Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB - Finding Freedom...World Wide Ride

Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB (https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/)

- Ride Tales (https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/ride-tales/)

- - Finding Freedom...World Wide Ride (https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/ride-tales/finding-freedom-world-wide-ride-65365)

Quote:

Originally Posted by lectron (Post 574487)

Hello your pictures are beyond description. You mention Shangrila in one of your comments (one of my required readings in junior high school.). Really empathizing with the things you were expierincing as you were getting close to Laos. Hope you made connection and got your shock replaced. You guys are amazing and I have adopted your moto. I'm sure destiny is favoring your future. I hope to meet you down the road. Have ridden all the lower 48 states.

Thanks the photos are Dan! Shangri La was a bit dissapointing actually, but that is OK since the places we had never heard of like Lijiang were not. Yes the brutal pace was taking its toll finally in the last days in China and we just wanted to get out of there! We were so lucky YSS shipped the shock to Luang Prabang for us and Dan installed it. We were blessed as well to visit their factory in Bangkok yesterday where they gifted us custom front and rear suspensions for both bikes!! Incredible silver lining to the disaster in Tibet. So you were so correct about our being favored! We will be back in NA in the spring and plan to make the moto GP in Austin. Cheers and thanks so much for the comments. SP & DP

The rise up the first pass is steep and the switch backs are long. We had to pass almost 100 military vehicles on the way up and they continued part of the way down as well.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4479/...269a5059_b.jpg FILE3131 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We started up the second pass about 1330 and found a local spot for lunch at the road side. The guides were behind us, but making good time today and there are few speed controls. We managed to order our own lunch, which I was called into the kitchen to point out what we wanted from the cooler unit.

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https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4556/...cbfb1253_b.jpg Tibet_-59 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4573/...37bdd547_b.jpg Tibet_-60 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4554/...96669faa_b.jpg Tibet_-61 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4533/...c6dd1a15_b.jpg Tibet_-62 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

There is not much to see from the summit itself and then it is all down hill for the rest of the afternoon. This was lucky as there were no gas stations for the last 200 km and we all had great fuel economy with the down hill finish.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4544/...9a175398_b.jpg Tibet_-64 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4586/...f8d1a896_b.jpg Tibet_-65 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Getting gas today was no issue and we were the only bikes there. The woman in the office could not be bothered with all the paperwork needed to sell foreigners gas and so she said just go to the next window and pay. Normally they give you this pink form to get gas, but today it was a blank paper with the 100 RMB we had paid written on it. So easy. We still needed to use the metal cans of course.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4556/...c84e4f8c_b.jpg Tibet_ by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Then we have a 2 km back track to town and the hotel. They have underground parking again, which is nice. The beds here are like boards. We did have to pile several extra blankets under us to get any sleep. We had a pretty good meal in the hotel restaurant and our last dinner in Tibet. We did a lap of the town and it has a very Chinese feel to it. Poor Dan is having a hard time with the beds and his old disc problem is starting to act up. Trevor on the other hand is improving.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4531/...883471c7_b.jpg Tibet_-66 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Today we have another 375 km planned and there are 3 passes to 4600, 5075, and 4200 m and the entire road serpentine to Dechen/ Deqen.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4444/...8c7ec543_z.jpg Screen Shot 2017-10-12 at 21.38.00 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

The first checkpoint is just as we are leaving town.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4454/...dc630be5_b.jpg FILE3143 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

The passes are reached by switch backs up and down. The first is almost straight up on tight long switchbacks. Here we encountered another military convoy of at least 80-90 trucks. They are easy to pass and they are spaced and you can hyperpass.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4457/...3786c220_z.jpg deqen 1 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4514/...e7cceaa3_b.jpg FILE3167 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4542/...fc539cd0_b.jpg Tibet_-67 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

There were only 4 major check points today. The first was as we left town and this was quick. The second 100 km later and there was a store right there so we could get a snack while we waited for the guides. At the next one another 100 km later we had a bit of a longer wait for the guides (here the police were so nice they even came out and gave us each bottle of water and wanted selfies with us). Then we stopped for lunch here in the town and had pretty good dumplings.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4557/...6a8bb8c5_b.jpg Tibet_-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4547/...8557dcb1_b.jpg Tibet_-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We left the 318 here and turned south on the 214. 70 km later there is the last checkpoint at the “Tibet border". There are no formalities for exit unlike the hassle of an hour to get in.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4514/...b72eba5b_b.jpg FILE3170 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4557/...28ee9e20_b.jpg Tibet_-16 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Just after this we had to register with the Yunnan Police as we entered their Provence and this took 20 min.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4511/...04a61fe0_b.jpg FILE3181 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Now we have 100 km to go at 3pm. The last pass was again more gradual.

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https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4571/...c60f9a00_b.jpg Tibet_-72 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4555/...caf19386_b.jpg Tibet_-75 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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We were stopped for construction for 25 min also so the good time we had been making was being eaten up. There was an excavator up on the cliff dumping piles of rocks down onto the roadway and then a front loader would come and scoop them up and drop them off the roadside.

We arrived to the hotel at 630 just as the clouds were moving from the summit and the sun was setting. We are again at 3600 m.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4548/...505bc62d_b.jpg Tibet_-23 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4571/...fa8748fa_b.jpg Tibet_-24 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4578/...d7e79077_b.jpg

We were up at 0630 to see the view and there were no clouds at all, but not enough light for photos. By sun rise there was a lot of cloud cover. It was still amazing.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4573/...cf907aa4_b.jpg Tibet_-28 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4545/...7afb7f49_b.jpg Tibet_-29 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We set out at 8 again on the curvy mountain roads and over one pass over 4200m. The gas station is just 10 km down the road and we pulled up to the pump and gassed up!!!

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4514/...e7d8db54_b.jpg FILE3195 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

The skies were threatening for our 160 km ride in search of Shangra-La, but it did not start raining until the last 30 km. We ran into a group of 10 Thai bikers at the gas station about half way.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4510/...99a0182e_b.jpg FILE3222 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4515/...fe94f3a9_b.jpg Tibet_-30 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4581/...b86a886c_b.jpg Tibet_-31 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

There was one Police check and they just wanted to see the passports and let us go. We were a bit worried about the bike in the van and so we pulled over up the road to make sure they got thru. This gave us a good opportunity to put on the rain gear as we would soon need it. The hotel we are booked in is near to the Old Town, but we took a cab 2 km away to a place Mr. Tang found online for a really good lunch. We had meaty pork ribs, cucumber in vinegar and wasabi sauce, Pineapple glutinous rice, and several other dishes.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4462/...a66ef7d7_b.jpg IMG_0331 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

