Monthly Archives: March 2016

Day 228 – Good-byes

He is checking out our guesthouse …

Our last day in Chiang Mai had come. At this point, I wasn’t keen on debating with Flo anymore if he could ride the bike or not. On Monday, the doctor had told him that his recovery will take another week. Leaving Chiang Mai on Saturday seems close enough so he got his wish.

This made today our last day in this city. Walking towards Angel’s Secret to repeat our amazing brunch experience from a couple of day’s ago, we spotted Chantal’s bike all packed up and ready to leave. So we waited around for a chance to say good-bye to her before she rides off towards Myanmar as well.

Chantal’s chook chaser, fully loaded in its current setup.

In the end, we spoke for quite a while (she was waiting on another person to show up for an interview) about where we had been and where we will go, sponsorship and meeting up again in Europe. Hugs, waves and a “we’ll stay in touch” later, we were the only ones left in Chiang Mai.

Angel’s Secret was really nice again. Food can just be so yummy. *grin* We decided that food really is the best way of spending our last day here as Chiang Mai is full of good food.

Thus, after an afternoon spent writing for the blog and getting the GPS track for Laos ready, we celebrated with more food in the evening. New Delhi, the Indian restaurant we had been to before, was visited again. Their food is delicious. I actually took a photo of the sign this time…somehow I got the feeling that they have to battle against a bad reputation of Indian food. The sign basically states that almost everything is home-made and you are welcome to complain if the food is not up to your standards. But the food is sooooooo good.

: He is checking out our guesthouse …

: A lot of alleyways in the old town had graffiti going …

: Chantal’s chook chaser, fully loaded in its current setup.

: A cozy place – the eso and spirit healer ads were a bit much for us though …

: The only food-shot … Today, the food was too delicious to be photographed.

: take a moment and read this … hilarious.

: Looks pretty, but sure not our kind of dive anymore

: We walked past these every night … so pretty (sorry, no tripod).

Day 227 – Stats 108 Laos

The small test ride I did today does not really justify a full blog post on its own. Therefore, it is time and we have the space for another stats post.

Country data #8: Laos

Full screen version of the map

3228 km in total. 2979 km traveled, 249 km towed (2923 km of GPS tracked)
13 travel days, 23 days total
$18.89 Average cost per night (23x room, no invitation)
151l of standard fuel for $ 214.25 (5.1 l / 100km)
~$31.62 for food every day, always eating out with no invitations
~$2,900 in total – $900 to be refunded by the insurance

All $ values are converted to NZD.

Day 226 – Traveler’s meeting

Epic food hipster shot – it was tasty, too.

It was late yesterday…a nice long sleep-in was in order. Around 11am, we actually left the guesthouse in search of breakfast. Since it was so late already, we had the vague plan of making this breakfast more of a brunch and save on lunch. Arriving at Angel’s Secret, they had an extensive brunch menu and thus, brunch it was. Amazing brunch to be honest. We had everything from a big tea pot with apricot cookies to a French chocolate croissant, muesli with fresh fruit and yogurt to a big hearty egg sandwich. So yummy!

However, I didn’t feel too well today. Nothing serious, just likely that I caught Flo’s runny nose. So back to bed for more sleep and some home-y you tube shows.

In the evening, a big traveler’s meeting happened. Leonie, Peter and Chantal were still in town who we wanted to meet anyway and Chantal met more overlanders at her hostel who were happy to meet up, too. In the end, there were nine of us: Pia, Pascal, Frederic, Raphael, Chantal, Peter, Leonie, Flo and I. Quite the big gathering actually. First, I wasn’t sure if I’d be up for it but in the end, I was super happy that I went even if I left early to go back to bed. It was a nice meeting and our last chance to see off Amsterdam to Anywhere who will be leaving for Myanmar tomorrow.

: Nina was especially pleased with the homemade cookies

: Epic food hipster shot – it was tasty, too.

: Flo is leaning out of the frame in the bottom left …

: Dutch connection, double XX section.

