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.

The Drive from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang

It was supposed to be a short and quick drive from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang. So after taking time for breakfast in the morning we set off.

The landscape is very nice so it's definitely worth taking some time while driving to enjoy and take in the views.

It's easy to get distracted when the journey seems short and you have enough time for the drive. So instead of driving, we stopped to wash the motorbikes and change oil and generally took it easy.

This was good but we also missed the turn to take the shorter way so we ended up doing some extra km, the road was great as were the views so it wasn't too bad.

I've done this road about 2 years ago in a bus but it's much nicer on a motorbike than being stuck inside a bus without being able to stop and take photos or just take in the views.

With all the breaks and the detour it started to get late and there was still quite a way to Luang Prabang.

The up and downs and corners along the mountain road were great and it was very surreal at times with hardly any noises and the fading light also making everything seem very calm.

Although there was still quite a way to go, we decided to stop for a beer on a bridge in a small village and it was fantastic. It was really calm, relaxed and the locals came to say hi.

If there would have been a guesthouse the journey would have stopped here for the day. Since there wasn't a guesthouse, it meant continuing on in the dark till we made it to Luang Prabang, where a power outage made for a interesting experience.