It was pouring again at 6pm and we cabbed it to the Yak hot pot place we had seen earlier in the day. Here you each get a bowl of broth and a burner and they put all kinds of delicious meats, veg, and noodles on the table. While you wait for your pot to boil you go to the “sauce” bar and concoct your own dipping sauce from the herbs, spices, chilies, and other condiments. This meal takes a while, but you can enjoy it slowly.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4561/...33a33eb6_b.jpg Tibet_-36 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4498/...393687fb_b.jpg IMG_0337 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4507/...9418f070_b.jpg IMG_0339 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4456/...55bfe4b9_b.jpg IMG_0340 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4525/...d09ca811_b.jpg Tibet_-41 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Today we are riding 176 km to Lijiang, but we will make a detour about 75 km from the city to see the Tiger Leaping Gorge on the Yangtze River. It had poured most of the night, but it had held off since 6 am. When we set out it was drizzling intermittently.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4569/...768da0c0_z.jpg Screen Shot 2017-11-29 at 10.03.32 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4469/...cba79efe_b.jpg FILE3252 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We continue one the 214, but it is almost all down hill today.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4472/...1c589c65_b.jpg FILE3266 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4529/...ccf78950_b.jpg Screen Shot 2017-11-29 at 10.03.46 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4461/...223e02d7_b.jpg FILE3269 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

The last 35 km are over the mountain on the old road to avoid the toll road (where we are not allowed technically). On the first uphill curve Trevor had just passed the van and was going around the corner when his front wheel slipped out on the wet road and he slid wheels first into the concrete barrier. He was not hurt and only his left pannier was a bit banged up….agh. Arriving to the city we were staying in the old town this is a pedestrian only zone, but we have permission to bring the bikes into the hotel. The van had to be parked off site and the luggage was brought by porter. We are just bagged and Dan’s back is really bad today.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4534/...aff72ea5_b.jpg China Lijiang_ by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4571/...b346f606_b.jpg China Lijiang_-30 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We rested in the hotel and then cabbed it across town for a real Sichuan dinner. Mr. Tang is from Sichuan Provence and since we will not be going there we though we should at least try the food. There is a huge wok in the centre of the table and they heat up the oil and then slowly add the ingredients you order (chicken, peanuts, potatoes, and vegetables).

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4458/...91ff3d1b_b.jpg IMG_0363 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4450/...44af7e34_b.jpg IMG_0364 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4445/...c4b1325b_b.jpg IMG_0365 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4514/...969c9cfe_b.jpg IMG_0367 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4507/...c6172418_b.jpg IMG_0368 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://youtu.be/XAwUUscksFg

It poured rain all night and was still raining heavily when we left the hotel at 730. We have 544 km to go today and it will be very painful if it rains the whole time.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4481/...b3aa11a4b1.jpg Screen Shot 2017-10-16 at 20.45.40 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

It took 40 minutes to get from the old city, thru Dali, and then onto the 214. It was still pouring initially, but only lightly raining 45 min later. By the time we stopped for breakfast after an hour it had cleared up.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4485/...a302f680_b.jpg FILE3341 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4457/...f29e5c73_b.jpg FILE3343 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4453/...8dbff0e6_b.jpg FILE3369 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

It was slow going with the traffic and the very curvy road. We had only made it 250 km by the time we stopped for lunch near Mayiduixiang. This meant at 3 pm we had 300 km to go. We left the guides behind and booked it.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4543/...1992bb9e_b.jpg Yunan Dali-23 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4563/...b62af9a0_b.jpg Yunan Dali-25 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4521/...60384afc_b.jpg Yunan Dali-24 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

LUNCH TIME ENTERTAINMENT

https://youtu.be/50LWimOwfSU

We got way ahead of the guys and did 150 km in 2 hours before the next break. We missed several rain showers that the other 2 managed to get soaked in.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4583/...6301ab9a_b.jpg Yunan Dali-29 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4516/...b99024b0_b.jpg Yunan Dali-30 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4561/...21a9ac2e_b.jpg Yunan Dali-32 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4561/...928396f6_b.jpg Yunan Dali-27 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4584/...94ba889d_b.jpg Yunan Dali-28 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4576/...c4a62042_b.jpg Yunan Dali by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We arrived to Lancang just after 630, got gas and headed to where the hotel was located according Toni. It was not, but we asked at several places and the last was our hotel. We checked it just before 7. We had the English name from the guides, but it was not in English on the building signage.

They were expecting us of course as Toni had called them. We had not see the other two since lunch, but I did tell them to route to the only hotel listed in the GPS, which was just around the corner. Dan went over there but there was no sign of them after 20 min and so he came back.

They did arrive there eventually about 730 and the waiter from the restaurant of the other hotel sat pillion on Trevor’s bike to show them the way to our actual hotel. They had been stopped twice for heavy rain and once for 20 min at the Military check point where they did not even stop us. We had pulled over near by to buy some drinks and they just ignored us. All of us were too tired to go out and so we ordered fried chicken delivery! Toni and Mr Tang made it by just after 830.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4542/...50b9337b_b.jpg Yunan Dali-31 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Today it is cloudy, but looks like it will not rain. We have 298 km south to Mengla.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4505/...57da49e7_b.jpg Screen Shot 2017-10-16 at 20.48.22 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

The first 170 km is on the 214, which is a 2 lane winding road with not much traffic, but it still made for slow going. This ends in Xishuangbanna, which is a large and very nice city and we pulled into get some lunch. We were by ourselves almost since we left this morning.

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https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4575/...54ab337e_b.jpg Yunan Dali-33 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4561/...8deb1c3a_b.jpg IMG_0432 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Leaving the city you enter the toll road G86, which is not even on the GPS. The old route continues on the 214, but would take you ages. We scooted here to Mengla service centre and waited for the guides and the other 2 to show up. It was just another 11 km to the hotel. We arrived nice and early just after 230 and had time to rest and organize and repack our gear after a month with a support van and disarray.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4528/...827c7aa1_b.jpg Yunan Dali-35 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4574/...6ce9e080_b.jpg Yunan Dali-36 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We have had a ton of help from Andy at Manichan Guest house in Luang Prabang. He picked up the shock and has spent the last 2 days trying to get it shipped to the border for us. He was back at the bus station this morning at 630, but the Chinese driver refused to take the package. The bus station manager said that there will be a Laotian driver tomorrow and he will likely agree to do it, but that gets the shock to us too late in the day. We are back to plan A hire a pickup at the border, which Chris from Moto Laos said would be easy…. Tonight it is Thai food and then the men all went out to karaoke!! Toni is mad for it.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4586/...3deb99a8_b.jpg IMG_0440 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We only have 48 km to the border today and it is again on the toll road. Sara was pillion, but after the toll gates we stopped for gas and she switched to the van as riding pillion on the highway is illegal. Fun to see the elephant signs.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4451/...44c3ab18_z.jpg Screen Shot 2017-10-14 at 18.19.52 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4477/...4cb6a959_b.jpg Frame-19-10-2017-15-29-09 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We arrived to the Mohan Border zone at 9 am when it opened and the bikes and the van were let thru the security gate to the actual border area.
Here we unloaded Lulu and put the windscreen back and moved the bars back into position. Dan used one of our tie downs to strap the shock so it could not move or rebound for the km ride thru the Chinese border and to the Laos border. We loaded all our luggage back to all the bikes.

