Monday 22 December 2014

Laos Video


I tried very hard to cut this down but it really deserves so much more time.

Thursday 11 December 2014

Laos part 2

Mountains.

Mountains mountains mountains mountains mountains mountains mountains mountains mountains mountains mountains mountains mountains mountains mountains mountains mountains mountains mountains mountains mountains mountains mountains mountains mountains mountains.

I like mountains. Not sure if I've mentioned that before.

Don't get me wrong, there's natural beauty to be found everywhere. Perhaps it's just the biker in me - we all love twisty roads.

So I got up early, ish, and left Vientiane. It wasn't long before the limestone cliffs appeared.





At some point I ran into Rob in his Landrover. He has somehow managed to do Netherlands to Laos in only 2 months, including a crossing of China. We spent a while trading information on road conditions. He told me that the next day I was going to a reach a junction. I was planning on just keeping to the main road through the mountains but he said it would be better to turn off and take a smaller road, that it had only just been upgraded to a sealed road and was in perfect condition. Given past experience I have an allergic reaction whenever anyone talks about 'very good asphalt' so decided to just carry on with my original idea.



I got to a town called Vang Vieng that night. It's a great place to be if you happen to be 18 years old on your first holiday without Mummy and Daddy but probably not worth it otherwise. But the scenery all around is fantastic. I like mountains. And rivers.






There wasn't much traffic. Probably for the best since the few cars and trucks which were around all seemed to be driven by blind, quadriplegic baboons. I sure I had my helmet camera running for the worst moment but now I can't find it amongst the ~225GB of video I apparently took in Laos so you'll have to make do with the story instead. It was on a narrow mountain road somewhere, very twisty, almost no room for overtaking even for me (I can actually accelerate fairly quickly when required). Trucks have absolutely no chance of overtaking anything. I was going down hill, a steep hill as well, along a straight section that was maybe only 100m long. Two trucks were coming the other direction already half way along this short straight. One then decided to pull out to pass the other. Uphill. No chance of doing that before the corner at the top. Heavily loaded trucks do not accelerate especially up a steep slope.

Now, nobody was going very fast - I was going maybe 40-50km/h, the trucks even less. But downhill on a wet road (it had been raining recently) my braking power what somewhat reduced. The road was too narrow to pull over, it was carved into the side of a cliff. I came to a stop head on with the truck when we were less than 1 metre apart. Idiot.







I really can't even begin to describe this place. It actually was everything I imagined it was going to be. I would spend hours just sat around gazing at the mountains from some overlook or a village clinging on to the side of a ravine in some gravity defying way. I passed countless tour buses along the way but I kind of feel sorry for all the people on them. I know everyone has a different way of doing things and I don't want to criticise anyone for their choice. But a place like this really deserves to be admired for as long as possible and not through a pane of glass. And never mind the homicidal truck drivers the roads are so much fun on a bike, the back seat of a coach must be torture.

All things combine to mean that it is really slow progress through the roads. But that has its own benefits. The temptation is just to run between towns but going slowly means that that may not actually work out. One day I got caught out in the rain still a long way from the next major town. So I found some guest house in a tiny village on top of a mountain. The next morning I woke up to this.


I often get asked about communication, how is it possible to cope when you can't talk to anyone. In this village not a single person spoke English, the only way to talk was by pointing and grunting. But honestly, why would you care?




I had a bit more of a challenging day ahead.



Landslides everywhere. After hanging around here for a while I couldn't help but think a few days back to my conversation with Rob. I was a long way past the junction where he said I should turn off the main road. Maybe he was right?




For a long way after this the tarmac road was covered with dirt from the landslide. It was been raining a lot recently which had turned the dirt into this horrible mud, some of the worst I've encountered. It was so slippery and stretched on for so long it was one of the most dangerous roads I've ever been on. A 4x4 was following me too closely. Going very slowly around a mud coated corner I lost grip on both wheels. I managed to straighten up and retain control but the car behind me didn't have enough space to respond properly. He slammed on the brakes and ended up spinning off.

20 minutes later having slid sideways around every single corner and nearly crashed more times than I can count I stopped to consult the map and consider my options. I was thinking about turning back and taking the other road but eventually decided to just carry on. I got back on the bike but was unable to leave.

The road had a very slight camber and was covered in mud. Every time I put any power at all on the back wheel it would spin and slide down the road. There was actually nothing that I could do to get moving. I couldn't even push it since my shoes didn't have enough grip for me to even stand up straight. After a long time of gently rolling the bike back to straighten it up, trying again, sliding out and ending up sideways once more I ran out of tarmac and the bike found itself in the ditch to the side of the road. Here the stones and vegetation actually provided enough grip to get moving again.

Thankfully the mud disappeared not very long down the road. Once again the surface was excellent and I was able to just enjoy riding.




I'm not sure how long it took to get to Luang Prabang but that's where I ended up eventually. A world heritage city on the banks of the Mekong.













What a place. I was still concerned about time so I only had 2 days here but it was easily worth a lot more. Watching the sunset over the Mekong with a BeerLao is one of life's great pleasures.



Luang Prabang used to the the capital. The old palace is now a museum and is more than worth the entrance fee. No photography is allowed inside which is a shame but is just an incentive to go there yourself.