Day 225 – Reunions

One of the great inspiring websites for motorcycle travelers

The days get pretty same-y after a while. We have either done the homework we had or can not do it until I am healed up a bit more. That, still, is like watching rice grow. Agonizingly slow (yes, I am aware that one week is not a long time for an injury and it could be much worse – I am just not that good with waiting). I spent a little bit of time following up another potential option for shipping the bike, thanks to Peter.

Luckily, there are two things to keep us in good spirit: Good food and good company. The first one came in the form of delicious Indian food. The naan was the best we had in a long while. Once again the Lonely Planet held true, and judging by the long list for Chiang Mai, we won’t have to settle for bad food until we leave. Ok, well, we did actually, trying to grab a cheap bite before meeting up that night … but that was our own fault. 😉

Leonie and Peter – Amsterdam to Anywhere

That evening, we were set to see Leonie and Peter again – plus Chantal (Chick on a chook chaser), who was on her way to Chiang Mai that day. We have last seen her in Dili and followed her trip updates on Facebook and her blog since. Once more, it was a lovely evening. We talked to Leonie and Peter for an hour or so about this, that and everything before Chantal joined us. It is amazing every time how often we meet fellow travelers and it just ‘clicks’ and after only a handful of hours you end up talking about real heartfelt stuff that one normally only shares with good friends.

Chantal arrived and filled us in on her latest exploits. So we hung around, nursing the one

Chantal – Chick on the chook chaser

drink we all had budget for until we got finally booted out near midnight again. Best of all, we did not even have to say goodbye, since we are all staying another day in town!

Day 224 – All in one day

Tuk-Tuk to the hospital

We had organized breakfast last night already, with chocolate croissants waiting for us in the morning. Thus, we were ready to go to the hospital before 8am. Flo called both possible hospitals beforehand, ruled out the one where the people on the phone didn’t speak English and decided that we would take a tuk-tuk taxi to the McCormick hospital.

Arriving there, we were flabbergasted by the difference: This was a proper hospital. Gigantic compared to anything facility we had been to lately. However, size and professionalism of a hospital come with another western achievement…bureaucracy. Thus, the first thing to do was register as a patient. Which turned out to be not that straight-forward without a Thai insurance. Despite having our Insurance Certificate with us and despite having our insurance give the hospital a guarantee of payment via email, it was not enough. A THAI insurance needs to give this guarantee, not an international one. So we ended up paying for the treatment upfront and will claim back the expenses.

Finally, a modern hospital

With all the bureaucracy b******t out of the way, Flo had a first examination. The doctor spoke English quite well, wrote an accident report and proceeded to test Flo’s arm. The elbow was much better already but the rotation of the arm resulted in screaming and Flo giving it a 9 out of 10 on a pain scala. Just to be absolutely sure, the doctor ordered another x-ray, this time of the forearm. The x-ray was digital this time, of a much better quality and ready in no time. Still, nothing is broken. The doctor suggested about another week for recovery and recommended physical therapy to help the process. So I hung around the hospital some more while Flo had physical therapy. I have to say, he was not quite convinced afterwards which bugged me a bit as I know how effective it can be. I haven’t worked in a physio therapy office for four years without picking up one or two things. At least, the therapist was able to give a slightly better diagnosis: The elbow is sprained while the muscle between the two forearm bones is strained.

The truly amazing Peter and Leonie from Amsterdam to … Anywhere

Afterwards, we had lunch and relaxed for a while before having some cake and coffee in the late afternoon. Then, we met up with Leonie and Peter of Amsterdam to Anywhere. They had contacted us a while back but we hadn’t managed to actually meet yet. So we had this lovely evening with food from a local market and then a drink at the Rider’s corner. Flo tells me that the Rider’s Corner in Chiang Mai is one of THE places to meet overlanders, so that was fitting. We clicked pretty straight away so that great conversation ensued. All of us are going to be in town for a while longer so we made tomorrow evening another date. 🙂

: Tuk-Tuk to the hospital

: Finally, a modern hospital

: I WANT TO RIIIIIDE!

: Epic manbun of hipsterdom +1

: It also was our 7th anniversary, so we had some treats in the afternoon.

: The stiff milk does not really work on ice …

: A Chinese Funduro with a Chinese plate – of cause the overlandets will check it out.

