The last hoorah and the seperation anxiety

  

The last stretch, was by far the longest one. 431 km and Vientiane was definitely worth it though and the earlier incidents of wandering around on the wrong roads was no longer an issue, neither was the pain in the butt or the back. I just felt really darn good of driving this last stretch.

Not that it was finally was over, but I was just trying to enjoy the very last moments with lil Wayne and the open roads. For the entire drive from KL to Vientiane, I have had many good moments, but somewhere between Thakhet and Vientiane on Rd 13, the perfect moment was created and really was the cherry on top of this South East Asian pie.

The sunset, the roadsurface, the weather...All perfect! Blasting in my ear was Flo Rida - Good Feeling and just when the chorus went, it put a huge smile on my face..But at the same time it made me feel a bit sad. It was over, it has been a great one, but now I had to get rid of Lil Wayne as I cannot officially get him out of here as I never declared him to the customs.

This morning was spent in a bit of anxiety of what to do with him, it was now a part of my little vehicle family and I could not simply get rid of it cold blooded. Or at least not in an inapproprate way. When I bought it, I was planning to sell it in parts when I got to Vientiane. However considering that it never failed me, never missed a beat not even on the toughest of roads, this little Honda has took me safely(ish) from KL to Vientiane. Taking it apart and let it become an organ donor was not an option anymore.

There was another thing as well, I have been through these countries and I have seen poverty and misery along the road, especially here in Lao. So I might as well give it to someone that might have a greater benefit from it and maybe provide a means for a living. So this afternoon I took the bike for one last ride, one last hoorah to celebrate its magnificence....and to take farewell to him. 

Out on the countryside about 15 km from Vientiane, a family of three was riding on a bicycle along the road. I stopped them and gave them a note that I have had written by one the hostel staff , explaining my intention. While they were reading it, I took off the registration plate and put it in my bag.

The man looked at me with a confused look implying that I did not have all the screws tightened. Not to complicate the communication further or have sorrow goodbyes, I just handed over the keys and started walking back to Vientaine. Good bye Lil Wayne.

Vientiane

Patuxai monument

Communication breakdown - link re-established

I have found the Lao people a bit...well..a bit cautious.
So learning a few phrases I thought help to get the stuff I wanted, and maybe get to know some of the locals. I haven't had any real food the past two days and I was feeling weak and rather annoyed that no one understood my cluck sounds for chicken.

But the moo sound gave actually some food on the table, but non I could actually eat. I dont eat pork because of religous reasons and the moo sound gave me pork for some reason...Why the hell is that so? I have seen plenty of cows around here and as you would expect, they all do the same noises as cows do back in Europe..

A bit of research online, I have learned a few phrases and words in Lao that I could use.
That immediately re-establishing the communication between us! With just a hello -"saba-dee", they immediately opened up and everything became so much easier!

Now I also understand that moo means pork here, which still didnt make any sense why it was so.. Yesterday was all pleasant and mingling with the locals was just as nice as it was with anyone else along the road and I finally got a nice fresh meal that I actually wanted!

Savannaketh and duality of conditions

On the Friday, I took farewell of our friend, the hitch hiker and once again it was just me and Lil' Wayne. When I looked on the map the day before to see where I should aim to get to, Savannaket was the nearest town...350 km away. Seriously, no towns in between?!

Well thats according to Google Maps, what do they know..Mind you there was nothing in between Pakse and Savannaketh except of jawdropping scenery and farmers, farmers and more farmers on their homebuilt tractors. Mingling with the locals was a bit harder than Thailand and Cambodia, the Lao people are bit more reserved, but nothing that cannot be solved with a smile and some Oreos!

Eventually we got to Savannaketh, exhausted from encountering new hazards on the roads...Animals are all over the roads in this place. Especially cows! I tell you, these animals are like turf gangsters from south east central LA, they will stick to their position, regardless if you are charging  against them at 100 km/h. Oh well, a good nights sleep and a good start of the day today gave some good vibe to do another long stretch.

Vientiane is actually just a day away - 450 km. Its not an easy stretch, and I was considering to divide the drive into two days. But it would be awesome to get there today! Out of Savannaketh I had to ask for direction at least 10 times, because of the total absence of road signs. The problem now was the language. Speak English?
No...Parle Francais? Oui! But I didnt...hmm OK Vientiane? Nobody understood until one old lady actually spoke two words in English and guided me in my wanderings.