Toni and the 4 of us then headed 200 m over to the immigration building. Here you fill in a departure card in English, but they do not even look at it and Toni was told to fill in the triplicate forms in Chinese. We then had the documents checked by and agent and were sent to get in line for a passport exit stamp.

When Sara got to the front of the line they said they had to scan every page of our passports for their data base. While doing this they noted the Iran visas and freaked out. The supervisor was called over and we were all pulled out of line. They then spent 20 minutes discussing the fact that we had been in Iran and Turkmenistan. Remember we are trying to LEAVE China not enter. It was totally ridiculous. They made an even bigger issue of the fact that Orvar did not have these 2 visas in his passport and why not!? Of course he has 2 passports and they are in the other. He showed them both passports and this seemed to satisfy the agent.

We then had to get back in the line for an exit stamp. Then it was back 200 m the bikes and we had to walk winding our way thru the masses of trucks now parked in the lot after the hour and a half we were gone.

We now had to wait for the customs agent to show up. We said our goodbyes to Toni and Mr Tang and rode over to the exit gate finally after almost 2 hours. Here the Officer checked our passports, but the customs agent never even looked at the bikes. She just stood there as we rode past her. We rode thru “one by one” so the police could check our documents and then finally out of China.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4511/...3e6266dd_b.jpg FILE3404 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4496/...68e16280_b.jpg FILE3408 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

The ride to the Laos border is paved and mostly downhill.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4473/...90ff7517_b.jpg FILE3429 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

You park at the immigration building and go inside. Here you fill in an entry card and stand in the first line for a passport check. Next you fill out a visa application form. They list the price for each country on a notice board (44 USD for Canadians) and you need to supply a passport photo. We then went out to what we though was the customs booth and gave them our bike registration and passports. They entered this in the computer and let us go (no TVIP??) The gate agent checked us and let us go. This was all done in under an hour. We rode about 200 m to where there were a bunch of vans and small trucks parked and asked around for a ride 282 km to Luang Prabang for Lulu.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4535/...e13630aa_b.jpg IMG_0452 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4536/...a12b200d_b.jpg IMG_0449 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4526/...72570fa5_b.jpg IMG_0448 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We had looked at several trucks, but one had a flat and the other guy said no. There was a minivan driver who said he would do it for 200$ (the estimate from Moto Laos was 150-200) and so we jumped at that. He had to unbolt the seats and we managed to wedge her in the back.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4567/...9cbfd2c0_b.jpg Laos Border & Luang Prabang by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4561/...51847015_b.jpg Laos Border & Luang Prabang-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4547/...a77070c8_b.jpg Laos Border & Luang Prabang-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4573/...84e92747_b.jpg Laos Border & Luang Prabang-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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Then we set off out of the border zone. We stopped for gas for the van and the guys went in for some snacks…Next thing Sara and the van were gone! Dan raced after us and about 5 km later there was a “customs gate”. The van went thru the guy looked and me and the bike and waved us on. Dan went on the side thru the motorbike lane and no-one stopped him. The van had pulled over, but he then took off again. Luckily Dan did not as he figured there must be some paperwork we need to do here and when the other 2 showed up and rode to the main gate the guy pulled them over. Lucky for us things are lax here and they did the TVIP for 4 bikes even thought there are only 3 here.

The road south is narrow, winding, and two lanes and passing for the van is a challenge.. It is lined some of the time by wooden houses of the small villages. The lower economic level here is obvious and is the large amount of garbage discarded. There are an unbelievable number of kids. troops of toddlers walking along the roadway with cars, bikes, and trucks zooming past. The school age children are all in uniform coming and going along the road, with the younger ones on bicycles and the older ones on electric scooters. The guys rode on this amazing curvy road and stopped for lunch and so were a bit behind the van.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4585/...c9d6f4e7_b.jpg Laos Border & Luang Prabang-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4537/...d373ea5f_b.jpg Laos Border & Luang Prabang-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Daniel finally caught up to the van about 4 30. He said he had had one of the top 5 rides of the trip to catch up from 90 minutes behind us. EPIC!. We arrived to the city just at dark and to the guest house when the other 2 also showed up. We walked a few blocks along the Mekong to find a local place for dinner.

The YSS shock is here thanks to Tiger Trail/ Moto Laos for accepting the package and Manichan guest house for picking it up for us and trying to send it to the border!

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4539/...f6bab581_b.jpg IMG_0465 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4580/...0783d412_b.jpg Laos Border & Luang Prabang-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Today we want to do nothing and we didn’t really. Got caught up on emails and blogs. We did walk to the main street to get SIM cards and are a bit overwhelmed by the number of tourists. For lunch we had traditional Laos omelettes at a place on the river that has been there for years.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4530/...6c357633_b.jpg IMG_0456 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4531/...4e0c3a4a_b.jpg IMG_0466 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4534/...2a86f2e5_b.jpg IMG_0469 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4568/...5d9d7786_b.jpg IMG_0467 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

In the evening we walked to the end of the peninsula to a French restaurant recommended by Mark who was also in the guest house. Great Duck salad and galettes. We walked back thru he night market which was packed with tourists.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4529/...51944856_b.jpg IMG_0458 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

The newest issue is we have learned that there are on and off issues crossing the border to Cambodia and over landers are being denied entry as the border officials do not want to issue a TVIP. This is not a carnet country, but we may need to use it. Even with the carnet 2 Swiss in a truck were denied entry 2 days ago. They bused to Phenom Pen to obtain a letter of permission to enter and some of us may need to bus or fly there later this week. This really throws a wrench in the plans to travel in Laos as we may spend most of the time trying to get access to Cambodia. Dan and Sara are on a schedule as they have flights from Siem Reap to Hanoi Nov 2. They have storage arranged for the bikes for 2 week in Seam Reap. The TVIP for Laos expire Nov 18 and this means if the bikes need to be left here instead we will have to cut short their Vietnam family holiday.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4535/...798feebb_b.jpg IMG_0461 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

On a positive note our Vietnamese friend Huong in Vancouver has arranged for the Consul there to issue us “emergency” on arrival Vietnam visas as we fit the criteria and are out of Canada. This means we get an e visa and use this for boarding and then they issue us a visa on arrival.