: The truly amazing Peter and Leonie from Amsterdam to … Anywhere

Day 223 – Pick up line

The owner of our guesthouse organised a pick-up truck to drive us to the border himself

Well, here we were. Ready to load the bike onto the back of our guesthouse owner’s Hillux and to leave Laos for good. It hurts – also quite literally, which works as a constant reminder of the rational to leave via truck. Still, skipping almost 400 km, or at least traveling by other means, feels like a little defeat.

We even had to ask Marten to interrupt his morning routine to come help load up the bike. Everything was tied down pretty solid, I got the money from an ATM and off we went. The Hillux was a good mode of transport, however, comfortable back seats meant that the hatch didn’t fully close while Rocinante was back there.

Saying good-bye to the guesthouse owner at the border

The road towards the border town of Houay Xai was a lovely mountain road, if in a bit of disrepair in places. The first two rough bits still let our heads snap round to the back, but Rocinante was tied down quite well. Only 191 km, but the windy road and careful driving meant that it took quite a while. Including a brief coffee break on the roadside, the whole leg took a bit more than three hours.

Getting the bike down at the border was exhausting in the heat. We did bring a ramp but three people, Flo with his arm in a sling, weren’t enough for a safe affair. When I went to recruit two “strong” guys to help unload, all four guys around felt that could only mean them. All the better. 🙂

Flo had to ride for the bit in between borders

The border posts are on opposite sides of the Mekong river, connected by Friendship Bridge number 4. This meant that I did have to ride the bike, at least for the 2 km between borders. A fact that got Nina pretty nervous to begin with. I took an Ibuprofen and bit down the pain.

Border crossing was a smooth affair, if a bit tiresome. Heaps of bureaucratic procedure meant that we would need the whole of two hours. Nina had to fill out all the forms as I simply cannot write with my left hand. All the while, our pickup was waiting only 10 meters away, just in sight.

Our pick-up on the left…with no ramp

Said pickup was provided by a young couple and their Isuzu truck. They did not bring any kind of ramp or recruited help, so getting the bike up took another moment. Some workmen came past and we used a pile of dirt on a building site nearby as a ramp. At least the bed of the truck was long enough to get all of the bike in and close the latch. On the downside, the rear seats in the cabin had that much less space and would rather qualify as “emergency seats”. Ah well.

Again, no ramp but lots of manpower this time

In the end, it took us another 5 hours to reach our pre-booked guesthouse in Chiang Mai. All we had to eat since breakfast were a round of snacks from a 7eleven. The guesthouse sure lived up to its reviews. The staff was supremely helpful and eager. They lifted the bike of the back even without a ramp and carried all our stuff up to the third floor to our lovely room.

It was late, 8 pm by the time we shambled out one last time in search for food. The big weekend market was on, so we walked all the way to the center of the old town for some nice street food treats and an interesting chat with a pair of German expats.

: The owner of our guesthouse organised a pick-up truck to drive us to the border himself

: Daughter of the guesthouse’s owner…uber-cute

: Saying good-bye to the guesthouse owner at the border

: Good-bye Laos! Despite the accident, we really loved our time here

: Flo had to ride for the bit in between borders

: Our pick-up on the left…with no ramp

: This time, the hatch closed and Rocinante stood super securely

: Sad-puppy-eyed Flo checked one last time before we drove off towards Chiang Mai

: Another five hours in the car meant the sun went down before we arrived

: Again, no ramp but lots of manpower this time

: Knackered after a 10 hour transit to get to Chiang Mai

Day 222 – Ready…Set…Go

It’s easy to get used to staying in bed part of recovery. You wake up, go to the bakery, have breakfast, go back to bed, get up, go have lunch, go back to bed etc. You get the gist. This one didn’t set out to be any different. Except that it was. 🙂

In the late afternoon, the owner of the guesthouse came back to us with prices for transport. As there is a border in between, we couldn’t o straight to Chiang Mai. Instead, it was possible to get transport to Houay Xai, the border town in Laos, for 1,200.000 kip (135 Euro), go through the border by ourselves and then be picked up again in Chiang Khong, the border town in Thailand, to be transferred to Chiang Mai. The 314km long journey would cost 10.000 baht (255 Euro). These prices seemed very reasonable. So Flo called our Danish doctor to tell him and he agreed that this is okay for the insurance to pay. Thus, we would leave Luang Namtha first thing in the morning.

