Laos

We got up which was a good start to the Saturday and had our last breakfast at the small cafe up the road. Then got our stuff together and got a taxi to the airport.  We were an hour early for check in which was fine, we sat outside and watched the craziness. When we checked in we had to sign a disclaimer to say if we got refused entry to Laos because we didn't have visa it was our fault, oh well.

Eventually we boarded a bit later, total chaos as they started boarding a maynamar flight at the same time , a bus to the plane which was a turbo prop where the luggage was stored behind the pilots in a cage, interesting! It was a nice flight flying low enough to see the land and jungles we might crash in !  we got a soft drink and offered a snack eat your heart out BA  ( but we had just pigged out on a burger at the airport.)

We landed an hour later and the visa thing wasn't a problem, we had to fill out a form and give them a photo ( lucky we had one ) give them 40usd each and then we went through passport control. Easier than we thought, after that we got a sim card and took out some money. You can only get loation Kip in laos, the good news was they took Baht and USD.

Then we got a taxi which turned out to be shared with a large family, Fi and I ended up in the boot with the luggage, I was happy when we got dropped off but not so happy when we found out it wasn't our hotel! To be fair the guy from the wrong hotel went and got a truck taxi thing who ended up dropping us in the vicinity of our Hotel, very tired and sweaty when we got there , no suitcases on wheels just carrying big bags on our backs. My initial intro to Laos ,not so good.

As always a day flying doesn't cheer me up but after a wash and an hours rest we felt ready to go out. A really nice restaurant near us and after a meal and a beer and a blether with a couple from France who we invited to share a table ( they were getting turned away as it was full )

We withdrew 2 million Kip from the bank which was around £70, and the bill came to several hundred thousand  Kip, I left the lassie a tip but she said it was too much, nice, I still left a tip which I'm sure was a few pence. The area we are staying in seems quite upmarket, when we got a ride into town I was thinking "my god" but it's really quite nice. We ended up in a bar where we had a singleton whisky and a French red wine respectively.

Awakened at 4am by the monks banging a big drum next door, it sounded like someone was kicking a door in and just before I got up to go outside and tell them to Shut the fuck up I realised what it was.

Sunday today and a wander then a tut tut ride to the bike shop to introduce ourselves (200,000 kip fare around £7 including him waiting half an hour) , we pick the bikes up on Tuesday for the next riveting adventure. 

Leaving Chiang Mai

Me, crabbit in the back of the 2nd Taxi

 the Wat where the 4am Monks live next door 

In the restaurant 

off to the bike shop

our driver

seemingly from the 1500's

really nice area 

Almost time to move on

We had the ride from hell into Chiang mai, drivers and scooters with not a clue as to what's going on. Glad to get back to our digs and drop the bikes of unscathed. 

Got a burger and wine in the afternoon , it had to be done, also calculated the mileages 

Big bikes 2250km

Small bikes 1245km 

Total just shy of 3500 km or 2175 miles ! Not too shabby!

Spent the rest of the week chilling in Chiang Mai , we met our aussie friends one night and apart from that  really just chilled. Thursday we went to an elephant sanctuary, 2 1/2 hours there in a minibus, felt like a tourist which I hate. The sanctuary was nice, we fed the elephants then walked with them to a swamp but  we got close to them, a bit too close sometimes. We had to walk up and down some pretty extreme gradients which I didn't like, then on the way back for lunch I lost my balance and fell, thought I was taking the quick way down but Fiona grabbed me which was good.

Not ideal really and I wasn't too happy but when we got back for lunch I chilled out a bit. We spent the afternoon feeding the elephants and making some medicine for them to help them shit which is a problem seemingly, our elephants didn't seem to have problems in that department! Then a 2 1/2 hour trip back, so happy to get off the bus!

Today we tried to apply for our visas for Laos only to find we were too late in applying, major panic this morning before we saw itshould be possible to get them on arrival, oh well, some more excitement I don't really need.

