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The first photo inside Laos

First stop was to find somewhere for breakfast and sort out where I was going to end up this evening. Found a nice little place on the right just down the road, had some good food and sorted myself out for the ride to Sayaboury along the 4A

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Breakfast

The 4A was quite a good ride, it stared off quite a big, wide road then as it progressed just after the big Power Station it went on to a narrow road all the way to Sayaboury. It was very enjoyable with some stunning scenery.

They do however like putting the stone chippings on the corners as I found out, it gave me a bit of a ar*e twitch the first time I came found the bend on to it. I was quite regular and you just got used to it. The villages I passed through high in the hills were great, kids and adults waving as you went through.

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Early 4A

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Later on the 4A

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Got to Sayaboury at about 1430hrs, went to the bank to change some money, sat and had a cold beer with some spicy squid and rice while trying to find some place to sleep.

I went for a ride round and after trying a couple of places I eventually picked the Makee Guest House N 19.16078 E101.42769, the bike is parked round the side of the building out of the way.

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Edited May 29, 201610 yr by Caps

Great read so far. Keep it coming.

Day 16 Sayaboury to Luang Prabang

Had a nice and relaxed day, I travelled from Sayaboury to Luang Prabang after spending a couple of hours trying to get to the Elephant Conservation outside Sayaboury. I could not find a track to get there, the only place I could find was a boat to take me across the lake but I was not willing to leave the bike overnight. So off I went to Luang Prabang.

Day 16 Sayaboury to Luang Prabang by Wayne 66, on Flickr

Day 16 Sayaboury to Luang Prabang1 by Wayne 66, on Flickr

It was a good ride and I took a leisurely pace stopping at quite a few villages on the way for a drink and a relax. Of course the breakfast stop was done, had a very good noodle soup with some rice and a plate of salad, tasty indeed.

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The route I took was straight up the 4 and I crossed the newish bridge over the Mekong River, then I went back across to try and find the ferry, I went down to the waters edge where you could see vehicles had driven and waited, hoping that one of the boats would come across from the otherside, after waiting for about 20mins I gave up and continued on my journey.
The road got a bit pole holed in places and there was even places where the road was completely gone. but it kept it interesting.

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Finally got to Luang Prabang and found the town centre, once there I had a bacon sarnie and a Oreo and banana milkshake whilst trying to get some accommodation. That was to prove a task in its self, i looked on some sites and found some to go see, but everywhere was full, I took me over an hour to find a place, eventually I managed to get myself in to the Seng Phet Guesthouse N19.53340 E102.07946, a nice clean place with aircon, tv, hot water and a nice outside sitting area so you can watch the world go past. The bike was parked outside on the road till the evening then I was bought in to the sitting area at night and the gates are closed. There is also someone on all night.

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Staying local till after New Years Eve

Day 17 Luang Prabang

Relaxed day in Lauang Prabang

Visited Wat Mai Suwannaphumaham which had some old temple pieces and a newer temple. It also looked like it was a Monk school as there were some classrooms there.

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From there I went on to visit Wat Pathouak which is set just below Phou Si Mountain. In the temple the walls are covered in a mural which is said to date to back to 1860

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I there I climbed Phou Si Mountain and visited That Chomsi and got some great views of the surrounding countryside and Luang Prabang. There was also an anti-aircraft gun from the Vietnam War perched on the hill

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Another Temple on the main road in town centre

Day 18 Kuang Si Waterfall and Trailing in Luang Prabang

Day 18 Kuang Si Waterfall and Trailing in Luang Prabang by Wayne 66, on Flickr

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Kuang Si Waterfall, well worth a visit, cost 2000 Kip to park the bike which was watched by the guy who took the money and it cost 20,000 to visit the falls, worth the money, there is also a bear sanctuary which was good also, there bears were out and about and playing when I was there. Just before the falls there is a Butterfly farm but I did not visit it.

