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I pick up my Honda Baja 250 and get set to head to Tha Kaek from Vientianne for the first leg. I remember the bus took 6 hours but didn't realise it was just short of 400km. 2km after getting the bike the gears are buggared - it will change up but not down. I manage to crawl back to the shop where the guy gets the angle grinder out and 10 minutes later I'm good to go. I take it for a test spin around the block and again the gears are no good. I leave the bike with the guy and come back in 30 minutes and this time all is good. So I hit the road and almost manage to get lost on the outskirts of Vientianne with locals giving me wrong directions. Finally the traffic eases and I'm making good speed, well I think I am cos the speedo doesn't work.

Loop de loop

Gareth Penpraze
2007-04-21 19:34:03

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before. So next morning we set off doing about 3km an hour and after 15 minutes the lady falls off!! So I'm now on my own for the next three days. I take in a couple of caves and the second one has a budda inside - I'm not religious but I give the big man a 1000kip (maybe 3pence) and ask for my safe passage around the loop.

The road starts to get worse with huge potholes and dust spread everywhere by the numerous lorries ploughing past. The small local villages on route seem shocked to see falang on a big bike and the kids all run along side shouting "saybaydee!!" Everything is going great until I drive right through the first day stop so I decide to power on to Lak Xao a further 150km on. The roads get worse - think Koh Pan gyang hills with camdodian road quality with desert dust. I come up over the brow of a hill, the road slowly decends and banks left. As I near the bottom the gravel on the side catches the wheel pulling me towards the ditch and a tree. The bike goes from underneath me and I bounce off the gravel. I'm glad I had the prayer to buddha because I was about 100km to the nearest town and the best hospital around was probably across the Vietnam border. I had no choice but to trail the bike out of the ditch and get back on again, this time doing about 5km/h until I was off the mountain. I managed to make it to a guesthouse before dark and promptly ordered a beer. The owners didn't speak a bit of English and I realise the only Laos phrases are in my Lonely Planet - no wait, its fallen off the bike after the first cave!! With my best sign language they don't understand that I want food so I have an other few beers and go pass out.

Next morning I head off to Ban Na Hin to go to Kong Lor - a 7km long cave. I can't get the bike started cause my legs are hurting. After 20 minutes I realise the lights are on, so one kick later and I'm away. Its bloody freezing driving in the mist and I'm ...