The Ho Chi Minh trail and great Champassak with Jules Classic Adventure

In Laos, everything starts with a "Baci", a traditional blessing ceremony of the tour participants by Buddhist monks at Papaya Spa.

 

We then head due east, entering the Phou Khao Kwai national park with its waterfalls and winding mountain paths, in the heart of Mong country. The tour will take us along the Vietnamese border where the Ho Chi Minh trail starts. The remains of the Vietnam war are still evident everywhere, giant bomb craters turned into fish ponds, carcasses of all types of vehicles littered along the trail and a myriad of trails and paths. A real pleasure, atmosphere guaranteed!

 

We then traverse the Boloven plateau and its coffee plantations to explore Champassak province. Home to the great waterfalls of Khonpapaeng and the Angkor-era temple of Wat Phou, this province is situated on the border with the kingdom of Cambodia.

 

After a rest stop in Pakse we join the mysterious "Route 23" towards Thakhek and the north along the Mekong. We then go through the Phou Khao Kwai national park, where we make our last stop-over before heading back to Vientiane.

Laos - Ho Chi Minh Trail

The latest adventure is to ride down the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos

12 days off road, the planned schedule is.

Day 1     Vientiane-Phou Kao Kwai-Longsane-Paksan

Day 2     Paksan-Pakading-Nahin-Laksao

Day 3     Laksao-Gnomalat-Naden-Bualapa

Day 4     Bualapa-Vilabouly-Sepone-Dong

Day 5     Dong-Nong-Kenglouang(bamboo bridge)-Ta Oy(HCM)-Salavan

Day 6     Salavan-Sekong-Attapeu

Day 7     Attapeu-Paksong-Pakse

Day 8     Pakse-Pakson, waterfalls, etc… rest at Pakse     

Day 9     Pakse-Salavan-Toumlane-RN23-Phin

Day 10   Phin-Mahaxay-Thakek

Day 11   Thakek-Paksan-Muang Huang-Longsane

Day 12   Longsane-Thabok-Mekong side-Vientiane

Phu Ruea

17 Nov, Nong Khai to Phu Ruea - 290 kms
 
We left Nong Khai still heading West along Mekong river rapids into Loei mountains, at Chiang Kan we left
the Mekong behind and turned south into mountainous Phu Ruea National park, winding roads & cooler climate.

This ride of approx 200km along the meekong was fantastic, good views and scenery all the way. With many rural villages and farmlets.

Grilled chicken and sticky rice for lunch from a small roadside grill, very tasty.

Pak Chong

18 Nov, Phu Ruea to Pak
Chong - 350 kms

Today was a longer
but fantastic ride. In the morning
we continued heading south in
the mountains with approx 80
kilometres of bends and in the afternoon longer stretches of
straight road as we rode through Petchabun hills and plains of
Wichian Buri before arriving at our hotel in
Pak Chong.

Phu Ruea

17 Nov, Nong Khai to Phu Ruea - 290 kms

We left Nong Khai still heading West along Mekong river rapids into
Loei mountains, at Chiang Kan we left
the Mekong behind and turned south into mountainous Phu Ruea National
park, winding roads & cooler climate.

This ride of approx 200km along the meekong was fantastic, good views
and scenery all the way. With many rural villages and farmlets.

Grilled chicken and sticky rice for lunch from a small roadside grill,
very tasty.

Vientiane - the capital of Laos

16 Nov, Trip to Vientiane - the capital of Laos
 
early start today to travel to the Capital of Laos, Vientiane. first we took a three-wheeler tuktuk to the bridge. Obtained a Laos visa, another hour and a half to cross the border, tuktuk 20 km into Vientiane. Also called City of the Moon it is one of the classic Indochina cities, with an intriguing mix of Thai, French and Soviet influences.

 

Bung Kan to Nong Khai - 144km

Travelled along the Meekong today short ride from Bung Kan to Nong Khai - 144km

 

Stopped at the narrowest point on the Meekong along the Thai/Laos border, then stopped for lunch at a market and ate sticky rice and grilled chicken off one of the stalls.

 

after lunch continued to the hotel and spent the afternoon wandering around the local market and relaxing. The view from the hotel room overlooks the friendship bridge, over which we travel tomorrow to visit Laos & Vientiane.

Nation Phanom

13 Nov, Khong Chiam to Nakhon Phanom - 310 kms 
 
After the breakfast we rode north along the river, there are unusual rock formations along the
way to Mukdahan where we stopped at the local market and had lunch.

 After lunch and further north we visited That Phanom, Buddhist temple. This is the most sacred and
ancient religious monument in the
Northeast of Thailand,
the 53-meters tall square-shaped chedi was built before the 12th
century, originally of Khmer
design, it was renovated through the
years to its present Laotian design. Then we rode
another half an hour to Nakhon Phanom where we will stay tonight. This town used to
be the biggest American air-force base during the Vietnam war. From Nakhon
Phanom it is only 60 kilometres
to Vietnam and the
Ho Chi Ming trail that the communists used during the
war.

A relaxing massage, and a good meal finished the day.

Bungkan

14 Nov, Nakhon Phanom to
BungKan - 260 kms
 
In the morning we continued riding north to Chet Si
waterfalls. Even though we have heard of heavy rain and flooding in Thailand, these were not flowing !

After lunch we rode to Phu Tok Mountain. Where we climbed the steps and stairs to the Buddhist sanctuary on top. Once there you can take a perilous 400m walk around the mountain paths that are no more than a few planks nailed to the rocks, so you are walking in midair with just creaking boards keeping you from falling.

Hotel on the banks of the meekong river with Laos on the other side. Seafood curry for dinner and a massage to ease my aches.

