Epic Awesomness! Cruising the Mekong with the GT-Riders!

[TonyBKK]

Good morning from Luang Prabang, Laos!!

It was going to be a hot day and I was keen to re-visit the Kouang Xi Waterfall that is about 30km south of the city.


I've seen it spelled a myriad of ways- Kuang Si or Kouang Si, Kwang Xi; it doesn't matter how you spell it, it's a magical place!


The road is in great shape and it's a fun ride over hills, through valleys, across one lane wooden bridges and through a lot of small villages.

2000 Kip to park the bike and another 20,000 Kip to get into the park, which is also home to a bear rescue center which you pass on the short hike to the falls-


The bears were mostly sleeping but I understand they wake up and perform tricks at their feeding time which is around noon.


Gorgeous turquoise pools and shockingly cold- I am assuming these falls are spring fed as they flow year round.


Big Dave being a wuss! C'mon dude, if the French girl can jump in, so can you!!! One the count of three!!!


The cold water feels great!!


Looks like something out of a Monet painting, doesn't it?


Ok, maybe not!




We shared the pool with some lovely European girls


Chillaxin!




Love it here!


Eventually we hiked on up to the main falls-




There is a trail that takes you to the top of the falls-


Beware, it's a tough climb and a slip could be disastrous!


Noi, a lovely Laotion on holiday from Vientiane and sporting a sharp little dress blazed up in her fancy little red city shoes that matched her purse while Dave and I huffed and puffed to get to the top


Didn't help we were hauling a fair bit of gear


C'mon Dave! You can do it!


Made it to the top! Well worth the effort!!


They put up a fence at the top of the falls which is a smart idea because the rocks are slippery and it wouldn't take much to accidentally go over the edge!


And it's a long way down!


Pretty awesome view from up here!


From the top there is a trail that leads to a nearby village-

No way I'm going to walk 3km but I do want to see if there's a way to get here on my dirtbike

The hike down was perhaps even tougher than the hike up, but we made it and rewarded ourselves with some cold Beer Laos from the coffee shop at an idyllic spot-


These pools go on and on and on and the place was surprisingly uncrowded for a weekend.


Bit further down we spotted a crazy French chick who fancied herself a monkey


One thing I really like about the Kwang Xi Waterfall is that it seems to attract as many Laotians as it does foreign tourists-


We were all a bit hungry after all the hiking around and hit one of the restaurants that's at the entrance to the park. Typical Laotian fare- grilled chicken, sticky rice and papaya salad aka Somtum. All good though the Somtum was a bit bland, so our new friend Noy kicked the cook out of the kitchen and made us another Somtum


Lovely lovely woman, we really hit it off!




Adorable little girl covered in ice cream-


Noy's Somtum was anything but bland!!


In fact, on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd have to call it nuclear! Just look at Dave's face!!! (And he loves to eat spicy food!)


You can almost see the smoke coming out his ears!!

[ossierob]

I am enthralled mate........keep it comin. ....some serious thoughts regarding looking for a relatively small motorcycle to enjoy the experience as I did in my teens and early 20's.
you lot of blokes do inspire me. I love to travel - but on a motorcycle around the adjoining areas sounds exciting....thanks again

[terry57]

Cruising down that river with ones mates without having a boat chock full of stinky backpackers looks like heaven to me.

That would of been just brilliant.

[MeMock]

Great thread so far. Can't wait for the rest.

How much did it cost for the boat up to LP?

Not cheap, not exactly expensive either, worth every penny!

Gee thanks for that, very informative.

[MissTraveller]

Those falls are amazing!

Looks like a great time! Lovely thread too..thanks!

Always loved the Thai countryside, but never made it to Laos yet!

[TonyBKK]

Dave and I got back to Luang Prabang in time to join the rest of the fellows for sunset beers on the mighty Mekong-


Life is good!




Couldn't ask for a nicer bunch of travel companions; I've remained loyal to GT-Rider forum on account of the quality of the people.


Such a romantic spot; Oddvar and Dave were feeling the love!


Cheers from Luang Prabang, Laos!


I guess this would pretty well sum up the theme for tonight

Dave didn't believe me the following morning when I teased him about visiting the night market in a wheel chair, but pictures don't lie!


Ordered a quite decent pizza and had to eat it all by myself


Ran across Brian who was comfortably ensconced at the Wine Bar and obviously feeling no pain. He posted some pretty funny nonsensical stuff on facebook in the wee hours, reminding us all once again that mixing social media and alcohol is usually not such a good idea!

[Satonic]

^ Haha I wondered what that was all about, now I know! Wish I joined you guys!