Several of the other guests were going out to dinner with the owner of the guesthouse Venus. There is an Italian guy in town that has a wood fire pizza place in his front yard. It is open Tue and Fri 6-9 and today is Friday! Great pizza at Secret Pizza!

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4524/...6d7a6e27_b.jpg Laos Border & Luang Prabang-12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4547/...589d38ed_b.jpg IMG_0501 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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It was forecast to pour rain all night, but there was a sky full of stars and the sun w as out in the morning. We planned to set off at 930 for the 184 km to Vang Vieng. We hoped to go the shorter way on the “new road” number 4, but the host here says it can be often closed and was for a month this summer.

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We took the chance and went for it. The weather was good on the uphill side of the mountains, but as we climbed higher it got mistier and then was lightly raining.

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https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4552/...7fb66f0e_b.jpg FILE3545 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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We got to the summit and there was a long line of trucks parked to the right and s we rounded the corner we could see why the road can be closed at times. There is a 300 m section of muddy steep road and when we arrived a minivan was making another failed attempt to get up the hill. Dan went down to see how tricky it was and reported back that it was not too slippery for the downhill and we would be ok once the minivan backed down out of our way. There was an even bigger line of vehicles waiting to get up. It was wet and steep and muddy, but not slippery going down. Once we passed this there was another 2 sections of dirt and now mud of 200 m each to pass, but we did with no trouble.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4583/...7891fcc9_b.jpg FILE3568 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Then the rain started in earnest and we pulled over for the over suits. We had gotten a bit wet, but we would have been soaked otherwise. We continued on down hill and out of the clouds and rain about 15 minutes later and we could pull over and get the suits off so we could dry out underneath.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4579/...6821a040_b.jpg FILE3576 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

The rest of the ride back down to the 13N was uneventful and then we had 57 km left to go south from Kasi.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4559/...60b0df1a_b.jpg Laos Border & Luang Prabang-28 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4537/...ded75539_b.jpg Laos Border & Luang Prabang-29 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4541/...ccacf630_b.jpg Laos Border & Luang Prabang-30 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Today we have no fixed plan it but to head south and west to be in striking distance to meet with Trevor and Orvar and hopefully pick up our Cambodian TVIP in 2 days time. The road today is again mostly curves for the first 120 km on the 1D and that took about 2 1/2 hours.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4478/...844f2c00_b.jpg Screen Shot 2017-10-28 at 10.03.55 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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We stopped for a Laos noodle soup about 1030. We love the Asian soups and the bowls of “ditch weeds” they always serve along side to add some flavors.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4565/...21fc39ca_b.jpg IMG_0591 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

This is THE main road, but there is almost no traffic. Several times we thought the road might be closed as we had not seen another vehicle for over an hour. After “breakfast” the road is straighter and we made better time.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4562/...a3d82e34_b.jpg FILE4007 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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We had though to come here when we were discussing what to do yesterday, but as it had rained and it is an in and out we did not care for a mud road as on these tires as it would be tragic. We were greeted warmly my the owner Vicki and settled into our little garden cabin for 15$. The noise from the Cicadas was amazing, but suddenly stopped after dark.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4571/...57c4921d_b.jpg FILE4109 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4517/...c68e088b_b.jpg Laos-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4552/...433db5c5_b.jpg Laos-40 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4687/...4790f00e_b.jpg Laos-9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

The next day we lazed about all day until Vicki told us we really needed to do something! So we borrowed a canoe from the hotel and paddled up the “spring”. This is the smaller waterway that joins the river and starts deep in a cave that is now collapsed, but you can see the water welling up at the entrance.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4517/...7d059113_b.jpg Laos-46 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4564/...855aa45c_b.jpg Laos-38 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4560/...580457bb_b.jpg Laos-44 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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We had some bad news from Trevor at 2 pm when we got back from the cave. The paper work “will not be ready today” was the word from the tourism office. They are only open until 5 and so he will not get to customs until Monday. This gives us only 3 days to get to our flight in Siem Reap. Doable, but not fun.

Well it is certainly a roller coaster ride of emotions today for us. Trevor messaged us again at 430 that they actually got the paperwork and he got to Customs, but not in time to make his flight for today. This means booking another and so we are now up to 600$US for the TVIP/flight, and visas at this point.

And we thought Thailand was going to be the serious challenge to get into. We still have that hurdle to deal with, but at least we are not under a time constraint of our flight Nov 2 by then. Our plan is to try for the southern most border in Cambodia to get to Thailand and use the Carnet. We are not at all keen to sit 2 weeks to apply and wait not to mention pay exorbitantly for Thai tourism permits. If they refuse us at the border we will be prepared to camp out in no man’s land as we can not go back to Cambodia as the TVIP expire Nov 30. If that does not work we will have to hire a bonded truck to take them to the Malaysian border.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4692/...9b2f7b5e_b.jpg Laos-37 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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Trevor has managed to get a flight back the next day and that means he arrived to Vientiane at 1340 and was on the bike riding at 1430. It is 309 km to the Spring River resort and with some traffic and navigational and Orvar’s GPS “issues” they finally arrived at just before 8 pm. Just in time to celebrate Daniel’s birthday and even brought a card and a “gift”. Thank you so much to Vicki and her staff since they must have traveled a long way to find birthday candles (they drive 6 hours to Thailand for bacon.)

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The plan was for them to visit the cave tomorrow and then we would all “take the loop” thru the national forest and end up in Thakhek. This is a 245 km and 5-6 hour trip. Sunset is at 540 and it is pitch black at 6. We made the mistake of waiting for them to get back from the cave as by the time they did it was almost 2. We had decided that if they did not get back and we were not riding at 1 we would take the main road to Thakhek, which is 179 km and takes just over 3 hours.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4580/...0c5984bf_z.jpg Screen Shot 2017-12-03 at 20.01.03 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4577/...edf52d78_b.jpg Screen Shot 2017-12-03 at 20.04.24 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We found a very nice boutique hotel right on the Mekong! Splurge night of luxury for a change. We had to walk almost a km to find a working ATM and when we did there was 5 located in the same spot. The hotel also has a restaurant on the river with very good food and a view of Thailand across the river. It is quite striking to see the difference in urbanization on the Cambodian verses the Thai side. The Thai side look all lit up!

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https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4561/...7fac84b7_b.jpg IMG_0613 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4582/...5b734a76_b.jpg Laos-55 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

The cabin we booked for tonight are 43 km east of Pakse at the Tad Fane waterfall. The road is in pretty bad shape for most of the way with pot holes you could fall in. Arriving at the “resort” at just about 2 we checked in and then enjoyed the amazing view of the falls.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4540/...e27c76f4_b.jpg Frame-25-11-2017-20-52-48 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4547/...1b549b09_b.jpg Laos-73 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4679/...74343253_b.jpg Laos-72 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

The other guys, who had left this morning from about an hour before Thakhek did arrive just after 430 and in time for a zip line tour.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4549/...4de11930_b.jpg IMG_0629 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4531/...2d19fa96_b.jpg IMG_0631 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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The only noise last night was the water thundering off the falls.

