Lao Motorcycle Diaries, Part 1

Day 1: March 5th

It was 1:30pm and I was waiting at a traffic light on Route 13 South, breathing in a cloud of exhaust from the truck in front of me and sweating in the heat of my windbreaker, gloves and jeans.  So began my first motorcycle trip.  For our short midterm break from work, Alex and I had decided to drive from our home in Vientiane north to Luang Prabang, along with Denali, a fellow Princetonian/PiAer who works for Chiang Mai Rock Climbing in Thailand.

The drive on day one (shown in relation to the whole country of Laos)

Our original plan was quite ambitious.  In 4 days, we were going to drive from Vientiane, to Phonsavane, to Nong Keow, to Luang Prabang, where we would drop off the bikes and then fly back home.  With each passing hour, we discovered how unrealistic this was, and, in the end, were thankful just to make it to Luang Prabang in time for our flight.

We had rented Suzuki Van Vans, which seemed like ideal beginner bikes, since they could handle the roads, but were also short enough for me and came in sweet colors (essential for awesome-looking trip photos).  We had had a brief lesson earlier in the week.  The general driving experience is not too different from what I’m used to everyday on my Kolao motorbike, but requires a lot more concentration in the beginning, since the motorcycles are fully manual, engaging all four limbs between the clutch, gear shift, accelerator, and foot brake.  Stalling out when stopping was a regular fear in the first few hours while driving.

Passing through a village (Alex in blue, me in black, photo credit: Denali)

So by 1:30pm on Saturday, we were on the road.  I was sweating in the full body coverage biking gear that had been recommended (for good reason, I’d learn later in the trip), and we were on some of the least pleasant roads of the trip, those lead outside the Vientiane capital area, which were filled with concrete, diesel fumes, dust, and general grit.  We stopped on the side of the road after the first hour for a water break and to gush about how awesome we felt driving real motorcycles and our faces were all ringed with dirt and grime picked up from the road.

Our aim for day one was to make it to Vang Vieng, about 150 km from Vientiane (which took us about 5 hours, including a noodle soup stop).  Though this day turned out to be the least impressive scenery-wise, it was still exhilarating as soon as we got outside the city and saw mountains and the brilliance of rice-paddy green (a color which deserves its own spot in the Crayola box) for the first time.  We would be taking the major “highways” for the whole of the trip, but after leaving the capital region, these turned into what would generally be thought of as local country roads in the USA.  Amazingly, these major national roads were ringed by tiny mountaintop villages all along the way, where every type of animal and person crossed out paths.  We dodged cows, buffalo (there was a close call with some buffalo who refused to move), dogs, cats, ducks, turkeys, chickens, goats, and pigs.  Alongside the roads in the villages naked toddlers played, and local children stopped and waved as us while we drove past.  In a developing country with a population of only 7 million people, almost everything outside the capital still looks very rural.

Just before sunset, the imposing karst cliffs of Vang Vieng came into sight, and we rolled into the town just before dark.  Tired, dirty, sweaty, and relieved after our first day of traveling, we took the first reasonable room we could find…which happened to be about $2 per person.  Vang Vieng is a strange place.  Though it’s still a small town, it’s a major tourist destination, both because of its incredible natural beauty and its reputation as a “chilled out” backpacker party hub.  Based only on my impressions, I would guess that more tourists come to Vang Vieng each year than Vientiane.  With our rigorous driving itinerary, we had neither the time nor the energy to partake in the Vang Vieng experience (either natural or otherwise), so after some Lao food and just a few episodes of Friends (which is ubiquitous in the open-air cafes around town) we headed to bed, ready for a full day of driving to come.

Vang Vieng scenery: After a stressful day of driving, nothing beats waking up to this.

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