The scenery on the road was still amazing, and after a while it just switched from very dry and hot climate, to North European-like terrain with some chills dragging your bones.
After a while the roadsurface changed drastically and the conditions could be only described as -Iraqi.After a couple of  hours of driving on these appauling roads , I reached a Customs Agent station...

Hmm It must be the Lao /Thai border one, as the road I was driving on was really close to the border. But I had a bad feeling about it and asked one of the officers to see if this was really the way to Vientiane...It wasn't. It turned out that I was actually  approaching the Vietnamese border and was confirmed with all the Vietnamese registered trucks and cars around.

Oh damn....this wasnt good at all...I went back a bit and saw the first sign for Vientiane since Savannaketh : 650 kms. Sigh....
After a bit of planning, I had to tell my self the truth; I must go back to Savannaketh.

There were no towns where I could get a room or something for the night, and I also found out that the sleeping bag has fallen out the backpack of all the bumpy-ness of the road. So no camping either.

Hungry,tired and a bit pissed off, I headed back. Darkness fell and the bad roads became even worse! It got really bad and I heard some crashing and knocking from the bike when hitting the craters, which almost threw me off the bike several times.

The weather got much colder and I freezing my butt off was least to say. Naturally these conditions puts the fear in god into you.. But attack is the best defense so to speak, and I laughed out my sorrow instead and once again my music on the phone saved the moment! Many hours later, I got back, just where I started this morning. Slightly unmotivated, but happy to be in one piece.

Conditions only acceptable for an IED infested country

The storm and Lao

Spent the night in Ubon Rathachani just outside the border of Lao.

Woke up to a shiny sunny day and got my way through to the border without any problems.. Except when I jinxed my luck with the weather...
When I was just thinking how lucky I was with the weather for the last few days, it started raining and the wind blew like nothing else!

Lil Wayne and I couldnt stand the storm like winds and looked for shelter quickly! I found one with a wooded bed, and fell asleep on waiting for the storm to die out. Woke up with the rain gone but only to find out that this actually is a military outpost..

They were friendly though and just nodded when I woke up.
On the road again I saw that a few fellow bikers were stranded and needed some assistance.

One old lady and her granddaughter had no charge in her battery, so naturally Lil Wayne, the hero of the day for a couple of people came to rescue with the help of some laundry rope to tow the other bike.
After being towed in to the nearest town we got a marriage proposal from the old lady...
I dont know if it was regarded to me or Wayne...
But I kindly rejected it in the behalf of Wayne and took farewell.
 

After some few hours of driving we arrived to the Thai/Lao borderpost.
On the Thai I was told that bikes below 150cc are not allowed to pass through to Lao.
In those cases when being rejected or told off in South East Asia, I have acted like a stupid tourist and said that the embassy told me it was OK! The officer asked for my passport and disappeared a few minutes.

After a few minutes the officer came back and asked if I have been into Lao before....

"Of course I have ,but not on this passport, sir" 

"OK I mean if you have been through before it shouldnt be any problems"... But it was. 

Whilst on the Lao side, I tried to keep the bike hidden from the customs agents, walking around the perimeter.
So I got the Visa and took him on a little detour around them and on the roads!

WOW, so now Im in Lao! We made it little feller!! Just outside the border station there was a hitch hiker from Russia that we picked up and drove to the nearest town.

No English and a bit of German defiantly challenged the communication. But we got along and Lil Wayne took us a 100km into the town of Pakse, where we had a meal and found some shelter to sleep.

Tomorrow awaits next location, I have not exactly planned where, but Im just looking forward too ride through the legendary Lao scenery..

 

So far it has been truly staggering with the mountainous terrain and the clear lakes completing the background for an eye watering experience. 

Distance reached so far: 2600 km

The unplanned exit

Change of plans. I must head into Thailand and then into Lao, as new regulation has stopped me to get into Lao from Cambodia with my bike...

I dont know why,  but im not going to risk it and drive 600 km just to get rejected.
The plan for the day was riding through a bit of Cambodia and visit a national park located on my route, then head to O'Smach for a overnight stop and then after cross the border into Thailand.

Getting out of Siem Reap was actually harder than getting out of Bangkok for some reason.
The signposts telling were to go, were very unclear and I ended up on the wrong place all the time...
 And the locals didnt help either! Havent people got out of this town before??!

 Ma main man and I in Angkor Wat

 I got lost a few times and one of roads I ended up in, I met death once again...
I saw some people gathering and entering the woods just outside Siem Reap.

First I though it was some religious excursion, but it was the tragic suicide of a local sales man whose business has gone bust according to the people standing there.