Ubon Ratchatani

12 Nov, Ubon Ratchatani to
Khong Chiam
 
Leaving Ubon behind (as the locals call the city) we passed a number of gong making villages along our
ride to Khong Chiam. We rode 90 km to arrive at the hotel by lunchtime
where we had lunch then boarded a boat and took a trip down the Mekong and Moon rivers.

Where these two rivers meet is where you would normally see Tue blue and brown waters meet, but because of the rain an flooding both are brown.

A good meal followed by an early evening ended the day in this quiet boarder town overlooking Laos.

Ubon Ratchatani

11 Nov, Aranyaprathet to
Ubon Ratchatani
 
Today was a longer ride approx 390
kms. Left at 8:30 and didn't get to hotel until 6 pm.  One breakdown, broken chain, and all food is spicy and chilie hot.

Road ran through a hilly area first, then over an
extinct volcanic cone with ancient temples on the edge of the crater. Then we crossed the Isaan plateau through mainly
Khmer (Cambodian) language spoken area. Rice paddies, water buffaloes - typical
Thai rural life. In the late afternoon we crossed the Mun river to arrive at the hotel at Ubon Ratchatani.

Angkor Wat

Day excursion to Angkor Wat -Cambodia
 
10 Nov - After an early breakfast we took a three-wheeler to
the Cambodian border. Visa was arranged there. A mini bus then took us onto the ruins at Angkor Wat, it took an hour to get through the border and 2 hrs from there to the ruins.

We stopped at the 3 temples area's: Bayon (Angkor Thom), Ta Prohm (where movie Tomb Raider was filmed) and then Angkor Wat. The 100 or so temples are the remains of what was once the Khmer state, built between the 9th and 13th centuries to glorify a succession of Khmer kings.
 
Abandoned in the 15th century the temples were gradually cloaked by jungle. The "lost city" of Angkor Wat was rediscovered at the end of the 19th century and became a World Heritage Site.

Jomtien to Aranyaprathet

Jomtien Beach to Aranyaprathet
- 290 km
 
9 Nov - first full day of riding, Good roads with hardly any traffic,
 and nice scenery all the way to Aranyaprathet.
 
This is one of the least populated areas of Thailand because until recently it was part of Cambodia.

monday

had a good day riding all around the Jomtien Pattaya area. Got lost a
few times and it took a while to find the places I wanted. Visited the
million years stone park, some interesting big stones some the size of
a car. Also had crocodiles, elephants, bears & tigers.

When I came out I found that I'd got a puncture, argh, but amazingly
there was a scooter repair shop about 200mtrs away,  so I pushed the
bike there and agreed a price to fix, came to a total of 150 baht ($5)

So no problems with returning the scooter. Total rental 300 baby. The
fuel I used cost me more during day.

Repacked into the paniers ready to go tomorrow.

pattaya sunday

Well it didn't take me long, got bored within a couple of hours,
beach, sand,people lazing round doing nothing, not my scene. So I
hired a scooter for a day and a half for $10. As tomorrow is a free
day I'll take myself around to see the sights.

bangkok sunday

Visited Wat Arun and golden mountan, the architecture and structure of
these Buddhist monuments combined with the Thai styled buildings make
these interesting places to visit and photograph.

Currently travelling in a private taxi to Pattaya, it will take 2 hrs
to get there so after I've checked in to the hotel will check out the
local area and get something to eat.

Re: Bangkok friday

I'm writing this sitting in a longtailed boat waiting for a lock to
rise in one of the Bangkok rivers. Earlier in the day I went to the
weekend market where you could buy just about anything. The antiques
were too expensive but I found some nice stones at a good price so
couldn't resist buying some.

Caught the ferry to Chinatown, had dinner on the street then got a foot massage.

Tomorrow pack for trip to Pattaya, leave at 12, but before this will
probably visit wat arung an ancient Buddhist temple.

Bangkok friday

On Friday, November 5, 2010Spent most of the day with Mr Montri
looking at his huge collection of large Bonsai, all of them really
good. Then found my way to the Rare Stone Museum to look at some local
suiseki. It took over an hour to get there but the taxi fee was less
than $10. Bought some Thai stones to remember this trip.

Bangkok

It was 1pm by the time I got settled at the Thai cozy house hotel,
looked better on the internet, but ok.

Spent the afternoon wandering along the river and visiting the royal
palace. I'll wander along khaosan rd tonight get a meal and an early
night.

Thailand Mekong River Tour

This tour will take me to "real Thailand", to the least developed part region of Northeast, Isaan. There the life runs at a slow pace as centuries ago and old traditions have survived the fast lane of 20th century. Starting the Ride from palm fringed sand beaches of Gulf of Thailand and turn East in direction of Cambodia. Cross the border to visit World heritage site of Angkor Wat – temples of the lost city overgrown by jungles for 5 centuries and continue ride among rice paddies of Isaan plateau to Mekong River's Emerald triangle.

 

Then a 1000 km ride along the mighty Mekong river follows. Scenery varies from wide slow running stream that is also a Thai - Laos border to rapids and narrow gorges. Along the way I'll visit forest Buddhist temples built on monolith rocks, waterfalls in the extreme North East, noisy Indochina markets in Nong Khai and Mukdahan, take a boat trip to Mun River rapids and pop across the border to enjoy relaxing tree-lined avenues of the capital city of Laos – Vientiane.

 

On the way back I'll cross several mountain passes in Loei province, ride through hilly Petchabun province and cross the plains of Wichian Buri to reach winding roads of rainforest clad mountain ranges with herds of wild elephants and finish the tour back at the sand beaches of the East.