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Then went off road, met a guy from Denmark, I forget his name, and we rode a great track, the track started off quite wide and then went into a really narrow close in track, this we followed for a lot of kilometres before coming out in Muang Nan and went our separate ways after a well earned rest and drink in the village. It made a really nice change to ride with someone rather than doing it on your own.

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Day 19 New Years Eve

Spent the day just relaxing and wandering around the town.

New Years Eve was spent with the family who owned the Guesthouse I was stopping in, it was a good night, lots of Laos food and lots of Laos, they made me feel really welcome as we ticked off the hours. It was a good night. There hospitality was great. There was a couple of younger lads there who spoke quite good English which was a bonus for me, and they were into their western music.

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Day 20 Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng

I traveled from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng today, I took the old road rather than the new, which was a longer route but the road was far better for bends and scenery

Day 20 Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng by Wayne 66, on Flickr

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I set off at around 0815hrs and I took the 13N, The climbs and the valleys were great and the views wearisome of the best . It was about 150 mile but I took it nice and steady with lots of breaks and the obligatory stop for some food at about 1030hrs.

I stopped in one of the hill top villages for the Noodle soup of the day which was very nice, I also had a coffee as I was a bit cold, in fact is was quite cold and my hands were starting to get a bit numb

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As I left my food stop there were a group of Malasian riders went past on there big bikes, I latched myself on to the back and was the tailend charlie for about 30Km’s till they went left and I carried on right in a little place called Phoukhoun. But it was nice for awhile to have someone to follow and I was acknowledged by their rider in front more than once.

Some of the views to be had are fantastic and I am getting close to saying that they are better than the views in Thailand.
Once I got to Vang Vieng I did the usual and stopped for a drink after a drive through and looked for somewhere to stop for the night.

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I went for Dok Khoun Guesthouse which I got for 200,000kip, when I questioned his price he did say its New Year?! Ummm it finished yesterday?! Not a bad room but had better during my travels. Coords N18.92602 E102.44854.

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I will stay an extra day and have a bit of a play about in the local area, there are a couple of caves which might be worth a visit.

Day 21 Local Vang Vieng

Stayed local in Vang Vieng today and went on a bit of a ride, I took a track to the west of the town and just followed it. I eventually ran out of track at a village as I was trying to get round a big hill. so I turned back and took a fork in the road in another village and that took me on a loop. Great scenery and lots to see.

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I stopped in one village where I had a drink and watched one of the village women weaving a skirt, it was good to see. They also made scarves and small blanket type things. She made it look so easy.

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Day 22 Vang Veing to Phonsavan

Set off today at about 0730hrs travelling from Vang Veing to Phonsavan and I don’t have a clue what happened as I did not end up following the route I had planned on basecamp the night before.
I ended up taking the 13N, the 9308, 9303, 5 then the 1D

Day 22 Vang Veing to Phonsavan by Wayne 66, on Flickr

No Google map, its not playing on my Mac, tried a reinstall, still no joy

What a journey it turned out to be, blocked routes, 80km detour, and 200km off road. The first 15km was on tarmac then it went onto unpaved road/track, the first 67km was covered in 2hours.

At the 60 km I came to a military style check point, uniform and what looked like a single shot rifle, I wondered where the hell I was going, lots of sign posts in what looked like Chinese or Korean
The GPS was going mad, at about the 63 km point I came across a mine type area, didn't stop for photos as there were people about.
I was well in the middle of no where, I now know what Dr Livingstone felt like, but the GPS says still on right road, the route wasn't even on my Laos Paper Map. At about 67km I came across another Military CP which again I passed with no problems.

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Further on down the road I met 2 guys Fransiour and Craig (if I remember correctly)they said I was riding through what was once a restricted area and was used by the CIA in the Vietnam War. It was a tough route but very enjoyable.

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Then things went a bit downhill, the road I was following became impassable there was a land slide in the road so I left the bike to see if it was passable, nope, had to turn round and with that I had to make a long detour of about 80km. Managed to get fuel in a little village called Ban Nam Gnone as I had already used my reserve cache. The CRF was supping fuel like no tomorrow with going up and down all the steep inclines and decents.

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