[Sailing into trouble]

Great thread. great pictures. The country looks fantastic.

Have to ask where next?

thanks again.

[TonyBKK]

Woke up with a bit of a headache the next morning, but a good cup of coffee and a chocolate croissant at JOMA Bakery sorted me out!


Seemed most everyone else was sleeping in today, but I wanted to get out and RIDE!!


Waiting for the ferry that would take me across the Mekong to explore some trails west of Luang Prabang- Here it comes!


There's no pavement on the west side of the Mekong- awesome trails straight off the ferry!


Here's a map of today's ride:

And a .gpx track for any who might want to explore this area: http://www.asianconnection71.com/201...9.08%20Day.gpx

On Google Earth it looks like there are some trails that might get you to the Pak Ou cave that's on the Mekong north of Luang Prabang, but as with last year, I couldn't find a way through... What look like trails on Google Earth are more often than not little footpaths that are pretty much impassable by bike, especially when riding solo...

Seemed I might be able to get there via the trail that heads northwest out of Ban Houy Mad-


But getting across the small stream that runs past the town wasn't so easy... The drop off this board is higher than it looks in the picture. If I dropped my bike here I'd have a heck of a time getting it out...


Fantastic trails, but a lot of work!


As an aside, can anyone tell me what a "Free Case Village" is? See these signs a lot in Laos but no clue what they mean...


Another trail where I turned around because I wasn't confident I could get up the opposite bank-


Leaving the tiny village of Ban Houay Maad-


Turned around and tried a different way around, but came up against a barb wire fence and an unfriendly looking sign...




Darn... once again can't find a way through to Pak Ou... I'll try again soon!

It was here I discovered this amazing caterpillar trying to crawl into my ear


Caterpillar or alien? Take me to your leader!




Wonder what this guy will turn into? There were tons of butterflies in the cool shady spots-


A bit hazy but still some amazing views!

[TonyBKK]

^ Haha I wondered what that was all about, now I know! Wish I joined you guys!

Shame the timing didn't work out for you Satonic- Laos rocks!!!

We could go back end of this month if you're keen, but you'll need to get the Green Book for your new bike transferred into your name first if you want to take it across the border and into Laos!

Get it done and let's HIT IT!!

[TonyBKK]

Great thread. great pictures. The country looks fantastic.

Have to ask where next?

thanks again.

Cheers

Where next... Good question... Have one friend who is trying to arrange a dirt trip to Myanmar but I'm quite skeptical that he can get permission for us to do an unguided offroad trip there.

Surprisingly the air quality up north is still quite good this year. Usually by this time of the year the fires and smoke make riding in the north a bit unpleasant. So, if conditions stay good I wouldn't mind exploring some more around Omkoi, down to Mae Sot and Umphang, maybe trying to push through to Sangkhlaburi.

If the air gets bad up north we might hit Kanchanaburi as that province seems to get more rain and not suffer so much from the smoke that envelops the north.

I also wouldn't mind going back to Laos- I've barely scratched the surface of that amazing country!

Decisions decisions!

[Satonic]

From what I understand Tony a 'Free case village' is a village that is free from drug use / supply.

(But I may be wrong )

[TonyBKK]

I continued the loop and soon found myself heading south. Just past the riverside town of Pak Long the road heads inland but I spotted a small logging trail and followed that back to the Mekong-


This was a lot of fun, some tiny little villages and a whole lot of wilderness. Seems there's a ferry that will take you across here and drops you near the road to the Kouang Xi Waterfall on the other side of the Mekong-




A bit further south I again rode out to the shore of the river- nice sandy beach and no one around, stopped here for a picnic lunch and a bit of a siesta under some shady trees a bit further up the bank-


A bit further south and I decided I'd better start heading back as we were to load the bikes onto the boat at 5 this evening for the next day's cruise to Pak Lay. I headed inland on a fantastic trail that followed a beautiful river-


Lots of rapids and whitewater but hard to get a clear view-


Other than passing through the occasional tiny village I had these trails all to myself


Some fantastic views when the trail would climb over some of the hills and follow the ridgelines-


Finally back onto the "main" road, which was still rough as guts and had a lot of water crossings-


Got back into Luang Prabang with just enough time to get out of my gear, repack, and then ride down to the ferry dock were we loaded our bikes onto the boat for the cruise to Pak Lay-


This is a much nicer boat- it's the same one we used last year, and due to a scheduling conflict they hadn't been able to take us on the first leg from Houay Xai, but I was happy we'd be cruising with them to Pak Lay


There goes our boat and our bikes! See you tomorrow!




Sunset beers with the boys once again! Are those barber shop chairs??!?


