Great ride report so far. Thanks for all the pictures. I find I need to ride solo or with one other person or I don't enjoy my time.

Thanks Rob it was a fun ride, I always travel alone and dare say I will again, but sharing it was a great time, I liked the parts when you had to work as a group to help each other, but then I hated all the indecision that comes along with a group, I suppose it ways up in the end.... for me it's the ride...

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Been meaning to finish this report for some time but I've been so busy planning the next trip I never got round to it, now I have time I plan to finish it.

The Aussies I was riding with have headed of on their own and I have met up with Don AKA Midnitemapper. Don's been mapping Laos for the last 10 years and has produced a GPS map with so much detail it's a real riding companion.

The map below is the route from the next 4 days.



This would be a great incite into how a mapper works...meet Don


We spent the first day just poking around (yellow route)



An easy day, I think don was warming me up for what was coming over the next few days, here is a few shots of our day. Don takes pictures and waypoints of everything of interest. His passion and drive for what he does is remarkable. Wish I had met him 20 years ago.

First up need to fix a puncture.



Beauty and the beast


Nice bike


Old truck




Over the Mekong and onto the trails.







So many great things to see



Irrigation.



View from the cockpit



Back on the trails



The next village was spectacular lots of picture opportunities







Time for a spot of lunch, time to treat the kids.













These people where so nice, so happy..

We rode until night time, I don't like the Laos roads at night...not safe.

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An early start was required, I didn't know what Don had in store for me today, it wasn't until we got close that he said we would be looking for an old Temple ruins, this would be our route (green).



We where up before the sun and ready to move, a beautiful day was breaking







Don was up even earlier planning the route



Today would be hard Don doesn't hang about, the heat today would be immense and I really struggled with it. We stopped at a couple of school to have a look, the children are so happy.





Some nice Buddha statues, so well kept



Then we got into what I would describe as a desert with trees, damn hot and my first real taste of riding on sand, which made me even hotter.



Don new we where in the general area of the ruins, we just had to find by riding along the old Khmer ancient road it was at this point that I realised how lucky I was to do such an adventure, these tracks where 100's of years old and nobody had been in here for a long time, the excitement was mounting as was the heat.

Finally about 3 in the afternoon we get a break and found the Berry (waterhole, not sure about the spelling either)

Don told me that these always East of the temples



Park the bikes up have a quick look around the area





Into the Jungle to try and find the Temple's

Bingo



Man I feel like Indiana Jones, you could be 10 feet away from this and not see it




We found the wall and start to follow it until we find an opening





The happiest man alive




I've never done anything like this before, it's fantastic to see what's been done here and you really get a feeling of going back in time.






More to come...funmeteryes:

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This is the point where my camera started playing up, when we returned to the Baray (is a man made waterhole, used for cleaning oneself and irrigation as well as allowing the Animals to drink)

So this is how It looks today.


Don walks the perimeter logging it on his gps




maybe this is how it looked back in the day.




My Camera has given up at this point, we spent some time at the site looking around but time was getting on and we had a bit more poking around to do. It was back on the sandy trails, we would encounter a few problems along the way.




No chance, so we double back and look for another crossing it's getting dark as well when we did find another crossing it got my attention as the boards where loose

Camera is working again!




Safely across we start looking for some where to eat and sleep, it's pitch black by the time we hit a small village but we find what we think is a Cafe. We enter asking for food, which was no problem the lady knocked up us a bowl of chicken something and noodles, it done the job.

We had done some riding today





Our arrival in town had caused a stir and people where dropping in to have a look at the ting tong falang, a rather large chap plonked himself down in front of us and fired a few questions into Don. I found him a little bit intimidating but that subsided, turns out he was asking Don what where we doing around here. We decided to stay and get the s in, buy now we had the head of the village and his right hand men all around the table, out comes the and invitation to sleep at the police station.....




Laos hospitality is great, thank you.


We slept on the balcony and it was damn cold, didnt get much sleep and tomorrow would be another dusk till dawn ride.

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After a cold night and not much sleep we are woken by the PA playing Laos music, it's 5.30am and it's time to get up. We are told to go to the little cafe and get some coffee...I need this and after about 3 cups of it Dons chomping at the bit to get going, me I want to sleep more.



We say good by to the Boss (Benson)



And we are off, heading south, (Dark red route after the green)



We ride along here for about 10ks then hit a village check point where we are stopped, a young man tells us that he is our guide and we should follow him, seems Benson made a few calls, this would knock hours of the journey, now I'm awake and getting excited again...



We turn of the main road and into the tree desert! The sand is deep...



We arrive a huge clump of trees and it's time to go on foot.





Then it's of into the trees..





Is that it?


After about 15 mins of going through really thick jungle.





We find the outer wall




Our guide had done a good job, he didn't need gps



The Temple





Don get's to work straight away; I'm just blown away and wander round taking as many pictures as I can.











I really wanted a souvenir but thought the gods may curse me if I take some thing from such a special place, the body laying over the wall told the story of the last tomb raider who was here..




Looks like he nearly made it over the wall before the gods struck him down

Don at work







A fantastic morning, Don want to go have a look at another trail, I'm not liking the sand so I head back to the checkpoint to make some new friends.....

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Once I got back to the checkpoint there was a little shop so time to refill with fluids, already I have drunk 4 litres up to this point and it's not even midday. I talked to the lady in the shop in my simple Thai and we had a little chat, she was Beautiful but would not look at the camera.



She was a little shy, perhaps she thought I was trying to chat her up, which of course I was 5555, she was not married and the child was not hers, surely I'm in



Think she's thinking about it.



A few more people turn up to see the Falang



I buy the Children some sweets and everybody has a drink, we having a party now!



Now I go mad with the camera, this young lady was very curios



This one a little shy



I think the whole village is coming













I love this one



Then Don turns up and a few more people turn up



Beautiful child



Then the captain turned up



We stayed a bit longer but we needed to move on, we where going to head for the Border of Thailand to check out a trading route...


This didn't go so well for me I ended up with heatstroke in the middle of no where, I ended up in a village shop badly overheating, the kind lady took me around the side to lay in the shade.

I was feeling really weird, my arms had packed up working my heart was pumping hard I was worried, Don wasn't he left me there to die 55555(I'm Joking).

It was quiet surreal laying there listening to Don ride of into the distance, there were chickens and pigs running around but no other noise...I think I fell asleep for about 20 mins, I had cooled down and was feeling fine, it was 40 in the shade.

I had reached my limit that day...

But it’s not over...

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