Category Asia
There are two possible solutions to my border problems that I can think of: to sell the bike here and possibly buy a new one in Cambodia, or to stash the bike here, go to Cambodia for a few days. Then, when I have been away for long enough to avoid the 30 day rule for Vietnamese visa exemptions, come back, collect the bike and ride it back to Vietnam and from there into Cambodia.
I was lucky enough to find a way to combine the two methods which gives me more options than anything else. I put an add … Read the rest
My goal for the day was to reach Stung Treng in Cambodia, but it’s only about 100 kilometers from Don Det so I spent the (relatively) cool morning hours exploring the islands. Close to Don Det is a slightly bigger island called Don Khon which is famous for two things, waterfalls and river dolphins.
I like the way the boats are surrounded by islets 
View from the bridge, who builds a house on such a tiny little island?
I took the motorbike along the little path that counts for a road in Don Det, crossed the bridge and went out … Read the rest
Except for ziplines there are plenty of watetfalls on the Bolaven plateau and the area around Pakse. Normally I would want to visit all of them but the next stop on the way to Cambodia, Four Thousand Islands, had such an interesting name I wanted to go there earlier. The main island that travelers visit is Don Det which can be reached by a small ferry from Nakasong. When I reached the ferry terminal I was excited to see that the ferry was actually just a small catamaran built by two narrow boats connected by a wooden platform with a … Read the rest
When I got my eye infection some days ago I missed my booking at The Gibbon Experience where you zipline through the jungle and stay overnight in a treehouse. Here in Pakse there is a similar thing called Tree Top Explorer and when I read about it in my guidebook I decided I should do it as compensation for the one I missed. I Just came back to the city after doing it and I will say right away that it was great.
After picking up our group as well as a TV team from Thailand filming a travel show, … Read the rest
The next city I wanted to go to is Pakse which is little over 300 kilometers from Thakhek. The reasonable thing to do would be to do it in two days but I’m tired of transit towns with nothing to see so I made a deal with myself; if I reached Savannakhet, the biggest city along the way, before lunch I would continue all the way.
I didn’t manage to take off quite as early as I wanted but I made good time and by eleven I was already passed the junction with the Savannakhet road so I decided to … Read the rest
The main reason people come to Thakhek is to do The Loop, a three day round trip by motorbike that not only goes through beautiful scenery but passes by a number of caves and lakes where you can go swimming. I decided to do the loop anti clockwise, starting with the caves just east of Thakhek.
Xang cave is reachable via a dirt road just off the main road and you have to ford a small river to reach it. The cave itself is not much, just a couple of Buddha statues and it’s not really worth the trouble of … Read the rest
I’ve been on the road for two days now. My goal was Thakhek which is just a little bit too far to do in one day.
Just a short distance outside Vientiane is a park called Xieng Khuan Buddha park. It is meadow full of Buddhist and Hindu statues. Though many of them look ancient they were made using concrete starting in 1958 by a priest-shaman called Luang Pu Bunleua Sulilat. The statues depict all manner of gods and creatures out of Buddhist and Hindu mythology; it’s a mix between weird and scary. The most prominent statue is a large … Read the rest
I had one main mission for today, getting my luggage rack fixed. It took me most of the morning to find a place that could do welding work and another hour or so to get the work done. Final result: the luggage rack is now nice and solid. Mind you it felt pretty solid after the last time I fixed it too, but I’m more confident this time. Hopefully it will hold up for the rest of the journey.
Once I got the bike fixed I had some lunch … Read the rest
It felt good to leave Vang Vieng, I liked the activities you can do there, including the partying, but I didn’t like the town itself. It’s so full of tour operators and backpacker oriented bars and restaurants that serve sub par western food. It almost feels like the place has been tainted by tourism.
I visited Vientiane back in 2009 so I didn’t really have to go there again but I’m hoping I can get the luggage racks properly fixed. Also, I don’t mind seeing some of the sights again since it’s been seven years since then.
The road from … Read the rest
When the riverside bars closed down in 2012 the action sports companies moved in. Nowadays Vang Vieng is crawling with tour operators selling day tours of kayaking, ziplineing, terrain buggy driving and parasailing. One of my favorite sports is rock climbing so for me that was the natural choice. I booked a one day tour and as it turned out it was just me and the guide which was good for me. Since I’ve climbed before he gave me a few minutes reminder of how to belay then off we went. I belayed while he climbed lead and set the … Read the rest