Thread: Cruising the Mekong and Riding through Laos, February 2013

Enjoying the post and the photos. Thanks for posting and be safe.

More pics if you have them.
If you can out do Terry 57 and his Burma thread then a green will appear.

Fuck it.
Have one anyway.
Great thread.

Originally Posted by TonyBKK

Ah, well in Bangkok it's a safe bet that ~90% of the "motorcycles" you see are scooters, right?

I think there's a pretty clear distinction between more affluent people who ride motorcycles recreationally and can afford to buy proper gear and the poor masses for whom a scooter is often their primary mode of transportation and can often not even afford to fill the tank, much less buy quality safety gear.

When chatting up locals or gas station attendants the first question they always ask about your gear is, "tao rai" (how much)?. If you answer honestly and they realize your jacket costs more than their scooter they just look at you like you're from another planet...

That said, Thailand is a developing nation and in the ~6 years I've been living here I've noticed a definite increase in the number of people wearing helmets. Sure they're mostly cheap brain buckets, but it's slowly moving in the right direction.

Thanks for the reply,Ive always thought that the distinction was a motorbike was ridden like a bike and a scooter as if sat on a chair. On that basis a good majority of whats ridden round here are motor bikes. though with the exception of the crown prince's outriders noones riding round in bikes in the same class as yours. now saying that anyone can afford to buy a bike, can afford a decent helmet to go with it and anyone who is so poor they cannot afford the petrol to run their lights at night should really be condiering wether or not they can aford a bike at all. I live near a crossroads and we get about 2 accidents per week and 1-2 fatal accidents every couple of months... usually involving one or more motorcycles and someone going though red lights a full speed

But this is your travel thread and its a very good one. I shall shut up, reframe from derailing it further,which is not what I intended to do, and hopefully continue to watch some pictures of some very nice countryside. have fun and keep safe

Hazz shut the fu-k up OK

Great thread Tony
Free Socal

I woz gonna do a London to Bacelona thread on a 110 Honda Lead.
But no have pics.
Can do but internet pics only.

This threads got the lot, bikes , boats, beerlao, birds, hang on where the birds?, pics of the Lao minxs please, or will robert and jurgen be posting em

Great thread. Don't you just love it when you have to load your bikes on a boat using those rotten-looking planks?

I've seen more than one plank snap under the weight of heavier bikes (cruzers, etc.)

Thanks for all the pictures and story.

RickThai

A relaxing full day cruise down the mighty Mekong from Huay Xai to Luang Prabang. River life- best seat in the house!


A bridge is being built near Pak Beng that will connect to the Muang Nguen border crossing into Nan, Thailand-


Near Pak Beng the boat had to make a stop to check in with the police. We took the opportunity to jump off for a group photo. The skipper's daughter took this fantastic picture with David's camera:


And we're off again! I make an offering to the spirits of the Mekong


The skippers wife and daughter cooked up an amazing lunch. Seriously, I don't know how they could cook up such a feast in the small kitchen they have in the back of the boat-


After lunch some of the guys took a snooze-


I messed with the Ambassador a bit


Those fields in the sand are peanuts!


Thick jungle and sharp rocks-




There were many areas where people were panning for gold! Wonder if they actually find any??


Richard showed off his Alpinestar Shoe Phone


Robert and Rat relaxing and taking it all in-


Skipper and his wife-

After lunch and a nap we made a concerted effort to kill the four cases of ice cold Beer Lao we'd brought along for the cruise-

Two down, two to go!!


I hope Jurgen won't mind if I post his pic here-


The skipper's wife taught the ladies some Laotian dance moves-


Flipping the bird is apparently an important part of the dance?!


Sites and scenes on the Mekong-

Loving these bike threads. Living in Thailand is all about this sort of stuff.

Getting amongst it and Taking advantage of its natural beauty and closeness to Laos.

Good on you lads, maybe one day I can tag along.

Great thread.

How long was the boat trip?

We pass by the Pak Ou Caves so I know we're getting close to Luang Prabang-


With the sun to our backs the late afternoon light really brings out the colors. Jurgen is an amazing photographer-






Approaching Luang Prabang there are a lot more boats on the river-


We arrived in Luang Prabang just before sunset-




We're all pretty good and buzzed and feeling no pain by this point. Love this picture of David-




Mekong life- enjoy it while you can as there are plans to dam the river in the near future...


The moon is already up, tomorrow is Macha Bucha day on the full moon-


The skipper's wife and David-


Almost there- what a fantastic cruise this was! I'll never forget it! Thank you so very much for putting it together David!!!


We had to jockey for position at the pier in Luang Prabang, seems sunset is rush hour on the river too!


Unloading the bikes it seemed they again wanted to do it the hard way even though the ramp they used in the morning was still on the boat... Jurgen's pic:


I was good and plastered and worried a bit about getting to the hotel in one piece, but fortunately it was very close to the pier.


Strapped all my gear to the back of the bike hoping nothing would fall off and made it to the Oudomsuk guesthouse without any drama-


The fellas who booked another guesthouse on Agoda weren't so lucky.....

Wow what an awesome trip. Thanks for all the photos. I look forward to doing somethings like this when we move to Thailand.

Dad's Army goes bike riding

Fantastic thread and some of the best photo's going.

Thanks for sharing

Great thread, keep the pictures coming!

Originally Posted by waradmiral

Dad's Army goes bike riding

Much more entertaining and useful than a thread Titled =======

Dads army goes to Pattaya.

Actually, one must respect the older guys that live in Thailand and actually have a hobby that they get great enjoyment out of.

Bloody brilliant innit.

Looks like you had a fun time. Nice scenery in Laos. Hope to get there soon.