So tomorrow Laos ( or maybe not) stay tuned in for more riveting tales 

Nice sunset the night before we returned the bikes 

Fi and some of the women mixing up the medicine

hungry 

a bit close

like me a struggle to get uphill !

impressive 

Uphills and downhills, keeping moving

 After a few days off in Mae Hong song it was time to move on, stopped at a bamboo bridge over rice fields for some photos and then at the fish cave by which time it was very hot, we left and twisted and turned through several hairpins, busy as hell and as always the driving got crazier as it got hotter. We think its people returning home after the holidays, I certainly hope so, didn't enjoy much of the ride today, very jealous of the bigger bikes. Eventually arrived at our jungle lodge cabin, cool place both aesthetically and temperature wise .

Nice cabin in Pang Marpha in the town but in a jungle setting. Landlady was super nice, she was a good cook as well, it got cold as soon as the sun went down and we retired back to our room which was very cold. There seemed to be a rave going on in the town which sounded like it was next door, sadly watched a netflix movie on Fi's phone to escape the noise. Very cold at night .

After a wonderful breakfast we set off towards Pai , up mountains and down mountains, sometimes 10mph uphill but better than than the crazy cyclists doing the "loop"

Our digs was another cabin which was excellent and it was hot! We tried to book another night but they were fully booked. After a walk at night down the walking street full of tourists ( actually felt more like Ibiza) I was glad to move on.

Heading towards Chiang Mai its still bend after bend ,uphill and downhill, we stopped just a few miles from our digs at a roadside burger joint which was cool as they rehabilitate disabled people.

We got to our wee hut in the jungle, very rustic and mozzie hell, i tried sitting outside but they got us again and again so we had to admit defeat. The very nice guy couldn't do enough for us and cooked us a dinner, lit a small fire which kept the mozzies away, a nice evening all in all.

We mentioned breakfast and at 8 am the guy delivered it to our patio. Big problem was it was a full Thai breakfast and i cant eat early in the morning. The biggest problem was when we got the bill, over 1500 baht which was twice what we expected, it pissed us off a bit, rustic setting but paying very dearly for the experience. So lesson to selfs , ask for the cost before because after you cant complain. (In the grand scheme of things its not a lot of money its just the feeling of being taken for a ride that pisses me off )

We ended up in quite a cool place but unfortunately with a big family of Thais next door, they were very noisy and sound proofing isn't a thing here!

We decided to book in for another couple of days after we have been to a Homestay in Wiang haeng on the Maynamar  Border,  a difficult ride on the 125s with much going uphill at 10mph and the same down as you can't trust the brakes . All good though and definitely an adventure. 

Another home stay another morning figuring out how much we will get charged,  always dearer than hotels but we live and learn ( do we ), It was a very nice place rustic, there was a dummy fire in our sitting room, we were freezing and wished it had worked! As always the bill was much bigger than we thought, we never learn, nice place though with stunning views,

The ride back to our hotel was actually quite good, following the same road and a stop at the top of the mountain  at the same cafe. we got chatting to a girl who was with some monks, one of them was a mad Liverpool fan and he was actually there in 25 for a game, very strange!

Just dawdling now until we get back to Chiang Mai, we leave Thailand next Saturday for another part of the adventure!

Now about an hour from Chiang Mai, we return bikes on Tuesday so we will just chill until then.

The photos are a wee bit out of sequence but the internet has been crap so frustration got the better of me

Another Wat, wat was that?

From our room veranda 

With our hosts Frank and Jasmine

I met her 12 years ago, hasn't changed, a member of the long neck tribes or Karen

Busy, last time we were here it was only us

Mae Hong Song from the Wat

Night again

Wee posing photo ( no I didn't ride the bike really dressed like that)

riverside

ma and my new bird, she's very quiet though

scary spice

Guzzi model, very strange

Me looking blurry

I didn't but we didn't see the elephant

German on tour, jealous of his bike

Nice park

Nice view

Petrol stop, old style

Fiona posing

Waterfall posing

Man made adventure park but quite nice and relaxing

Hairpins every few yards, not so relaxing

My bike at a very long drop

Hills and nature

Bamboo bridge, wasn't sure it would take my weight

Looking at mair hills

Thumbs up

Nice landlady, braw cook and not a rip off

In pai, tourist hell

Jungle, mozzies and quite expensive 

Fiona taking advantage of the facilities

Cauld

No cauld

Very cool burger stop, helping rehabilitate people with disabilities (and me who had a lack of meat disability)

No real

Strange flowers

mair waterfalls

relaxing

water park again

nice gardens

Nice digs but dear and cold!