Today I woke up in Nong Khiaw after a much needed rest after my 2 day hiking tour. I ran into an Israeli friend from Luang Prabang in Nong Khiaw. We ate breakfast together and talked a bunch until I saw time slipping away. I hurried to pack my things and headed off around noon.
The ride was awesome. The roads were actually fairly nice and a little bit straight so I was shooting through kilometers. My goal was to get to Nateuey, a city on the northern border of Laos touching China. After endless hours of winding through the jungle roads I made it to 20 km away when I had my first wreck. I wasn’t doing anything special, in fact I was going pretty slow taking a left turn when all of a sudden the bike slipped out from under me. There was nothing I could do and the next instant I was lying in the ditch with the bike with some gas leaking on my leg. The road was so slippery that I just skid on my elbow and left hip all the way to the ditch. My elbow is sore and a little bloody and I haven’t looked at my hip yet but as there were no broken bones I stood up and brushed myself off.
Two Loas people had seen what happened and instantly helped. I was a little in shock but we picked the bike up and put it back in the road. I could see nothing wrong with the bike so I started riding very slowly. My trust in the bike was lost and I felt little weird sensations on left turns. I made it all the way to Nateuey and found a mechanic.
He happened to be Vietnamese so I practiced my Vietnamese with him. He was an awesome dude and him and his brother were built like tree trunks. They took the rear wheel apart and they instantly found the issue. The wheel itself had cracked. He put in a new wheel with all new spokes, I ate some Chinese food next door and then I was on my way. I didn’t plan for the expenses on the way so I was out of money. I paid him in USD so I would have some Laos money for gas to get to the next ATM as there wasn’t one for 60 km.
I said goodbye, grabbed the bike and started driving. All seemed well until all of a sudden I felt a pop and heard a grinding noise. The chain had obviously fell off the sprocket. I don’t know what the guy did wrong but I broke down next to some guys house and when I asked him for help he looked so goddamn confused, granted it was about 10pm at this time which is pretty late in Laos. He walked out to the bike took a look and I told him I would try to find a mechanic, he stared blankly into my eyes as he continued to chew something and his dogs screamed.
I grabbed my pack, slung it over my shoulder, and started walking back, it was about 4km back to town. I threw out my hitchhiker thumb and by some miracle got a ride in about 5 minutes. Some nice guy from Vientienne. He dropped me off at the mechanic but there wasn’t a soul in sight. I waited about an hour on the street where everyone passing me by gave me a triple glance.
I finally got the bike fixed, payed 356,000 kip but again had to pay in USD. I left the shop around 11pm. It took about an hour to get to Luang Namtha and it was a rough ride. I was frustrated because I was exhausted and I had to cross a river at one point. It was about a foot deep. I just gassed up and ran through it crossing my fingers hoping the bike wouldn’t choke. I had to put my feet in the river and I was already freezing cold. The water was deliciously warm but I became slightly hypothermic for the last 10 minutes of driving as the water started evaporating and felt like ice from my legs to my waist.
I arrived at the town and stopped at every guesthouse but they were all closed and locked. I finally found one where the owners were sleeping in a little tent outside and my motorbike woke them up. They handed me a key and said 70,000. Based on the noise and decor I was certain this was some kind of shady sex hotel but I was never happier to lay down and fall asleep.