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We set out at 9 for the very straight 13S south to the border in Cambodia in 176 km. We stopped just before to spend our last Kip on gas.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4460/...dcb6118c_z.jpg Screen Shot 2017-10-30 at 19.24.00 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4550/...f41347fb_b.jpg Frame-25-11-2017-20-58-13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We are a bit sad to leave Laos and the people who are soft spoken and very friendly, the riding is fantastic, and the food is good. There is essential no traffic and where there is the drivers are considerate and follow the rules of the road and this includes the scooter riders. When you arrive to the Laos border you pull under the arch and park just beyond it.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4516/...b5d31baa_b.jpg Frame-25-11-2017-20-59-11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

The first step for exit is to go to the left bank of windows to #2 and hand over your passport, pay 2 USD for an exit stamp (scam? the locals were paying too), and hand in your departure form you filled in on entry. Trevor did challenge him and even asked for a receipt for the stamp fee….no receipt.. no payment…no stamp. We all paid. Too bad he did not pay him with the fake 10US he had received in change from a bartender in Phenom Pen last week.

You then take your Laos TVIP across the road to the customs window and hand it to the agent. He stood up from his chair behind the window and said “motos?”, looked out the window and saw 4 motos, and said ok you can go.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4569/...39190c54_b.jpg Laos-77 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

You then ride 200 m to the exit gate thru no man’s land. Here there is a welcome to Cambodia sign and another gate.

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When you pull up the agent in the kiosk will raise the gate for you.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4564/...b22c20d5_b.jpg Frame-25-11-2017-21-00-09 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

You then ride 100 m to the new looking immigration building and pull under the roof on the right.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4527/...e8d92fbf_b.jpg Frame-25-11-2017-21-00-29 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Here the agents were all aghast that we had out headlights on and all VERY dramatically covered their eye “as if from some bright spotlight”. It is illegal to have headlights on here in the day time. We all said they are always on and we can not turn them off and they did not say anything after that. Despite the internet rumors we were not stopped or ticket for driving in Cambodia with our lights on.

We were asked to go the first kiosk just to our left and this is quarantine. Here you fill in a health questionnaire and show your passport. They then “take your temperature, but she barely even pointed the thermometer at us. You are then directed inside to “room number 2” This is “customs”, but actually it is not as they do not have a customs office here at the border. This is the reason there are so many issues crossing into Cambodia. Some days there is an agent here some not. Some days you can get in some not. We had taken the preemptive strike to get the papers in Phenom Pen. The alternative is to leave the bikes here and one or more of us would have then had to go by bus to get the papers. They were really not sure what to do with us as we clearly had paperwork and permission to bring the bikes into the country, but they had no way to generate the TVIP.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4528/...fddfe8b2_b.jpg IMG_0655 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

There was much discussion and after 45 min they decided we could go to Stung Treng to the customs office, which is 65 km away. We have heard since that an Austrian couple who contacted us for advice on crossing here did not get the papers as we advised and had to park the bikes in No man’s lane and bus it the 450 km to Phenom Pen.

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We were told we needed to go today to customs and report in , but as it is Oct 31 they say they will not do the TVIP at months end and we will have to go back on Nov 1. OK whatever?! Finally they decided to trust us that we would report to customs.

We filled in the visa on arrival form, paid 35 $ each, and supplied passport photos…tada Visas. Next you go to immigration for photographing and fingerprinting. The last agent then stamps your passport takes your entry form and staples your exit form into it. All done in just over an hour. The one agent was actually very nice and gave us his phone number. Four of them spent 10 min on google trying to show us where the customs office was in Stung Treng. They seem very apologetic that they could not do the TVIP for us here and that we would need to wait until tomorrow. Since we planned to stay over there anyway it was no big issue for us. Last step is to ride 200 m to the exit gate, which they did not even bother to raise so we had to duck under.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4537/...5a937717_b.jpg Frame-25-11-2017-21-01-37 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Finally in Cambodia!!! We certainly hope Thailand is easier. The first 40 km is a good dirt road with some sections with bad pot holes and a fair amount of dust. The garbage on the ground here is terrible and the economic level obviously much lower even than Laos.

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The last 25 km are mostly paved and just after we hit the pavement Dan had a flat and we found a large screw in the rear tire. The other guys had been ahead and finally turned back 25 km farther on after a car pulled up to them in town to say your friend have a flat…by the time they showed back up in 30 min where all done and ready to go.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4538/...68e382cb_b.jpg IMG_0645 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4515/...e3ef3d1f_b.jpg IMG_0644 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

There are some sketchy sections on the road near town with pot holes and so we slowed it down quite a bit.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4576/...c5091baf_b.jpg IMG_0650 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Trevor had purchased a SIM card last week and so we could use it in town to google map the Customs “office”. This is lucky as with out that and the sign in English we would have thought it was a derelict or abandoned building. There was a few guys with no shirts on in the basement and the “boss” was wandering about fresh from the shower in only a bath towel and was brushing his teeth on the patio when we arrived.

They had been called from the border agents and were “expecting us”, confirmed that it is a new month tomorrow and they will do the papers then, and we should come back at 830 am. They assured us it would be no problem for us to get the TVIP and ride the 4 hours to Siem Reap. It is only an issue for us as we have a flight the evening after next to Hanoi. The other 2 are staying here 2 nights and then heading in the opposite direction.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4554/...f658b920_b.jpg FILE4192 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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The hotel we had looked at on line as the best of the choices here is right on the Mekong and 300 m from the Customs building. It is clean and nice and 20$. Their towel decorations are supposed to be temples???!!!

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4523/...66202ca0_b.jpg IMG_0649 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

This evening we walked over to the centre of town and found a huge night market, fair, and stage show. There was an incredible number of sights, sounds, and smells and garbage of course.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4533/...aeaf0f13_b.jpg IMG_0651 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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We had breakfast and then went over to the customs office at 9.

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Garbage!

