The 1000 Day Holiday

2 Days of wet and muddy mayhem!

Day 1.. Warning: 1 Chicken may have been hurt in the making of this adventure!*. Heavy rain began at 5am. Not a good start. I wasn’t fancying starting a 300km dirt road in the rain so I mooched around Paxsan till 12.

The guy at BK guesthouse said the road was possible on a bike. nothing else. 2 km into the trip I came to a junction that I couldnt tell which way. So I asked some locals. All the people there said the road was not possible in the wet season there is many large/high rivers with no boats to cross them.

They got the better of me, so I started down the road for Vientianne. 2kms later I changed my mind. This was about adventure and riding the main road north is not! If i got to a point where I could go no further I would turn around. I came to another turnoff, asked if that went in the right direction, and off I went! *Chicken Incident: It hit my foot as I rode past, and ran off squaking so at least I didnt run it over.

The weather had cleared, and the road in surprisingly good condition.

The first major obstacle which looked like a trip killer was a junction of 2 rivers that needed to be forded. It was muddy but obviously more than a meter deep. the locals came down to the river as I was investigating. they had bamboo rafts for ferrying bikes across! The second almost gaveway as I boarded, so they brought the first one around to use it again. A small dancing gig ensued!

This is when the ride became amazing.  lush forests & a very steep climb and descent. How the locals rode this hill on scooters.. damn! Although the one at the top was severly overheated when I pulled up. He was using a leaf to collect water from the ditch to cool it down. I gave him my empty water bottle but he looked at it.. DUH, Empty and threw it away….

So I showed him how to fill it in the same ditch, and cool his scooter a lot easier!

I was invited to stay the night in Nakhoum village (just before Thathom). This was a great evening with the whole village, and a very warm welcome from the family I stayed with.

All up around 4 1/2 hours riding. ~150kms..?

Day 2..

Up with the roosters, pigs and kids ~5am a few streams and a river crossing, and then one climb and descent after another! the road was a lot muddier than previously, but it was big grins all around!

Scored a flat tyre just out of Xiang Khoung. But they helped me out I was back on the road!

~250kms all up. About 8hours riding. I would rate this ride as 10X better than the southern loop. It doesnt have the limestone cliffs, but the scenery is amazing and youre really off the beaten track.