I think I've already said that Laos is a very laid back place. Luang Prabang is really the perfect example of that. Even though it is such a touristy place it is just a fantastic place to be. There is every chance that Luang Prabang is worth the trip to Laos all by itself.



Back to mountains. More mountains. I like mountains.

Lots of roadworks today. Nothing too difficult, just lots of waiting around. They like to close down the road for 1 or 2 hours then let everyone through at once in a mad melee. Trouble it everybody is just a bit impatient. So at the barrier there is no orderly queueing, when someone new arrives they pile down the front so eventually the entire road is blocked. Not really a problem until a truck with construction material wants to come through. Not really a problem until they open up the road again and the free for all begins. At least being on a bike you can get to the front and pick a way through the chaos.









So what if the road is in bad condition, the scenery is still phenomenal.

On some mountain pass I ran into Lao Ji, Julie and 2 year old Simba from China. They were on the start of a 6 month side-car expedition. That's the way you're meant to do it. Too bad that Simba won't remember any of it, although I suspect it won't be the last trip they do like this. Anybody who says they can't do mad trips around the world because of family commitments - of course you can. You just need to think about it a little bit.



Schools. In the last entry I said that you could go around a corner and find yourself in a sea of children go to and from school. Perhaps I didn't really get across the scale of what I was talking about. This video starts about 5 or 6 minutes after I met the first of them going the opposite direction.



So by now I was right in the north of Laos.



I couldn't go any further north so it was time to think about heading over to the Thai border once more.



The dramatic mountains had by this point turned into rolling green hills. Rather than small villages impossibly built on top of a ridge they were now a bit more spread out and based around rice agriculture again. But it was still beautiful. And there were still constant reminders of the appalling driving standards here.







In Luang Namtha I ran into a couple of other bikers who had just completed the first unescorted crossing of China, a huge milestone for overland travel. Chris had ridden through Laos 15 years ago and talked about how much it has changed in that time. I can well believe it. The quality of the roads I had been on didn't really seem to align with the overall standards of wealth. It's all down to the Chinese, they are spending so much on infrastructure projects around here trying to improve links to the rest of Asia.



There was a border crossing to China nearby which Chris suggested it was possible to walk through up to the actual border line without a visa. Worth a go.







Well, I got close but the Laos border guards wouldn't let me through. I have a lot of respect for them though. They said that the rules didn't allow me to do that. Although it's disappointing I couldn't get up there at least they were honest and weren't fishing for bribes. If someone says "these are the rules and we can't change them" I can accept that. It's so much better than them making up some rules and then asking for a donation to the Christmas party to look the other way. Such a different experience from most other borders I've been across.




Then it was only a days ride over to the last town before the border.



This happened only a few minutes before I arrived. The driver is the guy in the red shirt, remarkably completely unharmed.



One more mountain pass on an excellent road. But I had a problem.



I never worked out why but petrol stations in Laos don't work if it's raining. And it wasn't even raining, it was sort of drizzling very slightly. But every time I stopped they couldn't help me. And there were lots of very, very steep hills. I had to coast down them to try and save fuel. By the time I found somewhere to fill up the tranny took 18.5 litres - the tank is 19 litres.




And so one last night by the banks of the Mekong, much smaller now, before leaving Laos and going back to Thailand.



In the foreground is the old vehicle ferry. I was quite looking forward to taking the ferry across the Mekong in the morning but it turns out they have built a new bridge which has only been open a few months. Of course that has destroyed the need for a ferry service. Oh well. Bridge it will have to be.



I miss Laos.

And it's not just the mountains I miss. I think I've already said that I'm not really a city person, I much prefer small towns and villages, but since going to Laos my list of cities that I actually want to go back to has trebled in size. Granted there was only 1 city on the list before but I still thinks that's impressive.

And the people are so lovely. Huge grins and very welcoming even in tourist centres. There has been talk of the Laotians charging foreigners as much as they can get away with. Sure, anyone working in transportation should be treated with scepticism but I generally didn't really have any problems. Case in point, along the road to the new bridge there was a small town which has sprung up out of nowhere. Border towns are notoriously dishonest but there I bought 2 bottles or water and a pack of cigarettes for less than $1, the cheapest I got anywhere in the country. The closest thing I have to a criticism of Laos is that the food isn't particularly imaginative, but considering that I'm British I think that might be a bit hypocritical.

Laos only opened up to tourism in 1989 and there is still a lot of talk from guide books that it is an undiscovered place. I think this just validates my opinion that the best place for Lonely Planet and the likes is the bin. Laos is by no means undiscovered. The amount of tourism is staggering, particularly Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng and Vientiane. But the sort of people coming seems to be really mixed, not just the expected banana pancakers but families of all ages, people on retirement round-the-worlds. But the best thing is that the Laotians seem to have integrated this new source of income into their culture very well, certainly a lot better than neighbouring Cambodia or Vietnam. It's kind of like life just continues and as a guest you are free to join in to the extent that you want.

I've never used up the whole of a visa before. But I feel like a missed so much. I would have gladly staying up in the mountains for longer but also central Laos I sort of rushed through. Between Pakse and Vientiane I didn't really see anything which I regret now. I'm sort of heading the wrong direction now but I look forward to going back one day.