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They had said 830-9, but when we showed up it was locked up. There was a teenager there who called the boss when we arrived and he got on the phone with us and said he would be there in 2 minutes. 20 minutes later he showed up. He said he would do the papers in 30 min. The first issue was they needed to make some calls to sort out what to do, then the internet went off and they needed to re start all the forms, and then the power went off…. no internet again.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4530/...f6783270_b.jpg FILE4181 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4558/...b93a5829_b.jpg IMG_0646 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

At 1030 Trevor went inside again and asked if we all needed to stay or could Dan and Sara start off for Siem Reap (a 4 1/2 hour drive). He said no worry as you will only get one form for all 4 bikes, despite the fact that we will not travel together. That said we did leave and eventually they supplied the paper (no VIN numbers and all the plates were listed as Dan’s). The issue here in Cambodia is they have no system or structure in place for the TVIP. They start from scratch with every person. This means they have no idea what to do with us. Luckily we are in the country at all and with the bikes. We have since read that others who got in just did not bother to go to customs and easily got exit passport stamps when leaving and did not report to customs on exit.

Arriving to Siem Reap on the main road it was 30 degrees, humid, and there was quite a bit of traffic, but it was moving smoothly. The Cambodians for the most part are courteous drivers. And one on the very small roads it was mostly tuk tuks and bikes.

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Our hotel is off the main road and so quieter. We checked in and had some lunch (including banana flower salad) before walking a bit in the heat.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4573/...7d46311a_b.jpg IMG_0656 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4531/...558b8796_b.jpg IMG_0658 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4581/...de4d8237_b.jpg IMG_0666 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We have planned to meet up with Dave and Kyle who we met in Dushanbe Tajikistan. They were riding from Siem Reap home to the UK for a visit! They live here and have agreed to store our bikes for 2 weeks while we have a holiday in Vietnam.

We grabbed a Tuk Tuk down to where the action is in the “bar” zone and spent a great evening with them at Beatnik Bar conveniently across the road from one of their 3 apparel shops here. This is a very happening town with a great vibe. We met up with some of their friends and both of their girlfriends. Plans were made for our return in 2 week. I can tell we do not have enough time here already!

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4521/...a0bd745f_b.jpg IMG_0667 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4578/...4ffb34fe_b.jpg IMG_0668 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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We had a lazy day for once as the flight was not until 8 pm. and we had Kyle’s usual Tuk tuk guy Nan pick us up at Beatnik and drive us to the airport.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4530/...28ccfcdb_b.jpg IMG_E0675 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

It is just 90 minutes to Ha Noi, but it took almost twice that to get our Visas and get thru immigration. We finally made it to the hotel at almost 1 am and then of course went out for Pho noodle soup!

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4623/...52221490_b.jpg Vietnam-13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Our friend Huong has set us a busy program for today including the Van Miou ancient university site, Ha Not Prison museum, Pho lunch, Vietnamese coffee bar, Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, and a walk thru the night market.

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https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4612/...2381ff9b_b.jpg Vietnam-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4705/...cc93330d_b.jpg Vietnam-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4720/...011bbd36_b.jpg Vietnam-9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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Today is a tour of the Ho Chi Minh monument (the body has gone to Moscow for its yearly “renovation”, the Ho Chi Minh Vestige in the Presidential Palace grounds, and the Ho Chi Minh Museum.

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It is a 4 hour bus ride to the sea and the Ha Long harbor to board our ship for an overnight cruise in Ha Long Bay. After boarding the boat they served lunch as we cruised out amongst the rock formations and islands.

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The bus to Ha Noi dropped us on the side of the road an hour from Ha Long where Huong’s nephew picked us up in his 16 passenger van and we had another 2 hours to her “hometown” of Diem Dien.

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Here we stayed in her house for 2 night, toured the local markets (this caused quite a stir as they never see foreigners here), visited a clam farm, and of course a Vietnamese nail bar.

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Today we learned that the predicted Typhoon has hit the mid coast of the country and flooded Hui and Hoi An. We will now have to change our plans and forfeit one leg of the plane tickets that routed us there. We can salvage one leg and re-book it from Ha Noi to Ho Chi Minh instead.

This still meant a drive back to Hanoi as planned and with a stop at the Trang An Grottoes and the Bai Dinh Pagoda Temple. At the grottoes you board a small row boat and you are rowed thru the caves and in a circuit on the waterways.

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https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4751/...a091d18d_b.jpg Vietnam-53 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

It is about 30 minutes over to the temple complex, which is said to have a 1000 Buddhas. It was raining on and off this afternoon.

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https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4763/...ce2ff005_b.jpg Vietnam-55 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Our change of plan sends us on a flight to the island of Phuquoc today. We stayed one night in a hotel in town and near the sea. We visited the “prison” and then spent the day at the beach.

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The next day we moved to a 5* resort that had full board for 57 $ Canadian each! We had a 4 bedroom villa!

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We flew back to Ho Chi Minh, stayed overnight and then had a 6 hour drive to the Mekong Delta at My Tho.

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This included after 2 hours a stop to visit the Cu Chi tunnels.

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The delta visit included a boat ride and was very touristic….Noodle making, fruit tasting, honey tasting…

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We arrived by 3 pm to the city after a very heavy rain storm to dryer skies and to the same hotel we had stayed at the first time.

The next day we were off to Mui Ne to relax at the beach.We had this cool lie down bus for the 6 hour trip. We took a day tour out to see the dunes that left just after sunrise and visit a fishing village as well. Dan even got in a bit of Kiting.

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We had a 6 hours lie down bus ride back to Ha Noi and then a taxi to our hotel near the airport. We had been booked by the travel agent in a 3* hotel, but the rooms smelled like dead bodies. The hotel has a 5* next door and the agency moved us there for no extra charge. We did go to the airport 2 hours early to find our 830 flight “cancelled”, but what they really meant was they moved it 30 min. We still just made the boarding time of 815 after standing in the check in for almost an hour, passport control, and security.

It was a turbulent 45 min to Siem reap. We had to get another visa as they only sell single entry and so another 35 $ and 25 min later we had visas. We were in the passport control and then out the door in under 45. We grabbed a tuk tuk and made for our friends shop to check in. We grabbed a quick lunch and then Pou (uncle) Nan their Tuk Tuk guy drove us to their house to pick up the bikes. Both were a little sketch on start up so we will have to see about that, but it may just be they need the valves adjusted (booked in KL). So it was just a 650 m ride on the back roads to our guest house.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4527/...b410930b_b.jpg FILE4297 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

It is cloudy and the forecast is for rain. Despite that since we are only here for a few days we elected to get Nan to drive us around the temple complex tomorrow. It was raining lightly at 8 am and and on and off today, but the worst of it was avoided during our 2 pm lunch break.

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The first thing you have to do is go to the Angkor Wat ticket office to buy a pass and get your photograph taken. We were not expecting that massive building, parking lot full of buses, and conservatively 40 booths for ticket purchase. We got in line for a one day pass and this includes a photo.

