done and make some miles till sundown but its never that easy. Getting across the river involved paying 500THB, taking all my luggage off and letting a gang of teenagers tug and yank the bike into a narrow motor boat. I spotted an actual ferry crossing over so I said I'd rather it went on that one however I was quickly informed that that ferry was for trucks and cars only and would cost 2,500THB. Sometime I just wish I did a little bit more research so I don't get shafted so much. So, somehow, we get across the river and I'm dumped onto a muddy bank to sort the bike and luggage out while being stared at by a bunch of truckers.
As soon as I start riding, they're at it again, this time driving straight at me instead of just weaving between sides of the road. And then I remember that they drive on the right side of the road here...oops. I eventually find the Immigration office and have to stump up 1,500THB for the Laos Visa. With filling up the tank twice today, this is fast becoming the most expensive day yet. I'm also informed that Customs have buggered off for the day so I need to stay here in Huay Xai and get the bike paperwork done in the morning. Wandering around the town, I meet a couple of posh English lads straight out of school who have decided they are going to buy motorbikes here and ride around. They haven't got the faintest idea what they're doing however. I also notice just how patronising some of the tourists are to the locals and overhear such gems as 'oh, your English is sooo good, well done'. The hotel I end up in is run (if you can call it that) by a man lying on his back watching a totally blaring TV set from where he yells various orders to people.
I get the bike cleared ok the following morning and Customs even want to check the engine/frame numbers which doesn't happen often. The backpackers here mostly take a boat for 2 days down the Mekon river till Luang Prabang however that sounds like hell as you're only alloted a tiny space to occupy for the duration. I planned on riding untill I got to Luang Prabang however find out that despite the initial section of road being quite fast and new till near the China border, further on however the road just gets too bad to make any decent time on. I came across 4 huge elephants being riden along the road but every time I got close to take a picture, the one at the rear wanted to turn around and looked like it was getting freaked. At the turn off for the road to China, it started raining very heavily so I popped in to a restaurant to shelter. It was about lunchtime and figured if I was going to be here for a while I might as well eat but the entire family were glued to a TV watching a movie on DVD and finding it far more amusing than bothering to serve anyone. Eventually a woman got up and started cooking so I figured I might get something now, but once she'd finished, she dished it out to the family and they all started scoffing it up.
Having given up any more thoughts of lunch, I decided to ride up to the China border to have a little look though it really started chucking it down once again and I was torn between turning around or keeping going. I sheltered under a narrow bridge of a Chinese Cigarette factory for a while but decided I might as well get wetter and carry on as it wasn't too far. As I got nearer, every sign was in Chinese and before the border, there were lots of shops with trucks queuing up on the road. I spied a booth to my left with several uniformed officials inside and rode closer. There was a barrier in front of me and the guys in the booth were shouting at me to park and walk over but I rode over to them much to their annoyance as I was soaking wet. One of them shouted at me for my passport but I explained that I didn't want to go to China, just take a look at the border. He then said something along the lines of "fucking tourist" and told me to get lost.
Thankfully the rain eventually died out as I resumed my journey south but the road conditions got worse. Instead of nice wide tarmac, there was now narrow roads which looked like the Sommne on a bad day with potholes the size of the Lochnagar Crater. Ok I'm exaggerating a little but it was pretty hard going especially with vehicles swerving all over the place trying to avoid the potholes in the road, animals taking a liking to my front wheels, loose gravel etc. I only get as far as Oudomxay having covered 330kms in 6 hours and after finding its more of the same for another 4 hours, decide to call it a night there.
Once again, I manage to get a room in a hotel run by an obnoxious twat watching TV horizontally. Its actually not a bad room but its the fact that 2L of fuel have disappeared from my tank the following morning that particularly ticks me off. The day doesn't get much better though. About an hour into the run, I was approaching a corner when 2 guys on a moped came round it towards me on my side of the road. I had a split second to react but it wasn't enough time to get out his way. The moped hit my left side and I felt something impact my boot and then I managed to come to a stop. I looked round seeing the two guys about 25m way on the other side of the road with bits of bike all over the place. I put the sidestand down, got off and marched up to the rider and gave him a total bollocking. Despite my Lao being a bit rusty, I believe he got the message that I wasn't best pleased with him and suggested that maybe he ought to stay on his own side of the road in future. I'd had a quick look at my bike and bizarrely I couldn't see any damage, though the sole of my left boot had detached form the upper so I wasn't best pleased. I looked at the moped and saw that the metal basket was bent to hell and had gone into the headlight, the full left side of the fairing was off and the gear pedal was now facing the wrong way- had my foot done that? I was glad I was wearing my boots even if one of them was now wrecked. I figured my knee must have done the rest even though I couldn't feel any pain, maybe the knee protection had saved it? surveying the damage, I actually felt sorry for the moped rider despite it being his fault. I saw him trying to bend his gear pedal back with a rock so I gave him my mole grips which soon had it facing the right way. Amazingly the bike still seemed to work and he rode it around testing it. I gave them a handful of zip ties to hold the rest of the stuff on, we shook hands and I left them to it. I figure after my similar accident in Acapulco and now this, two of my lives are up and now need to be doubly careful on these roads. Later on, a chicken made a bee line for my front wheel but I figured that I wasn't pulling any evasive maneuvers on this road- unfortunately I saw a few feathers in my mirror.