Another gorgeous Mekong sunset- never get tired of these!!




Tomorrow we cruise to Pak Lay!

[TonyBKK]

From what I understand Tony a 'Free case village' is a village that is free from drug use / supply.

(But I may be wrong )

Hmm, that explanation makes as much sense as any!

So, guess if I come across a village that's missing this sign I'll know it's a party town, eh?

[Phuketrichard]

i have a question.
when ur out riding roads u have never been down an no idea where they might take you, whats u mileage range?, Ie when do u know its time to turn back

[TonyBKK]

i have a question.
when ur out riding roads u have never been down an no idea where they might take you, whats u mileage range?, Ie when do u know its time to turn back

Even in the most remote parts of Thailand and Laos I've never had trouble finding gas. No matter where you go there's always some small village somewhere and they will inevitably have a few whiskey bottles of gasoline lying around that they'll be happy to sell to you at a nice markup. More often than not you'll actually find a 50 gallon drum with a hand pump and the gas that comes out of these drums is often cleaner than what comes out of the contaminated underground tanks in older gas stations.

There was a numpty on another forum who rode around with and extra 8 liters of gas strapped to his bike because he was so paranoid about running out of fuel. Wolfman Saddlebags with 8X 1 litre MSR fuel bottles

Offroad I know I can go almost 200km on my KLX but generally try to fill up well before approaching the bottom of the tank. Fuel has never been a problem. Running out of daylight... that's a different matter!

[somtamslap]

Great stuff.

Big Dave is a fecking legend!

[MeMock]

somtamslap has found a hero!

Loving this thread. Keep it up.

[flashbang]

Cool thread title, bro!

Cool photos, bro!

Cool story, bro!

[TonyBKK]

All aboard for the GT-Rider Mekong cruise from Luang Prabang to Pak Lay, Laos!


Bikes safely stowed! Not my pic, I think it's David's or Jurgen's and hope they won't mind me sharing it here. © to the photographer!

Oh wait, hold on, wrong boat! The pic above is from the cruise from Houay Xai on the first boat. Anyway, still worth sharing I think!

The Beer Lao was cold and plentiful! A new sticker for my KLX!


Thick fog shortly after our departure forced an unplanned stop-

Was nice actually, we could get off the boat and wander around while waiting for the fog to clear. I didn't realize it, but we were walking distance from a nearby village and Jurgen and Dave and a couple other guys wandered over there and apparently made a big impression on the school kids. Jurgen has some fantastic pictures that I look forward to seeing on a big screen!

Fog cleared we're back on our way!


The skipper was training a relative to navigate the river- I believe he owns more than one boat, so obviously needs people he can trust to pilot the other ones.


Just love how they "bless" the wheel!

You have to remember, these boats have no radar, GPS, depth finder, etc. The navigation is all by sight and memory!

Was nice to see lovely Khammy again, the skippers feisty daughter


And she brought along a couple friends as well


Not only can they drink, one of them crafted this cool little spider from the foil on the bottle- impressive innit??


Beer Lao foil spider





Gawd Khammy sure is into the "selfie" thing!




Can't get too frisky tho, cuz "Big Momma" has always got an eye on you!!


What a lunch though! Once again, simply amazed at how they can cook up such a spread in their primitive little galley in the back of the boat!


Fantastic food and way more than we could eat!




After lunch I think Dave wanted to take a nap... Sweet dreams Dave!


But I guess Richard wasn't going to let that happen. Started off innocently enough with a banana in Dave's ear and quickly escalated!


Laos' first MMA brawl on a boat featuring "Nanu Nanu" Dave and "Frankenfoot" Richard! I about peed myself from laughing so hard!


Khammy's selfies never stop!!


I can't remember what bridge this is... I think it connects Xayaboury to Muang Nan? Looks pretty new-


Certainly the best seat in the house is right on the nose of the boat where you have the wind in your face and can really take in the sights and sounds of the mighty Mekong!

[TonyBKK]

Sailing past the controversial 1,285 megawatt Xayaburi Dam on the Mekong River-


The scale of this dam is huge!


There is a lot of controversy surrounding this dam. More than 2000 villagers have been forced off their land and have received almost nothing in compensation. But a bigger concern is the effect this dam will have on the Mekong ecosystem.