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From there we hit the big Wat and then did the loop counter clockwise to try and avoid the masses. Few things on our trip have really wowed us and exceeded our expectations and this certainly did.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4688/...1110ab53_b.jpg Cambodia-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: MY VIDEO FROM LAOS

https://youtu.be/69BkiQExXZc

Today we are planning to do not much besides pick up the suits from the laundry, clean the chains, and repack our panniers after the holiday. The forecast is improved for our trip south with sun and clouds high of 32…feels like 42 with the humidity.

So we need to get into Thailand and it is 597 km to the southern most border we plan to use. For those of you that do not understand the magnitude of this hurdle let us just say it has been stressing us all out for the last 6 months. As of May 1 last year no foreigner can drive their own vehicle in Thailand without a guided tour. These tour cost at least 1000$ even for a transit of a few days. Many of these “tours” have been the guide showing up at the border taking the money and then saying bye bye. It takes 14 days to process an application for a permit. This is managed by the tourism authority and not by border services. This has caused the most problems for people trying to enter from Myanmar and Laos where the tourism agents hang out at the border and ensure the border agents do not let anyone thru. This applies to most of the Cambodian borders as well. The tiny most southern border is the best option as it sees so few tourists. We know 2 Australians that crossed last week and Trevor and Orvar made it 4 days ago. They were initially told that they would need to leave their bikes in no mans land and go to the provincial capital to get permits. After an hour of remaining calm and smiling the border agents decided that they could use their carnet de passage to enter. On the good side the exit from Cambodia was they said the easiest of the trip with 5 min for a passport exit stamp and no stop required for customs. (Remember we did spend 600$ and a day near the border to try to get import TVIP for the bikes, which we needed to get in for sure, but not out).

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It is 347 km to Krong Chbar Mon, which is a fairly large town south west of Phnom Penh. We want to avoid the Cambodian capital at all cost. No way we want to be in traffic in this heat and humidity.

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There is little traffic once you leave Siem Reap. There are tons of school kids on their bikes.

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The road is paved except for the 40 km from Oudongk and Khum Khsem Ksant.

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All along the road you see these beautiful lotus flowers blooming. When we stopped to take a photo this lady pick one from her garden and came over to give it to me.

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It was very hot and sweaty when we arrived to the town, but the second hotel we checked out was nice, clean, and had great air con for 15$.

We did a walk to the nearby day market and found a shop to get passport photos in case we need them at the Thai border (on line it is confusing about the visa issue and if there is a cost) and they were so cheap at 4/1$.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4712/...8df80f45_b.jpg IMG_1272 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Then we walked across the bridge to the night market area to get some dinner at a street side stand. The amount of garbage here is totally insane! looking out the back balcony of the hotel there are piles of garbage bags just heaped up below. What are these people thinking!!!

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We are so stressed about the crossing to Thailand, since if we do not get in we will have a serious problem. The people of Cambodia are super smiley and friendly, the food here was very good, and again the traffic in the cities only is orderly. There is courtesy and calmness to the driving. Even in congestion with tons of tuk tuks and scooters people are flowing like a school of fish.

It is 253 km (4 hours) to the border and we have changed our plan to try and cross today instead of tomorrow. We usually do not do a border with a long drive on either side, but after they guys only took and hour to get across we will try for it. This also means we will still have the next day (Friday) to try again if we have issues.

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The first 95 km on the National Highway 4 was totally straight and there was an amazing amount of traffic for Cambodia. It is partly cloudy and this is a relief as it was already 29 at 745 when we left. When we turned off onto the 48 there was literally no traffic and the road more hilly and curvy thru the jungle. It was also in poor condition in some sections. Finally we crossed the bridge and Thailand was in sight.

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We arrived to the Cambodia-Thai border zone and parked to the right just before the gate.

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There is an immigration office on the right with the windows clearly marked in English. We took our passports to the “Departure” window for an exit stamp and to hand in the departure card. They check your fingerprint and take a photo.

They cared not a whiff about the bikes or customs. There actually is a customs office directly opposite, but no-one asked us to go there and in 5 minutes and we were done and thru the gate.

You ride 100 m to the Thai side and the Police waved us past the gate to park on the left by the immigration building. The agent there is outside at a desk and he handed us 2 arrival cards and said while pointing “ first go there (customs) and then there (to the police kiosk), and third back here”.

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Super friendly and they did not even blink about the bikes. We walked across the road to customs and handed him 2 carnet and 2 passports. He also did not flinch and just started doing the paper work for the carnet and TVIP.

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Then we went over to the police and they took the TVIP and entered in in a ledger and handed us a plastic exit card.

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Next you go back to the immigration building. The first window is the Visa office, which is visa on arrival and there is no longer a fee (it was 30 USD). She wanted our passport and TVIP (proof you will exit the country is needed like a plane/bus ticket or 30 day TVIP). There is a massive sign here stating the penalties for overstaying your visa. She did all the paperwork and handed us 2 copies of the visa to sign. Next you go around the corner “to window 3”, where there agent takes your passport, arrival card, and visa papers. They take your photo and have you sign in the ledger.

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You then go to the bike and the gate agent takes one of your visa copies and the plastic exit card.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by saralou (Post 386467)

Follow us on our travels, adventures, and misadventures as we go out there to see what there is to see. Check out our blog posts, photo stream and youtube channels. You can sign up to follow our trip. We have information on our bikes, gear, and route maps.

Find us here: Cross country bike ride | Adventure touring by motorcycle | World Wide Ride

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:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::c lap::clap::clap::clap:
Okay, so now to choose a bike....

Yes and I need to add the links for

Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongolia, China, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and New Zealand!

:scooter::scooter::scooter:

After a well deserved break from the blogging I am finally back at it if a few months behind!!

We were in and out in 30 minutes total. Unbelievable after all the angst and stress (we have heard since a number of people have been refused, but none that used carnets). Since we still have LTE from our Cambodian Sim we could now look for somewhere to go to stay on the beach for a few days and relax! We have to be at YSS south of Bangkok on Monday in 4 days time.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4562/...777dfc6c_b.jpg FILE4516 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

There is a huge gated diversion about 500 m from the border this is a clear reminder that you have to drive on the left here! I had just given shit to the gal on a bike riding in my lane…oops. The second thing you will notice riding here is there is NO garbage all over the place like there is in Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia.

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We only had to go 42 km to the hotel we booked at the beach and last minute it was 60 % off! So we booked 2 nights. Time to decompress.

