At 9am, armed with a bacon baguette, a walnut brownie and a bottle of water, I started my journey to Udom Xai which is 200km away.
The first 120km of the journey was beautiful. Nicely paved roads (98%) and nice corners to lean into. The next 80km all the way to Udom Xai was horrible; fire roads all the way and uncountable number of potholes.
Lucky thing for me, the roads are all dry. Otherwise it'll be pure torture for me. Once again I would like to stress that knobby tires are absolutely vital. Do not enter Laos if you do don't have knobbies. (Unless if you ride a kup)
Along the way, I met many small children at the villages along the way. Many of them don't seem to go to school and run around playing. I gave out my small change to whichever children who posed for my photo willingly.
At about 2pm, I pulled into Udom Xai town. Quickly I topped up my petrol tank and had lunch at 'sinphet restaurant'. Ordered beef noodles and coke at 16,000kips (US$2)
The signboard reads that Luang namtha is 115 km away. Guess I'll make a dash for it as Udom Xai looks boring to me.
Once out of Udom Xai, the roads went from hell to heaven. Beautifully paved roads all the way. Not a single pothole spotted. For once, I'm grateful for the Chinese for doing something.
Went I reach the junction between the route to Boten and Luang Namtha, It began to drizzle. I quickly put on my rain gear and reduced my speed to about 40km/h. I decided that this is not the correct time to visit Boten (China border) so decided to find accommodation in Luang Namtha first.
Suddenly it began to rain very heavily. Luckily I was all geared up. Visibility dropped drastically and it was freezing cold till my fingers went numb. I had on turn on my high beam (aka misfits spot light) to ensure that I'm visible.
About an hour later, at 5pm, I reach Luang Namtha and checked in to 'thoulasith guesthouse' for 90,000 kips a night for a big room (US$11.25). I like this place because I can park right outside my room.
8pm I went out for a ride and went to the night market which is just a few food stores. Nothing interest me here. So I crossed the road to 'manychan restaurant' to have some garlic pork. The meal cost 40,000kips (US$5)
As I was leaving, someone approached me. He is Singaporean biker, Alex. The one who rode past me at Krabi w/o saying hi. We had a nice long chat about our riding plans. Apparently, our ride paths are now in opposite directions.
11pm, rode out for 3 minutes and I'm
shaking uncontrollably. This is crazy.... It's bloody cold!!! Must be below 10 degrees outside.
Went to nearby 'dragon ktv' which is actually a disco. Nice lazer light show but only 1/4 filled. I'm too cold for any drinks now. zzz. The beer here is freaking even cheaper at 16,000kips a bottle (US$2) Music is good but there's no crowd; maybe because it's a weekday.
What I can confirm is that this place is 100% safe as it is crawling with policemen. Boring so I went back after 1 bottle.
Expenses:
Hotel: $11.25
Petrol - US$8.50
F&B - US$9
Entertainment - US$2
No comments:
Post a Comment