This left one more evening here. Or in Laos. Time to have more yummy Laotian food, right? Right. While I still finished my game of Desktop Dungeon, Flo met the only other guest in our guesthouse: Marten. He also travels Laos on a motorbike, though a local one and played the guitar beautifully so we heard him before we actually met him. Agreeing to have dinner together, we went to Minority Restaurant for excellent Lao food.

A lovely evening ensued with good company in form of Marten, Indigo who works (almost) in the restaurant and Jennifer, a traveler from the UK.

Day 221 – Limbo

Slowly, the shock wore off and we realized that while we were lucky that nothing is broken, we still had an accident. For me, it was realizing where all my bruises were while for Flo…well, all we had really was an x-ray image. Our medically-inclined friends all agreed that the injury could still be bad even if nothing is broken and that we should have another (English-speaking) doctor have a look.

For this to happen, we would probably have to go to Thailand. None of the medical facilities in Laos was up there in the diagnostic’s department. Also, we had been on our way out and the Thai border is only about 190km away. Another day’s ride on the bike. If only Flo could ride.

So we decided to contact our insurance. We had done so yesterday already to claim back our transport expanses to even get to Luang Namtha. Now, the question was if they would pay for us to go to Bangkok. Seemed like a good choice as Bangkok is known for its western hospital and health care and also because we could fly us and the bike out in case something is seriously wrong.

That’s a big thing to ask of your health insurance which is why they scheduled a phone call with one of their own doctors in the Denmark to evaluate the situation. Basically, in health insurance terms, what we asked for was an “evacuation”. The phone call went well. The doctor agreed that it would be best if another doctor would have a look but his approach to the situation included flying Flo out to Chiang Mai for a diagnosis rather than transport both of us AND the bike to Thailand. Not really happy with this suggestion we settled on waiting two more days to see if the arm got substantially better. During this time, we would ask around about our transport option and come back to him with a price for our preferred way out.

That’s how we ended the day: Flo talked to the lovely owner of our guest house who spoke English so well if he could get information about transport options for us.

Day 220 – Pain

As expected, we did very little today. The first night after the accident was rough for me. I did not find a good position to lie without pain in the arm, even with the ibuprofen. Groggy and deflated, we got out of bed to go find breakfast. Turned out we got more than we hoped for. Both of us were actually defeated by our set breakfasts.

“scanning” the x-ray for the insurance

The sheer amount of food we had for breakfast plus our low energy levels meant that we would retreat and coil up in our room for the rest of the day. The pain was ok while immobilized, but I very soon started to get annoyed with the utter uselessness of my right arm. This set out to be a long and annoying recovery for me.

We did get one thing managed: I got in contact with our travel insurance and they promised to get their doctor to look over our documents and get in contact with us tomorrow for the next steps.

That night we went out to another place in town. Their local Lao food turned out to be really nice and pretty reasonably priced.

One day of recovery done … how many more to go?

Day 219 – Grinding to a halt

One could take up a boat ride to remote villages but we are on a bike …

Three weeks in Laos felt like a decent amount of time. So from beautiful Nong Khiew, we had two more days to go: To Luang Namtha today and then on to the border town of Houei Xai tomorrow.

From here on, the road seemed to be new. Perfect tarmac in a stunning setting. We made very good progress while cruising along, enjoying the ride rather than pushing it. 230km for today was nowhere near yesterday’s push so we really took it easy.

Nice turns!

Arriving in Oudom Xai at 11.30am, it seemed a little early for lunch so we continued on, starting on the last 100km for today. Not too bad to arrive early and have some time to catch up on blogging. Nothing really changed: The tarmac was perfect, we cruised through the corners. One of the corners was in shade with the surface seeming wet there. When we rode it though, it turned out to be something entirely different than water. Something slippery as hell. In milliseconds, the tyres slipped, the bike dropped from the tyres onto the pannier but continued riding the corner until it fully tilted onto the broadside of the pannier which resulted in a spin and then dropped us on the ground where we and the bike stopped.

