Finally finished going thru the 20 gig's of photos
Left phuket with my trusty Honda civic and traveled north to Bangkok-Mae Sot-Mae Sariang- Mae Hong Son-Chiang Dao than up along the Burmese border.
Fantastic scenery all along the way.
Very little traffic, for 2 days we passed less than 5 cars/day ( maybe 20-25 pick up trucks ) on these roads in an 8 hour day. Some of the roads are hard packed dirt an in places it is very steep.
From Chiang Dao- Wiang Haeng-Doi Ang Khong, Few roads we drove on i don't think they had ever seen a car on, across to Fang before ending the Thai part at Chiang Khong for the ferry across to Laos.
Some really super small roads an if u want to see the mtns in Thailand , this is the place to head
Laos
Took the ferry across to Ban Houay Sai- Luang Namtha-Luang Prabang ( i have done this route twice now an its beautiful, small villages an much of the time ur in the clouds and driving on the ridge tops). From LP took route 1 over to Phonsavan and the Plain of jars. If ur in Laos an have not been, go, unreal to see these jars, (especially site 3, were the jars are in the center of a cow field) also seeing the massive bombing conducted during the 60's. Back to Route 13 before a stop in Vang Vieng, Much nicer than the precious year as the town shuts down (all music must be off ) at 10 pm. Plenty of ok, inexpensive places to eat overlooking the river and great places to stay (we had a room for only $14/night overlooking the river) Much of the backpacker crowd has moved on ( no idea where but....) and the Chinese/Korean's have replaced them. Down to Vientiane for a few nights to revisit old places and take a rest.
Drove than down all the way to Surin for the night an next day entered Cambodia via Osmach ( the easy border to cross with ur car or motorcycle)
few days visiting friends and of course Angkor Wat again before heading down to Phnom Penh. Than it was off to Kep visiting GF's sister who lives there, very quiet ( ie boring) place hasn't changed much since i was first there in 2008.
back to PP an off to the gf's home in Svay Rieng
Back to Phnom Pehn than for a week watching the pre election rally's.
Off to Battambang - Pailin, where same as last time I over shot the Cambodian customs an immigration, (for some reason they just raise the pole and u drive thru) and ended up in Thailand with no exit stamp from Cambodia or entry stamp to Thailand, so had to back track, The border is very loosely run and controlled.
From there it was an easy run to spend the night in the hills after having the exhaust pipe fixed for 300 baht, before the next day heading to Hua Hin an than back to phuket
35 days 7,200 kms, car ran great and it was a wonderful trip.
You will have to click the link to see my Photos an hope you enjoy :-)
You will have to click the link to see my Photos an hope you enjoy :-)
Richard Reitman Photography | Asia Road trip 2013