As soon as I start riding, they're at it again, this time driving straight at me instead of just weaving between sides of the road. And then I remember that they drive on the right side of the road here...oops. I eventually find the Immigration office and have to stump up 1,500THB for the Laos Visa. With filling up the tank twice today, this is fast becoming the most expensive day yet. I'm also informed that Customs have buggered off for the day so I need to stay here in Huay Xai and get the bike paperwork done in the morning. Wandering around the town, I meet a couple of posh English lads straight out of school who have decided they are going to buy motorbikes here and ride around. They haven't got the faintest idea what they're doing however. I also notice just how patronising some of the tourists are to the locals and overhear such gems as 'oh, your English is sooo good, well done'. The hotel I end up in is run (if you can call it that) by a man lying on his back watching a totally blaring TV set from where he yells various orders to people.
I get the bike cleared ok the following morning and Customs even want to check the engine/frame numbers which doesn't happen often. The backpackers here mostly take a boat for 2 days down the Mekon river till Luang Prabang however that sounds like hell as you're only alloted a tiny space to occupy for the duration. I planned on riding untill I got to Luang Prabang however find out that despite the initial section of road being quite fast and new till near the China border, further on however the road just gets too bad to make any decent time on. I came across 4 huge elephants being riden along the road but every time I got close to take a picture, the one at the rear wanted to turn around and looked like it was getting freaked. At the turn off for the road to China, it started raining very heavily so I popped in to a restaurant to shelter. It was about lunchtime and figured if I was going to be here for a while I might as well eat but the entire family were glued to a TV watching a movie on DVD and finding it far more amusing than bothering to serve anyone. Eventually a woman got up and started cooking so I figured I might get something now, but once she'd finished, she dished it out to the family and they all started scoffing it up.
Having given up any more thoughts of lunch, I decided to ride up to the China border to have a little look though it really started chucking it down once again and I was torn between turning around or keeping going. I sheltered under a narrow bridge of a Chinese Cigarette factory for a while but decided I might as well get wetter and carry on as it wasn't too far. As I got nearer, every sign was in Chinese and before the border, there were lots of shops with trucks queuing up on the road. I spied a booth to my left with several uniformed officials inside and rode closer. There was a barrier in front of me and the guys in the booth were shouting at me to park and walk over but I rode over to them much to their annoyance as I was soaking wet. One of them shouted at me for my passport but I explained that I didn't want to go to China, just take a look at the border. He then said something along the lines of "fucking tourist" and told me to get lost.
Thankfully the rain eventually died out as I resumed my journey south but the road conditions got worse. Instead of nice wide tarmac, there was now narrow roads which looked like the Sommne on a bad day with potholes the size of the Lochnagar Crater. Ok I'm exaggerating a little but it was pretty hard going especially with vehicles swerving all over the place trying to avoid the potholes in the road, animals taking a liking to my front wheels, loose gravel etc. I only get as far as Oudomxay having covered 330kms in 6 hours and after finding its more of the same for another 4 hours, decide to call it a night there.
Once again, I manage to get a room in a hotel run by an obnoxious twat watching TV horizontally. Its actually not a bad room but its the fact that 2L of fuel have disappeared from my tank the following morning that particularly ticks me off. The day doesn't get much better though. About an hour into the run, I was approaching a corner when 2 guys on a moped came round it towards me on my side of the road. I had a split second to react but it wasn't enough time to get out his way. The moped hit my left side and I felt something impact my boot and then I managed to come to a stop. I looked round seeing the two guys about 25m way on the other side of the road with bits of bike all over the place. I put the sidestand down, got off and marched up to the rider and gave him a total bollocking. Despite my Lao being a bit rusty, I believe he got the message that I wasn't best pleased with him and suggested that maybe he ought to stay on his own side of the road in future. I'd had a quick look at my bike and bizarrely I couldn't see any damage, though the sole of my left boot had detached form the upper so I wasn't best pleased. I looked at the moped and saw that the metal basket was bent to hell and had gone into the headlight, the full left side of the fairing was off and the gear pedal was now facing the wrong way- had my foot done that? I was glad I was wearing my boots even if one of them was now wrecked. I figured my knee must have done the rest even though I couldn't feel any pain, maybe the knee protection had saved it? surveying the damage, I actually felt sorry for the moped rider despite it being his fault. I saw him trying to bend his gear pedal back with a rock so I gave him my mole grips which soon had it facing the right way. Amazingly the bike still seemed to work and he rode it around testing it. I gave them a handful of zip ties to hold the rest of the stuff on, we shook hands and I left them to it. I figure after my similar accident in Acapulco and now this, two of my lives are up and now need to be doubly careful on these roads. Later on, a chicken made a bee line for my front wheel but I figured that I wasn't pulling any evasive maneuvers on this road- unfortunately I saw a few feathers in my mirror.
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