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We had planned to go to YSS and then book it to KL for service Dec 6 and then ship to Sydney, Australia Dec 10-12 in order to make the only ferry reservation that was left 1 month ago for Dec 24. This would put us on Tasmania very late in the day with a 4 hour drive to Hobart for Christmas dinner with our friend Deb. We had also booked tickets in February 2017, 2 days before they sold out for the 3 capes hike starting Dec 26! This is to see the finish of the Melbourne to Hobart sailing race. This means we have a very tight time line and the only boat we can get to get off Tasmania is Jan 7. The weather in Oz in December sucks especially in the north. After a Facebook call with Deb she suggested we abandon the hike and the ferry and ship to NZ first and then ship to Oz in March. This makes a lot more sense weather and time management wise. This also gives us more time now in Thailand and Malaysia. We have cancelled plans to rush back to NA and meet the Dymonds in Austin for the moto GP in April, we have cancelled our plans to walk the Camino Norte in September, and we have postponed our trip to Africa that was to be January 2019. We are really burnt out after this year and the super tight schedule over the last 8 months. Thinking if keeping to a rigid plan at this point feel impossible. We need a rest.

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Today we head 288 km north towards Bangkok to Pattaya and to within striking distance of YSS for Monday.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4585/...a8c7b627_b.jpg Screen Shot 2017-11-25 at 19.35.50 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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It was a pleasant 25-25 degrees she we started out at 9, but by 11 it was 32. There is a fair amount of traffic on the #3 especially near cities and there are a lot of long traffic lights and urbanization .

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4556/...773ede31_b.jpg FILE4913 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We had a hard time finding a car wash and finally did in Pattaya City. It is owned by and American and the bikes have not been this clean since new! It was just 5 more km to the hotel and the traffic was bad in a few section, but then moved well once we got off the main road. Drivers here are very courteous and follow the rules like the speed limit and merging “like a zipper”.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4649/...2686cd9e_b.jpg IMG_1288 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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We had a warm Thai welcome to our hotel!

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We did a bit of a walk in the “tourist” zone and are horrified by the sleazy clubs and bars. This is a place for prostitution and predators. We did however head back to the tourist zone for dinner as there was a nice place with a deck on the water. You have to walk past a huge open “mall” with dozens of “bars” with ladies/lady boys of the evening prepping and pimping/primping for the night.

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For dinner we walked back over the hill and down to the sea to the Cabbages and Condoms restaurant. This place uses profits to fund schools and community projects.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4577/...f1097781_b.jpg IMG_1296 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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To get home we opted for a scooter taxi. After haggling for the price we settled somewhere in the middle, but when we got to the hotel and the driver realized he thought it was a different farther hotel and right away he said he would change to the original price we asked for. Very nice honest guy. Funny as he misunderstood the place we wanted to go and must have thought we were being cheap and we though he was overcharging for the closer place. Ha ha .

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4555/...c1923dd7_b.jpg IMG_E1301 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Today is a big day as we are headed to YSS Suspension for our 10 am appointment. It is 112 km and google says 1 hr 35 min, but despite that we left at 0730 and with traffic we arrived just after 930.

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We certainly did not expect the road to be a 6 lane divided one. We can not take the elevated toll road just above us as motorcycles are banned and the fine is 300$. So we were happy to find a road we could do 80 km most of the time. There is uncontrolled access and quite a few lights in the towns, but we still made good time.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4537/...e08fb9c6_b.jpg FILE4928 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

YSS is easy to get to and is just a bit off the access road 34 to the city.

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The upper bolts on both bikes for the shocks were bent and they sourced out 2 of these as well. Mr. Pinyo noticed this bent bolt problem within 5 seconds of coming over to see the bikes his guys were working on. This was all done while they are trying to get several bikes modified to take to the Chiang Mai bike week this weekend.

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They weighed all the gear and luggage and us to set the bikes up using the computer and special sag gauges.

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We were treated to lunch with the management team as well as a tour if their massive factory.

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When the bikes were finally ready at almost 7 pm they had one of their drivers take us to the hotel they had booked for us! Talk about the royal treatment. It was a 30 km and 45 min ride in traffic that we were glad we did not need to do on the bikes in the dark.

Once we checked in and showered (wow did we stink) we headed out of the hotel. This is located on a 6 lane divided thoroughfare where the divider is a 4 foot wall. As we were walking thru the lobby and said we were going out for a walk the receptionist called out “ Don’t cross the street!” We did not plan to since we had driven past a massive open air and packed seafood Bbq place right next door.

We did notice there was a zebra crossing 30 m further on that you could use to get to the Tesco and 7 -11 across the road. They actually have barrels filled with 6 ft long wood poles with 3x3 ft red flags on each side of the road. We saw pedestrians pick them up to carry as they ran across the road. No one slowed down for them.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4557/...7da5e1c2_b.jpg IMG_1308 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

The restaurant is buffet and you pay your 16$ at the door. This covers EVERYTHING. There are huge displays of fresh seafood of all kinds on ice. You can scoop live prawns out of the tanks and cool them in an ice bath so they don’t jump off your plate on the way to the table. There are so many shellfish we could not even recognize, crabs, and huge shelled creatures that looked more like bugs than lobsters or crabs.

In addition there are all sorts of meats and salads, drinks, and desserts. Once you get your table they set up a big container of super hot coals with a grill on your table and you get cooking! Crazy fun.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4530/...221816b3_b.jpg IMG_1310 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

This morning the driver picked us up at 830 for the ride back to YSS, and this was a much quicker 30 minutes. We met with Mr. Pinyo who wanted to make sure we were happy with the set up after testing today. We had had the specs checked by their head of the race division who had flown in from the Netherlands for bike week. We had a small photo session and set out at 945.

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We had planned 228 km south to the east coast beach town of Hua Hin despite the poor forecast.

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The first 100 km to get past and away from Bangkok took over 2 hours and we stopped for a break from the 32 degree heat and the steady stream of traffic. It does move well and the Thais are very considerate drivers. Several issues come from driving on the left. The slow lane is far left and this is where the merging in and out is, but the fast lane is far right and this is where the frequent U turners are (there is often no actual turn lane). It looks impossible to do a U turn onto a 3 lane road filled with cars, but once there is a space and cars start to turn into your lane the cars stop and it is not unusual for them to politely wait for 20 + cars to also get thru before they pull ahead again.

The place we had booked is south of Hua hin and on the sea, but there is no beach here. The waves are crashing on the sea wall. Works for us as we just want to relax. We managed to rouse ourselves after 7 to walk the km to the main road to find some dinner. We found some ok Thai food at Ian’s place!

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4627/...5b32ca41_b.jpg Thailand-64 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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The next day we lazed about and then for some reason decided to walk the 3 km down to the Monkey’s island Temple in the hottest part of the day. The long steep stairs up are at least in the shade. Getting back to the main road again we flagged down a “collectivo” or pickup truck with bench seats in the back that cruise up and down the road and take you whatever distance you want to go for 10 Bhat or .30$. We hopped on and road all the way to town and to the main Hua Hin beach for some lunch and some sun. The forecast for tomorrow is grim.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4666/...bfee586f_b.jpg Thailand-72 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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