Tag Archives: Sam Neua

Day 218 – Distances

Pretty landscape on the first stretch

Pretty landscape on the first stretch

The only downside of wanting to see the caves of Vieng Xai was that we now were in the far eastern regions of Laos, nearly in Vietnam, while our preferred border crossing back into Thailand is on the far western edge. A lot of distance needs to be covered so we thought we should start on it today. With a 320km chunk. On the bad Laotian roads.

Flo and I actually thought we wouldn’t be able to make it as we left Sam Neua too late. Our communication played up again and we had to figure out what’s wrong, find a place that sells cables and buy a replacement before leaving. However, the cable was crucial to being able to listen to an audio book so the time was well spent.

Picture I snatched when the ladies weren't looking

Picture I snatched when the ladies weren’t looking

Going back through the weaver’s village, we, of course, didn’t see nearly as many women weaving as on the way in. I still tried to snatch a picture but the ladies weren’t that keen to be photographed.

While the scenery was stunning, the road was a disaster. Big patches were missing, reminding us again of Timor-Leste. Riding was hard work rather than a pleasant activity. So really, we just kept going the whole morning. At some point, the road got better again. As we stopped for lunch, the GPS told us that Nong Khiaw is 160km away. Somehow, despite our late start, we had managed to ride half of the distance before lunch. Thus, we might actually reach Nong Khiew…though probably late in the day.

These looked fascinating

These looked fascinating

Just keep riding, just keep riding…at 4.30pm we arrived in the tiny town of Nong Khiew which, to our eyes, was filled to burst with white tourists. The town’s setting on a river with steep cliffs to either side is spectacular but we were just through with this day.

Amazing Indian food saved us from an empty stomach, even if we had to wait for it for a long time, before we snobed the views again to go back into our room to collapse.

Day 217 – Victory town

Morning road

Morning road

We got up relatively early today. The whole reason to go this far east was to reach a town called Vieng Xai (Victory town) to go on one of the half-day tours there. Vieng Xai is where the leadership of the communist faction hid during the civil war (and for the most part the CIA led a secret war against them while bombing Vietnam). The tours start either at 9 am or 1 pm. We decided on the earlier one. Our gear would stay in Sam Neua, in our hotel room, for the day.

The 30 km ride through the morning mist was quite magical. In good spirit, we arrived at the visitor center. Since we were early, we had plenty of time to get changed and even got treated to a cup of hot tea. Other than us, two families were on the morning tour with us. One Australian NZ expat couple with their two kids and a French family of five overlanding on push bikes. Continue reading →

Day 216 – To the East

The "crater" cafe ... at least they have not lost their sense of humor

The “crater” cafe … at least they have not lost their sense of humor

From Phonsavan to Sam Neua, our next destination, you have to ride 230km. This constitutes a “long riding day” for us in Laos. It’s mostly important to be mentally prepared that you won’t be doing much else than riding today but we also try to be on the road early.

Cranky-T, the lovely cafe where we had dinner last night, was not open for breakfast so we moved three doors down and across the street to “Craters” which was open. The breakfast was satisfying as it included a lot of fruit and some yummy yogurt. Looking out of the window, the cafe’s fence was rather disturbing though: Made out of bomb shells rammed into the ground.

Not the greatest rendering depth in the morning

Not the greatest rendering depth in the morning

Today started out rather chilly. Being 1100 meters above sea level, Phonsavan and the subsequent roads all vanished in thick clouds. Without the sun to drive away the night’s chill, Flo and I were cold on the bike despite an extra fleece layer. But we won’t complain; sleeping is so much better in the mountainous regions when it actually cools down significantly for the night and you can snuggle into a duvet.

At about 10am, the sun finally won and started burning away the clouds. Immediately, it got warmer but the clouds still lingered in the valleys which made for some beautiful views from the road. For quite a while we also rode through an area where every single tree was snapped off at the top like twigs. We were unsure if it was man-made or maybe from a storm? Because…who would do such a thing? And to what purpose? The effected area was immense though so if it was really due to a storm…that must have been a bad one.

A scene like from any village on the road

A scene like from any village on the road

Going through the mountain villages, children at the roadside always wave at you enthusiastically. I always feel bad if I miss a group because I can hear them shouting to get attention but by the time I turn around, we are much further and I usually can’t spot anyone anymore. Oh, if you haven’t guessed, I am the official waving-back person. 🙂

The last village before we arrived in Sam Neua was amazing. It seemed like all of the women were sitting at their looms, weaving cloth with traditional patterns. Unfortunately, we didn’t take any pictures which might have been a mistake as it is Sunday today and we have no way of knowing if they will all have time for weaving on our way back…on a week day.

Sam Neua was a mixed bag for us. On the way in, we were raced by a family of three on a single scooter, mostly because the boy was super excited about our bike. When we arrived at the guest house though, the owner looked at our motorbike and decided to not give us a room. He didn’t speak English but his gestures seemed to say that our motorbike was too wide to fit in the hallway; something that we hadn’t planned on anyway. He remained adamant though and we had to ride to a different guest house. This one was happy to have us so we booked in for two nights to have tomorrow free for tourist things.

tastes vary - but unfortunately these are dying out due to over hunting

tastes vary – but unfortunately these are dying out due to over hunting

Food was also not that easy. Sam Neua does not see a lot of white tourists that much is for sure. The market is almost completely for the locals. Ingrediences yes, take-away food no. Despite being one of the cleanest markets we have seen in Asia so far, I felt really bad moving through the stalls. So many dead fluffy animals on display! Not to speak of the dead rats or random entrails. Not a very nice place to be for a vegetarian.