… looks like road, rides like an ice rink

Quickly checking that I was okay, I turned to Flo who said he needed a minute to sort through the different pains. To be safe, I turned off the engine. Not knowing what to do next with Flo still on the ground, I took a photo of the scene. Because pumped with adrenaline, you don’t exactly have the best ideas about what to do. It was then that a horn sounded: A truck announcing its presence from around the corner so nobody would overtake. We sounded the bike’s horn because it was lying in the middle of the road. Luckily, the truck driver understood and slowed down to a crawl being able to stop and help us get the bike up and to the side of the road without any further issues.

Got the stuff off to get it out of the way

Well, the bike had no further issues. Nothing was broken, just the plastic from the front indicator fell off. It is still in one piece so can be glued back on. The pannier has new scratches but not many considering our slide and the military haversacks we use as front panniers were completely unscathed.

However, Flo’s right arm was not okay. He could tell pretty early on and you can see it on the picture that I took after the accident. Pumped with adrenaline, he thought it would be okay in an hour or so while I thought it might be broken. I fell onto my hip and didn’t feel much pain yet because of the adrenaline so if Flo was in pain…it must be something.

So I started to stop cars. Surprisingly few would actually stop with me waving like a madwoman in a corner of the road. The second car that stopped was from a NGO or something like it. At least, the people inside spoke English. They offered to drive us to a nearby hospital but we didn’t feel like leaving the bike here was a good idea. We settled on them driving off, asking a truck in town to come pick us up. Slightly relieved, we sat down, calculating that it might take up to 1 1/2 hours for this to happen. In the end, it didn’t take nearly as long.

Setting a point of interest in the GPS so we would be able to find the bike again

An ambulance showed up. Obviously called for us. The driver then realized that he couldn’t also transport the bike. With a heavy heart, we shoved our luggage into the ambulance, parked the bike out of the way as best as we could and left for the hospital.

The “hospital” was not exactly that. Yes, they had doctors and nurses but almost no equipment. They touched and bent Flo’s arm while he was obviously in pain before letting us know that we had to get to Luang Namtha’s hospital. By this point, Luang Namtha was 70km away. A world away without the bike. No one here really spoke English and while I discussed with the ambulance driver and a doctor that I will NOT hand over the keys to the bike so a local can drive it here, one of the nurses wanted to give Flo an injection of something we didn’t know. Overwhelmed by the situation, we decided that we will all stick together and nothing except for a cooling cream will be done until we are in the bigger hospital.

Strapping down on greedy doc’s truck

Once everyone understood that we were adamant of finding a pick-up truck to pick up Rocinante and then drop the three of us at Luang Namtha’s hospital, plans were made. The doctor himself offered his pick-up for the ride…for the steep price of 1.000.000 kip. That’s a fortune in local currency. About NZ$200 for a car ride of 70km. Well, we were desperate and under time pressure (and in pain) so the doctor got himself a deal. Repacking our luggage from the ambulance into the pick-up, we went back for Rocinante. It wasn’t easy to get her up, another local passing on a scooter was volunteered to help as well and then everything had to be tied down. Flo didn’t look too well but he had to help to make sure the bike was secure.

Leaving at 3pm, it took 1 1/2 hours to reach Luang Namtha. Our drivers were in high spirits (no wonder for that price) and even agreed to stop at a hostel first so that we could securely park the bike and store our luggage before hitting the hospital. Luang Namtha is bigger and more touristy so the hostel owner spoke English which made us hopeful for the hospital.

Worse for wear

The hospital still was a provincial hospital in Northern Laos though. Mimicking an accident on a motorcycle and pointing at the arm, we were brought into an examination room were more people bent Flo’s arm. We asked for an x-ray and the hospital actually had one. Flo was wheel-chaired off to radiology while I paid what google translate said was “service/examination fee”.

A short wait later, we got the x-ray and nothing is broken. Much relief for both of us. Flo was still in pain though so we got Ibuprofen as pain killers and a sling for his arm to keep it still.

Nothing more could be done today so we had food and then collapsed for 12 hours of sleep.