Laos - Part Time Pilot

Laos Day 4: Across the Savannah Back into the Mountains

I started the day just west of Phin, drove on the 9E which was surprisingly an amazingly clear road. No bumps, potholes, or anything. I was able to keep a strong 85 km/hr blowing a cloud of black smoke behind me crossing the width of Laos in a matter of 2 hours. Going north on the 13 though the road turned to absolute shit with enormous Chinese trucks spewing hot red dust that caked against my sweaty skin. Through muddy tears pouring from my eyes I saw gorgeous mountains peaking at me on the horizon from the Northeast.

I decided to take an enormous detour to go through the mountains instead of the shit road. What a great decision! The mountains looked a lot like the mountains in Northern Vietnam. Round humps that protrude vertically straight out of the earth.

Once I reached the mountains the flat brown savanna ended and I was brought back into a wonderful world of rivers and humid greenery.

The people in Laos are much different than the people of Vietnam. They are much more distant here and it’s very rare to see a smile. It makes the trip feel lonely at the moment. I feel a bit intrusive just being here, as if I’m not supposed to be here. Even the kids look unhappy here, they don’t run around and play like in Vietnam.

All of the homestays/guest houses are pretty basic. They cost about $4 – $8 each, are very clean, but have ancient TVs and weak water. The motorbike has been an absolute champion so far, but had a bit of a hiccup driving up a big hill earlier. It just absolutely lost power for a bit, but I don’t know if maybe it was because the hill was much steeper than I realized. I’m now at a guesthouse called Phosy Thaland and it’s pretty nice. It’s right in the middle of a network of rivers and lakes. I’m hoping to get to Luang Prabang in the next 2 days. That will be 2 hard days of driving. Maybe I will rest there for 2 days and then on the road again! I’m eating on a bridge right now and the view over the water is amazing.

Lao Bao Border Crossing by Motorbike- The People and Food Lose Their Flavor

I started this morning about 2 or 3 hours from the Lao Boa border with Laos on the Vietnamese side. I woke up to more pouring rain and was expecting it to stay that way all day.

Saying goodbye to the greenery of Vietnam

Surprisingly the rain stopped around 8 am and I headed out around 9 am. I took a few drone videos today and kids gathered around me in awe at what the hell they were looking at. The roads were a little wet and windy so it was slow going for the first half of the day.

There was an old war museum and runway left over from the war that wasn’t too far out of the way so I headed there and spent a good hour and a half there.

I then shot to the border where it took me about 30 minutes to figure out how to get through, the visa was $35 and it consisted of, “okay now go over there” various times without knowing where the hell there was but since I was really the only one there it didn’t take too long and I was on my way right after one of the immigration officers waved me down. I was terrified I was not going to be able to take the motorcycle through, but he pointed at my raybans and I quickly realized he just wanted to try them on. He put them on, him and his buddy laughed, then he smiled and handed them back to me.

My first glimpse of Laos. Blue sky and brown plants.

After crossing the border I was expecting everything to be about the same as Vietnam but it could not have been more different. The houses looked totally different, the people didn’t smile and wave, the clouds weren’t there – it was bright blue sky, and the earth and plants were all brown. It felt like I was more like in a savannah than a jungle. The saddest part is that the people just seem so disinterested. No one smiles, jokes, or even seem to talk to each other. It is difficult to get help because the people turn the other way. I ordered barbeque, beer and some noodles. The barbeque had no flavor or seasoning and the noodles were just noodles in boiled water. I am afraid that both the food and the people lost their flavor on this border crossing. I will journey on and try to understand the Laos people better.

Most people got around by foot. Cars and buses were just passing through.

I rode until the sun dipped beneath the horizon and the bugs poured out in droves. I got hit by such enormous bugs at such fast speed that it hurt worse than paintballs. One hit my eyeball and for a solid minute I couldn’t see out of that eye.

I was so unfamiliar with the area and electricity seemed to be so sparse that I could not find a place to sleep for the night. I drove through the black hole getting pelted by bugs until I was so tired I could hardly move. I found a house and they had a bed and this is where I settled for the night.

Laos Day 2. Wet, Rainy Ride to the Border.

The whole day was full of wet. I woke up around 6 am and heard it pouring on the roof, I lazied around hoping for it to stop but it didn’t change one bit. So around 0930 I finally made the decision the just do it.

From the moment I left water creeped into all my clothes. I had a plastic cover but the big holes for the mirrors and the intensity of the rain made sure it got into everything no matter what.

Brown muddy river complemented the gorgeous green jungle.

I wanted to make it as close to the Laos border as possible but because of the rain I couldn’t drive nearly as fast and only made it about 2/3 of the way there. I stopped at a restaurant on the way where I got a coffee and relaxed for a moment. It seemed the only moment the rain stopped was when I was there enjoying my coffee, the only moment where it didn’t matter.

My guest. Threw his some bones and he thanked me profusely.

I went on and on and the rain got worse and worse. The water was warm and cleansing but after countless hours of flying through it on the motorbike I started to shake and get hypothermic.

There was a stretch of road though about 50 km long that winded around mountains and was one of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen. Then in the low straight parts there would be villages with chickens, cows, dogs, goats and lots of farms. I just started to see some rice farms. Surely a place I wouldn’t mind retiring to.