Gino's Travels

Sunday, 1 February 2026

On the move Southwards

After a few days hanging around in Luang Prabang people watching, getting a washing done and sending the bulk of our luggage to Vientiane for us to pick up next week we were glad to leave on Friday, we had overstayed but it was quite pleasant meeting up with Alan from Canada and Tony from England but it was time to leave, we even gatecrashed a birthday party ,drinking wine with the bar owner, it was all getting too familiar plus we both picked up a bit of travelers stomach.

We set off fully expecting terrible roads and we weren't disappointed, just under 140 km and it took us just under 3 1/2 hours and found a hotel in Kasi, nice enough and only £7. out for a meal which happened to be on the side of the very busy road, the nice lady wiped the table which was full of dust from the passing traffic, no point it was manky again in a minute flat. I never see anyone washing their hands whilst cooking, patting the dog or cat, playing with the kids but washing hands no, its no wonder we get the dodgy belly. everything from the goods in the shop to bottles have a layer of dust.

The roads quite frankly are a disaster every few yards it feels like we are doing a full on trials or enduro section, the wee Yamahas are brilliant though, they seem to plough on no matter what, overtaking trucks is the biggest nightmare, you cant see for the dust, or even breath sometimes but we are well despite all that, actually enjoying it in a perverse way.

Pictures tell the story better than I can

Not the Corran Ferry

Dodgy

The wee Yamahas

Looks stunning but the roads oh no

Fiona still managing a smile

Lunch/ breakfast, needed black pudding eggs and bacon, got rice

still smiling

Not the same

35pence shop

Dusty but happy Fiona

Out of sequence, the ferry again, tying up the rope that pulled off the stick

nice

Our Balcony in Kasi, very safe.....

Kasi, or dusty city

Our digs just nearby Vang Vieng

The blue lagoon, very safe bridge

Cave entrance

The blue lagoon

you get the idea

Fiona looking good

the roads

again

and again

And again

They sometimes spray water to keep the dust down and to make it slippery for us

It is never ending!

Tuesday, 27 January 2026

Nong Khiaw

We spent 4 days in Nong Khiaw , a very nice place where we met fellow bikers Alan from Canada and Tony from England, we kept meeting up in the same bar in the centre of the Village which was nice it started to feel like a local pub!. The village had a very nice vibe to it and was worth staying for a few days

We visited a cave where the locals hid from the relentless bombing from the USA during the secret war. There was a small museum as well which was full of bombs ( used obviously ) The photos explain it better

Fiona took one for the the team by climbing up a Hill to get some great photos whilst I slept, ( I need beauty sleep more than she does ) .

The bar we met in seems to be the meeting place for all the over privileged back packers from around the world, most of them were rude to the staff and generally obnoxious.

We also met some Aussies at our hotel doing a guided tour, two mates and a daughter of one of them, had great crack with them.

We left on Monday not looking forward to the craziness and intended to stop again back on the way to Luang prabang but we seemed to be on a roll so we just went for it, 90 miles took us about 4 1/2 hours, I was broken when we got back here but a least we have a bed that doesn't feel like it has a solid wood mattress to help us recover for the next part.

Shout out to the yamahas, ideal for the shit roads and so far so good. Heading south on Friday on what we have been told is the worst road ever, excellent