The Longest Drive to Phonsavan

We got up early for a long 350km ride over mountain roads from Nong Khiaw to Phonsavan. This was always going to be the longest (not in km though) and most difficult leg of the whole road trip.

Getting up early was good but since not everybody had planned to get up early, it took a while to get breakfast.

Once we finished our breakfast and filled up the bikes it was time to brave the road and what a road it was.

The road is fantastic, lots of corners, ups and downs, great views and it passes through many nice villages.

We knew we couldn't waste much time so the coffee breaks and even photo breaks were kept to a minimum.

Unfortunately, a wrong turn meant we lost 1h in backtracking and a Ricoh GR camera got crushed underneath a truck.

The roads were all quite bumpy and narrow so the average speed was around 25km/h and this wasn't going to get us to Phonsavan before it got dark.

Having to overtake what looked like the same truck 5 times didn't help either.

It was a challenging ride and it seemed like it would never finish.
I almost ran out of petrol, it got pretty cold up in in the mountains, visibility was very bad but on the upside seeing a burning mountain in the dark was pretty cool.

While riding in the dark we came across another guy trying to make it to Phonsavan in the dark. Since his headlights were not very good, we decided to all go together in a sort of convoy.

This meant it would take longer to get there but it would make for a nice conversation over a beer.

All three of us almost managed to fall while slipping on gravel in the same corner and one of us did fall just a corner after but fortunately nothing serious happened.

Long story short, we didn't quite make it to Phonsavan and instead decided to stay in a guesthouse some 60km before Phonsavan.

This was and would most likely remain the most difficult but also most memorable ride in quite a while.

(Oh yes, don't take photos while riding at night on difficult mountain roads.)

Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw

After a slightly overpriced breakfast and a short drive around the sights in Luang Prabang, it was time to set off to Nong Khiaw.

Given Nong Khiaw was only 150km from Luang Prabang, we didn't really push and took it easy. Too easy as we would find out since we only made around 20km/h on average.

Still, there was no rush and we stopped for coffee and to take lots of photos in between.

The ride which was supposed to take at most 4h, took the whole day and it started to get dark before we were even near Nong Khiaw.

The roads are mostly very good, until you turn off the main road to get the Nong Khiaw where it all gets very bumpy with lots of potholes.

Still, the views are all nice and it was good in parts to just drive slow and relax.

Unfortunately this meant we didn't get a lot of time to explore and spend in Nong Khiaw but we had some time in the evening to see most of the place.

I've been to Nong Khiaw two and a half years ago and not much has changed, although there are more guesthouses now and a few more restaurants aimed at tourists.

The city is still nice despite there being a lot more tourists this time around, we had dinner at a local place and got some nice photos in the evening.

Nong Khiaw is certainly one of my favorite places in Laos even if it's more touristy now.

Day 103 - A Cave, A Boat and Touristy Muang Ngoi

Started early again to go and visit Patok cave with two fellow travelers I met in the mini bus yesterday.
The cave is only 2km out of town along the main road so easy to get to and back in the morning and still have time to catch the 14:00 boat to Muang Ngoi.

The Patok cave is more historically important rather than being a interesting cave to explore. It has some remains from the war to see and if you explore a bit further you will get to see the Luang Prabang Bank branch. It is located across the river, through the rice field, past the water buffalo on the right, another right by the provincial government cave, through the jungle and quarter way up the mountain. This must have made for a great journey to pay in a cheque or open a bank account.
I have to do some research if this was actually a bank branch or if someone just put up a sign with this in an unrelated cave.

After having a great lunch in a small family run restaurant by the road on the way back into town it was time to get the boat to Muang Ngoi. This was not quite such an enjoyable journey, despite the fantastic views and landscape, thanks in part to being crammed with 20 people on the small boat. The journey took only 1 hour so it was just about bearable.

Muang Ngoi was supposed to be this quiet, little village in the mountains which until 6 months ago did not have a road or electricity. What it actually is is a tiny littl village full of guesthouses and restaurants catering for tourists. This was a bit disappointing as it seemed to lack character at first sight.

After spending some more time exploring the village and hoping to find the local quarter, I had to give up and admit that it was a very touristy village.

The reason for leaving Nong Khiaw after just one night was to spend some time in the middle of where and relax for a few days. Well, I kind of expected something different and could see the others felt
the same so the general consensus was to keep heading north by boat to Muang Khua and maybe further Phongsali from there in the morning.