From Wikepedia:

According to a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report, the Xayaburi dam would drive the already critically endangered Mekong Giant Catfish (Pangasianodon gigas) to extinction.[22] Because the Mekong is a unique and particularly complex ecosystem that hosts the most productive inland fisheries in the world, the stakes are high for the construction of such a dam. According to a study conducted by WWF and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, and coordinated by the WorldFish Center, there are 229 fish species whose spawning and migratory patterns would be affected by a mainstream dam. This change in fish biodiversity and abundance would greatly affect the tens of millions of people in the Greater Mekong Subregion who depend on the river for their food and livelihood. According to Phnom-Penh based WorldFish Center, this damage to fisheries "cannot be mitigated by fish passes and reservoirs".[23]
A Strategic Environmental Assessment commissioned by the Mekong River Commission (MRC) recommends a 10-year deferral of all Mekong mainstream dams in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam, and calls for further studies.[13] According to a MRC spokeswoman construction of the Xayaburi dam "will result in irreversible environmental impacts".[23] The MRC warns that if Xayaburi and subsequent schemes went ahead, it would "fundamentally undermine the abundance, productivity and diversity of the Mekong fish resources".[24]
Milton Osborne, Visiting Fellow at the Lowy Institute for International Policy who has written widely on the Mekong, warns: "The future scenario is of the Mekong ceasing to be a bounteous source of fish and guarantor of agricultural richness, with the great river below China becoming little more than a series of unproductive lakes."[25]
None of the mitigation measures for fish and sediment passage included in the dam's current design have been tested at this scale or in this environment. “Nowhere in the tropics has a successful fish passage been built for a dam the size of Xayaburi,” said Dr. Eric Baran of the World Fish Centre in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. “It is unreasonable to assume that the proposed fish passage options will be efficient when they are neither based on successful experience in a similar context nor on a study of the local species.”
Fish are a staple of the diet in Laos and Cambodia, with around 80 per cent of the Cambodian population's annual protein intake coming from fish caught in the Mekong River system, with no alternative source to replace them. Dams would also restrict the flow of water over agricultural areas linked to the river.[25]


I guess this is what "progress" looks like... :/








We had to hold position for a while as they were laying a cable across the river with this rig-


I feel fortunate to have been able to cruise on the Mekong before the completion of this dam. Once it's complete it's going to have a huge impact on the river and the Laotian way of life...

[beerlaodrinker]

Brilliant once again tony , your epic awesomeness knows no limits , Your timing for the trip was perfect to, pretty soon the locals will start with the slash and burn and the whole region will be smoky as fuk, Hate that time of year in Laos.

[TonyBKK]

Once past the rather disturbing Xayaboury dam site the mighty Mekong returned to her natural beauty-


She's got many faces- sometimes wide and calm like this stretch, in other places, narrow, fast flowing and dangerous.


Stunning limestone cliffs near Muangtiap-


On the right side of the river we passed the tiny village of Muangtiap where there's rumored to be a ferry- more on that soon!



Robert had an impressive collection of tunes on his phone but couldn't get them to play, so the fellas had to put up with my music instead!!!


Thanks for not throwing me overboard fellas!

Gold panners living on the beach-


This little kid was a hoot! His babysitter wasn't bad either


We kept the beers flowing and the tunes pumping all the way to Pak Lay- awesome was the word of the day!!








Arrival Pak Lay!




One last selfie with the lovely Khammy! Hope to see you again soon!

One for the road!


The group got a bit split up wandering around Pak Lay looking for a guesthouse that I guess doesn't exist?

I gave up the hunt and stopped at the Saiyadeth Guesthouse right on the river with Dave and Robert while the rest of the group went up the hill to the Nana Guesthouse.

Saiyadeth guest house in Pak Lai, Laos! Not nearly as deadly as it sounds!


Great location directly across the street from a fantastic Lao restaurant on the shore of the mighty Mekong River.

Awesome restaurant right across the street with deck seating right on the river. The Lao dudes at the table next to us pulled out a big ornate bong and started doing huge hits right in the restaurant! Gotta love Laos baby!!

Saiyadeth Guesthouse, Pak Lai, Laos: 50,000 kip/night for big clean rooms with hot water and fan. 80,000 kip/night for aircon room.

[beerlaodrinker]

Tone don't buy into all the negative you hear about the xayaboury dam, environs love to hate it, as far as I'm concerned I reckon it's a winner for the general population, jobs and training as opposed to slash and burn farming and Lao khao and ya ba. I may be slightly biased though as I work for a mining company, it's also 50 percent owned by the Thais, they need the power and the Lao need the investment, win win one would think, the Laos ain't silly, great to see them get out of the charcoal age...I was also sceptical, sorry, don't wont to turn your cracking thread into a political debate. Crack on

[beerlaodrinker]

Sorry, forgot to mention that khammy Sheila looked to be a bit of good sort eh, easy on the eye, cooks a blinder of a scan , doesn't mind a beer Lao or2' makes me wonder why so many punters show up and marry a bargirl,