I have thought of the fact that Siem Reap was flooded with sales people, and I have never seen people so anxious to sell you something.
The sad truth is, as it seems, is that it is a matter of life and death...
However trying to forget about this I eventually found my way out to the countryside.

The spirited driving along the countryside made me loose track where I was as my only navigation has been Google Maps map in my memory.
I could not find any decent road map anywhere here..
So  After a bit of hill climbing with the bike I ended up on a construction site with the sign


" Pol Pots cremation site"  Huh.. Here? Just beside the sign there were some guards waving through cars, and I thought that was the road towards O'Smach would be through there.

Earlier military check points I have been through they just waved  me through without being stopped, so naturally I thought that this was the case this time as well.  But I was wrong.


They whistled, pointed their guns and shouted in Cambodian at me..

What did I do?! 

Do you want bribes?!

Well I dont have any!! 

Oh....This is the border? 

In my defense there were no signs saying border or anything else...just that Pol Pots remains where still around here somewhere.

 The suicide scene

Now I was stuck in the borders and I could not be bothered to go down the hill again, and the clock was ticking late, so I might as well just go through and into Thailand.
After dodging a couple of bribing sessions I was into Thailand once again, looking for the nearest town to get some sleep.

Entering Cambodia

The bike and I needed some rest and Bangkok has been good to us, although it almost killed me at lest 10 times on the way in.
On the Saturday I went down to the weekend market again to look for some elastic luggage straps. In the market, of all places in the world I bumped into a classmate and her friend from Nottingham University.
The day was spent with them with some walking around town and later on during the evening, looking for the big Thai boxing stadium...
However no games today and a bit disappointed although I have not big fan of this kind of sports before..But hey your here and might as well go n have a look.
Goodbyes were said as I am setting out in the morning to Cambodia!

The rest of the evening was spent with the crazy hostel staff watching the Man U - Chelsea game, and what a relief to see a good game in contrast to the one I saw the previous day....

Beautiful Monday morning and all set for the big haul.
Lil Wayne have had a very deep sleep indeed wouldnt start at first and the carburetor seemed dry..
But in the end, my little friend roared from his mighty chest and away we went!

The road was surprisingly pleasant and I was now used to the Thai drivers doing stupid maneuvers, it is all about staying alert.
However after a while the sun got a bit too hot and although I was doing a good 80 km/h I was sweating my butt off...
So I decided to honor one of the ''challenges'' I got for this trip. I was told to wear a sarong somewhere along the road, and as you might expect I just had one handy in the basket!

I tell you, I know that wearing leathers is vital when riding a motorcycle, but  I must honor the heritage of the bike as well and ride Malaysian style!
This is somewhat a cultural exchange kinda thing as the Malaysian registration plates must've brought some sort of attention to the country, and not wearing a sarong is wrong in this context.
I arrived to Aranyaprahet, the bordertown, at about 5 o'clock and with no time I was out of Thailand.

However the procedures on the Cambodian side was a bit messy and reminded me a lot of the Iraqi embassy I visited in Stockholm a few years ago...
The visa and the passport control didnt cause any problems, but the bike did.

They told me to visit a couple of buildings and in a 3rd world fashion, they all sent me to the wrong person. In the same fashion they had to call this guy and that guy had to call another.
It is pretty sad to see that the government is trying to create jobs by assigning these peoples to very insignificant tasks and creates endless chain of command.
Soon the man in charge of the stamp that I was supposed to get, arrived from the gym(!) And boy was he pissed off for some reason...

He looked at me first with an angry face then started screamed at me in Cambodian so naturally I screamed  back..
That made him a bit cautious so he lowered his tone. In his office he threw the pen and the form at me and yelled that I should fill it out, my god what is this guys problem?!

After  few tours back and forth between departments, he reluctantly passed through the stamp on my declaration and away I went..

Siem Reap on the sign; point and gas. But it wasnt that simple, the roads where also of legendary 3rd world status and I had to adjust back to right hand traffic! 

The drivers were just nuts and along the "highway" there  were no light or reflex posts to give some sort of reference where the road ended.

The traffic got a bit lighter as I approached some of the smaller towns, but the insect "traffic" increased significantly.
To honor my Arabic heritage I took the sarong and wrapped it around so it covered my face.
At the stops I had to clear out my clothes and the wrapping from dead insects, and with my insect paranoia it wasn't easy...

The complete darkness that lied ahead made me a bit scared, who knows what was in front of me. I have seen people running over the roads and bikes with no lights and in this complete nothingness I did not want to break down.

But the reassuring sound of the two stroke engine completing its cycles, gave me a sense of security.  

