out of laos and into thailand

Our whereabouts for the last 3 weeks….

So we left luang prabang for phonasavan, another 9 hours on a bus for only 220 km or so. The ride took us through spectacular mountain sceneries. Our main (if not only) goal was to get our hands on a motorbike on tour the north. But again, no luck there. It is even illegal to rent a bicycle over there. They say it is because this is a region were there is still a lot of unexploded ordnance lying around.
In the city there is nothing to do or see. Only thing out there is the plain of jars. It is an area surrounding phonsavan where huge jars (at least 2000years old) of unknown origin are scattered around. Some say they were used as sarcophagi, others say they were used for rice or wine storage… who cares. Since you cant rent any transportation yourself you have to join a tour or ask a tuktuk driver to take you around.
After one plain we had it with the jars, we didn’t even enter site too. While getting over our disappointment, we were getting fed up with al the endless bus rides, the lack of a proper beds, … .

We had 2 options. Or go back to luang prabang and take another bus op north to luang nam tha, which would take 2 days of sitting in a bus. The other route would take us to sam neua in the north west, another 8 hours in the bus. And we were not sure we could even rent a bike out there. (afterwards we figured out it was possible, of course). And again locals were telling us ‘ you cant rent a motorbike here, but in the next city you can’ and blablabla. But hell, as I told before we had it with bus rides. Laura wanted to go straight to thailand and the beach but I wanted to give my motorbike adventure a try so we compromised and took the nightbus back to vientiane. From there, the plan was to go back to the south and do a 3 day motorbike trip called ‘’the loop’ .

The nightbus to vientiane was another nightmare. The last row was packed with local females who decided to get drunk even before the bus started. I don’t mind getting drunk at all but if you know the first 4 hours there will be more bends you can count, then you should know that it is bound to go wrong. And so it did. After a couple of hours they started to puke. All of them. And just when you think it cant go any worse…, as I have probably told before, locals bring everything on a bus. So this time some of them decided to take some live animals (in carton boxes) with them. During the night some of them escaped. It appeared to be giant rats or something. on the bus we were escorted by some militairs with machineguns, because it is an area known for the rebelactivity. but it has been quiet for the last year. they suppose to make you feel safe but they were drunk as 15 sailors... so much for the assurance...

So we got back to vientiane around 4 am. After some sleep we rented some bicycles and drove a couple of kms out of to city for a traditional herbal sauna and a proper massage, which was great. During the evening we found out that lauren was still in town (had to wait for her Thai visa) so we hooked up for some drinks and the most expensive meal we had so far in a real Italian restaurant. Just like us (and most people that have been travelling for a couple of months straight) she was in desperate need of a beach too.
On Monday we got ourselves back on the bike and organized our 2 month visa for Thailand,. So we just need to start visarunning in april. That night I started to get sick, ate some thing wrong and was not worth a dollar. But we managed to go to the bus station and take the bus to Tha Khaek, back in the south. Another day in the bus...

The Loop
We spend a day trying to get decent bike and talking with people about the route to follow. In our lodge there was a book with the latest feedback from travelers about the area. So I copied some plans to made sure we would find our way. The motorbike we hired seemed ok altough as it appeared lateron, we couldnt go harder then 55km an hour or the bike starting to make strange noises.
so on the 9th we left... we visited some nice caves along the way and after a good day of driving trough some really nice landscape (limestone cliffs, nice forests, villages) we stopped at a couple of huts and there even were some huts for rent.
the next morning we continued. we road was pretty tough: a very sandy, rocky smal dirttrack. but after around noon we arrived at a town. from there on we even had a paved road for a 2 hours which took us trough beautiful sceneries al the way to ban na hin.
from there the hard part was going to start... finding the enormous thong lo cave, 40 km further. so far my map was accurate but from here all roads ended and it was just keeping in mind we had to go westwards. we had cliffs on both sides of us and they came together at the horizon in the west. that was our reference point. we drove trough sandpaths, ricepaddies, very bumpy fields and a lot of dry riverbeds. this makes this route only passable during the dry season. some of the riverbeds were very steep and hard to get over. but the bike holded and we made it in 1 piece. after 2,5 hours of finally arrived in a little village were there was a geusthouse. our asses were soar as hell but it was an amazing trip and we didnt get lost a single time...
the next day we drove the last km to a village near the river. we hired some locals to take us in their canoe through the cave. it is the most impressive one we had ever seen. it is 7 km long!!! it took us more then 2,5 hours. we had to get in and out the canoe a couple of times as the water is very low now. inside the cave it is completely dark, the only light is the headlights the 2 locals have on. it was enormous, one of the best things we have seen in laos.
in the afternoon the ride back could begin. more or less the same route back to han na bin and from there it was a 150km (all on paved roads) long ride back to tha kaek. the first 50 km were great, up and downhill again with some spectacular views.
the last 100 we had to do in the dark and we almost run out of gas but we made it back around 8 pm. altough it was pretty hard (especially on the ass), is was a great 3 day trip full of adventure. even laura was really glad we did it. it should be high on everybodies list when going to laos.