And with some Bruce Springsteen in the mp3 Siem Reap was no distance....

The markets and the football game

The Saturday morning and afternoon was spent on what some claim, the biggest indoor market in the world.

I joined to other travelers from China and we walked around in this mishmash of pretty much everything, and the prices or oh so low!
I ended up with some nice t-shirts a fresh pair of flip flops (the old ones flew out of my back and onto someones windscreen), underwear socks and a nice sarong all that for less 15 GBP!

Got back and took out the bike for a little spin to feel the pulse of Bangkok during the evening, with no particular plans I ended up in a big football Bangkok derby.

It was probably the most horrible game play Ive ever seen (I have seen 3 football games live in my life) and the whole game was dominated by three African guys on one of the teams. Someone was obviously even more bored than me and fired his gun in the air...

This obviously sparked some sort of panic in the audience and the police were screaming various things, so I saw this as my time to leave. The rest of the  evening was spent in a more peaceful setting and I met up with people from the hostel and we went to once again, a market and for a good meal out.

This morning I got a friendly little email from the Cambodian embassy saying that my Visa has been approved! Wow I did not know that embassies worked during Saturdays, and this changes my plans in Bangkok a bit. I think Ill head out in the morning to Cambodia trying to find Siem Reap and Angkor Wat! First Bangkok for the rest of the day and a moped riding free day. 

Guys let me just remind you of the cause, please join in and donate if you will. Thank you!
http://www.causes.com/causes/649487-the-ironbutt-foundation?recruiter_id=8217396


 

The Bangkok soup

In the morning after getting out of my obviously plague infested room, I found my bike removed from the spot parked it on and all the stuff in the basket where all over the parking space, the only thing that was gone was my excellent map of Bangkok!
I swear to god its those kids in the reception area!

Walking back in anger to the receptionist only to find out that there were monkeys sleeping and living in my bike last night..Monkeys? Huh...guess that makes sense that I were actually monkeys outside and I did not just dream about monkeys...

Naw well, time to go to Bangkok instead and forget the rural parts for a change.

Started the first 30 minutes in Bangkok arguing with a police officer who was claiming that I was driving on the wrong lane.

"There are no lanes officer!!" 

"Yes, you go right lane you go left, 400 baht".

I knew that these guys were only there to make up some ridiculous rules so people would give them some walking -around-money..

"400?! sir how am I going to pay my bills now and eat, heres a 100 (about 2 GBP) baht and you'll let me go" 

"OK, sir have a very nice day". 

I ended up turning out from the "left" lane and burning off to the right one anyway and they yelled something in Thai after me..

After many hours of driving in hellish Bangkok traffic looking for a hostel I booked the same day I finally found it somewhere in the alleys of Bangkok.
However I got there only to find out they overbooked it, so I got angry once again and this time it was business! But they quickly called other places nearby and I ended up in a twin en suit in a much nicer location.

Alright! Queensize bed,minifridge,roomservice and hot shower for the same price as a dorm with 10 beds! This is what Im talking about...

Sideways

The boredom of highway hacking gets on your nerves sometimes, it is not helped by either the rain or the lorries making heavy wind swirls, almost making me fall of the bike. Getting of the highway even for a coffee at the gas station gives great new strength for the next stretch. But boredom  is easily cured by getting on to the sideroads..

Not thinking where and just turn might surprise you what you might see.

An elephant? A cave with the most awesome views? or just a little deserted beach you can relax your senses on...? 

It doesnt matter what you see but getting off means that you see some rural richdom.
The people you meet along these roads are indeed themselves worth turning out from the highway.
The encounters with the banana stand girls or the conversations about pitbulls with the farmers, or with the lady selling yummy pineapple cookies .

Their smiles motivates for new search of paths along the way. 

I might have to change my agenda of motivation a bit. Going to Lao on a moped seemed like a crazy idea and drove me forward because of its challenge, but it is not the entire point of this trip. Depth of this, is the people and some of the places and views you see along the way, that truly staggers you and keeps you going further.

Tonight Im  in Pretchaburi, a town about 150 km from Bangkok, and tomorrow awaits the big city.

I cant believe that the bike has made it this far, 1400 km and still going strong!

Not to jinx it or anything, but this little thing have been the only reliable thing on this journey so far, and far the most appreciated possession I have right now.
My buttock might not feel the same way, but that's just one of the few limitations on this bike.

So...Inventory check; everything is dirty.
Me, the bike, the backpack and all of my clothes. Time to find a washing machine and some soap.