hello thailand

the next moring we took a bus down south, too savannakhet. there we crossed the border. laos is beautiful and also freindly people but it just did not get to us like cambodia did or even vietnam. maybe it is because we are bit tired and really looking forward to the beach. we have not seen a beach in 2 months!
perhaps if we visited it first or after later on we would appreciate it more.
travelling like this is really different then the normal 4 or 6 weeks non stop travelling. after 3,5 months we just need a break. relax and reload the batteries for a month of 3

we entered thailand without knowing where to go, no bath, no guidebook, ... but it was a whole different world then what we were used too: very clean, more cars then motorbikes, beautiful roads,...
we found an ATM (hadnt seen one ot those in 2 months) 100m outside the borderpost and took a tuktuk straight to the bus station to book ourselves some seats on the nightbus to bangkok. it couldnt have been any easier.

bangkok

we took a tuktuk from the busstation to ko san road (backpacker street) in the center. it was quit a deathride. he drove like a madman and the tuktuk sounded like a rocketlauncher. we found a great place, just opening a couple of roads of ko san road. it is an amazing area. you only see tourists, from all over the world, and the streetvendors sell every souvenir possible.
so much for the good things. i started to get really sick: vomiting, diarhee, ... so for the first days i couldnt do anything which was really frustrating.

when i got better we went on some sightseeing in new bangkok. what an amazing city!! shoppingmalls everywhere, skyscrapers popping up on avery corner, a skytrain. we did some shopping, just couldnt resist. and we went to the movies (3 times actually). in one theatre, we got the VIP tickets. this means you get big reclining seats, with a blanket, service during the movies, just every luxury imaginable. the are only 40 seats so it feels like your own private theatre. it is like flying first class in stead of economy . the funny thing is that just before the movie starts, the national athem is played and everybody gets up and pays it respects to the thai king. they show pictures while he is doing charity works and stuff alike. it tkaes around 1,5 min. the first time we couldnt hide our smiles...

the rest of the time we just walked around, visited the royal palace, the palace of the reclining buddha (wat pho) and chinatown. all very impressive, especially the royal palace. we have seen a good share of temples like it but nowhere so many and so big ones just in one place. we use cabs most of the times, as they are the cheapest option. it is 1,5 euro max to get from ko san to the new centre which is 6 km further. it is a big city ...

bangkok rockfestival

saterday we went to the bangkok rock festival. we got a 30 percent discount if we had a simcard from dtac. just the thing we still needed to do. a simcard for 199 bath and a 1200 discount on our daytickets in return. strange salestrategie, but hey we are not complaining :-)
getting to the festival was the adventure, first a cab to the skytrain. took that to the end station (nice city views). from there we founded out we had to take a bus way outside the citycenter. luckily someone on the bus told us when to get off. from there we got in a fancy pick up that dropped us off at the festivalsite. finally. it ook us more almost 2 hours get there.

the festivalsite itself was divided in 3 pricezones, each as big as a soccerfield. we were in the middle which was close enough to the stage. in the zones you couldnt buy anything. all the food, merchandise and drinkstands were outside the zones where everybody walked around and you had all the randanimation. the funny thing was you only had one stand were they actually sold beer which resulted in a massive cue. the cocktailstand ran out of alcohol a couple of hours after opening... it is the first time they hold a festival like this here so they will learn. and the locals did it even within the hour. they started selling cans of beer through the fences.

with ian brown, franz ferdindand and oasis playing it was no surprise that half the visitor population consisted out off brits. their main concern is to get drunk as quick as possible and be as loud as possible. it had a worldcup atmosphere.

while laura was on the toilet the one and only MAURO PAWLOWSKI passed me (currently guitarplayer from dEUS). so i dragged laura from the toilet and walked after him. he was really relaxed and friendly (limburgers ondereen he :-)) and he posed for the obligatory picture. he told us that it was even difficult to get a beer backstage. strange culture...
an hour later dEUS kicked off. they only played 10 songs but it was great!!! we suddenly felt pride to be from belgium, as did tom barman i think cause he kept saying where they were from the first 4 songs!!!
didnt see much of ian brown, but franz ferdinand delivered as always. really good live band and they got everybody jumping around. amazing how big they have become in only 2 years.
and then ity was time for Oasis. they have enough hits to fill a couple of hours and luckily they did. all the brits loved it, but they were right. oasis was fucking great that night.
the festival ended around midnight and getting back was even more difficult. everybody needed a cab. so after walking away from the festival we were finally lucky. we shared it too lower the costs and off we were... another great day



in a couple of hours we are going to take the nighttrain to chumpon from where we will take the ferry to koh tao. finally the beach................................
we met a young danish guy a couple of days ago and he will be travelling with us. he just got in bangkok this week and we have been spending some time with him. he is going to dive too.
well i wont post again really soon as there will be not much to tell. the only things we will be doing is diving, relaxing, snorkelling, partying,...


we will stay there for at least 3 months straight. time to unpack the backpack and enjoy paradise!!!
we ll be in touch!