Table of contents

• Motorcycle tour in Laos Report and tour tips
• Goosebumps and feelings of happiness on the Mekong
• Information about a motorcycle tour in Laos

Jo Deleker

23 pictures

Jo Deleker

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Transport in Lao: In Pakbeng we load the Enduros onto a Mekong longboat.

Jo Deleker

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Curiosity, amazement, smiling faces on both sides. Stalls on the street offer everything a Laotian might need.

Jo Deleker

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Out and about in Laos.

Jo Deleker

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Night market in Luang Prabang.

Jo Deleker

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Freshly grilled: meat products at the Luang Prabang night market.

Jo Deleker

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At six o’clock in the morning, the monks in Luang Prabang do their rounds to collect alms.

Jo Deleker

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A dream route for the light enduros.

Jo Deleker

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Picturesque, crystal clear water in the natural basins of Kuang Si.

Jo Deleker

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Out and about in Laos.

Jo Deleker

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Out and about in Laos.

Jo Deleker

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Water buffalo on the slope to Hongsa.

Jo Deleker

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Water buffalo on the slope to Hongsa.

Jo Deleker

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All that glitters is gold: Buddha statues in a temple.

Jo Deleker

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The captain expanded two rows of seats to make room for the motorcycles.

Jo Deleker

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Shy encounter on the edge of the piste.

Jo Deleker

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A rickety bamboo bridge leads to the other bank of the river.

Jo Deleker

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On the Nam Song River near Pha Tang, we are amazed by Southeast Asian cliches: palm trees and bizarre karst mountains.

Jo Deleker

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Bridge for motorbikes only in Luang Prabang.

Jo Deleker

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The journey lasted 3 weeks and 2000 kilometers.

Jo Deleker

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There are still countless duds from the Vietnam War in the area. Oppressive.

Jo Deleker

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It is forbidden to drive with lights on during the day. We’ll do it anyway and risk paying a $ 10 fine.

Jo Deleker

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There are beautiful temples and monasteries to be seen in Luang Prabang.

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Laos has an area of ​​236,800 km² and a population of 6.8 million.

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Motorcycle trip in Laos Report and tour tips

Motorcycle tour in Laos
Report and tour tips

A motorcycle trip to Laos is an encounter with another world. Light enduros are perfect for discovering this exotic, spiritually inspired land.

Joachim Deleker

04/28/2016

Temple peaks and Buddha figures shine golden, spices, food and clothing shine brightly in the markets, monks raptured into spiritual worlds stroll through the streets dressed in orange. Hustle and bustle is alien here, Vientiane is a tranquil capital. You could stay, but the vastness of the country and motorbikes are waiting for us. At Remote Asia we have reserved a new Honda CRF 250 for my friend Werner. My wife Birgit grabs the strongest horse in the stable, a Suzuki DR 400 with an absurdly wide rear tire. I fall in love with the look of an experienced Honda Baja. I can’t resist looking at you from the two huge headlights with 35 watt bulbs.

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Strap on the tank bag, lash down Ortlieb rollers – and off you go. North course. It takes us an hour to get through the suburbs for 20 kilometers. Dusty construction sites, refrigerator-sized holes, zigzags between cars, people, mopeds, dogs, chickens and pigs. Everyone is on the road at the same time, but everyone stays calm, no honking, no impatience, no stress. Small open shops greet you from the edge of the road, as do numerous very simple workshops. There, the chronically unreliable cheap Chinese copies of Japanese mopeds provide plenty of work. It’s finally getting quieter, and our single-cylinder cylinders tumble up the first steep mountains that peel off the plain in the 32-degree heat haze. In the evening we are in Vang Vieng, marveling at the photogenic karst cone mountains on the shallow Nam Song River. Typical stereotypes of Southeast Asia. Vang Vieng, what a strange place that is completely atypical of Laos. Crowds of backpackers move from bar to bar in search of partying and drugs. The government is trying to ban the latter along with the deafening techno nights. Vang Vieng’s worldwide reputation as the party and drug metropolis is damaging the country and the people who live here.

Goosebumps and feelings of happiness on the Mekong

The area around Vang Vieng is really beautiful. We roll over a wobbly bamboo bridge to the other bank of the river and immerse ourselves in the idyllic world of Laotian country life. Red fields, green rice fields, tiny villages with wooden houses on stilts, where hawkers offer a considerable range of goods that they transport on daringly overloaded Honda Wave mopeds. Nobody is interested in a permissible total weight, whatever is charged is charged. And there is a lot going on. Further north through the green valley of the Nam Song. Rice fields, white huts under palm trees, steep karst mountains.

Then it gets serious. The national road 13 lies against the mountains. Mountains over 2000 meters high. Fog, drizzle, curves without end and damp, bituminous tar. Pathetic, smoking Chinese trucks tormenting their way over high passes at walking pace. The few places on the street look strange: roughly timbered houses, a central well where women fetch water. Men crouch in front of small campfires and make tea, children drive pigs and goats across the street. But everyone has a smile for us, the long noses recognize from afar. Probably also because of my Honda’s killer lamps. Because although it is forbidden to drive with lights on during the day, we do it anyway. Better to pay a possible fine of ten dollars than get riveted by a speeding minibus.

The last long descent, 1000 meters down into the valley – and there it is: the Mekong. Cocoa brown, impressively wide, 4500 kilometers long. Mekong, what a name! Sounds like the Zambezi, Mississippi or Amazonas mighty wanderlust, thousands of exotic images flit through your brain. Goosebumps and happiness to see this legendary river. But it gets even better when we dive into the old royal city of Luang Prabang, perhaps the most beautiful city in Southeast Asia. We find a great colonial hotel right on the Mekong with a cozy terrace high above the water. Just sit there for hours and watch the colorful wooden long boats.

Jo Deleker

The road to Hongsa – a dream route for our light enduros, but not for the fearful.

Luang Prabang: There are lavish colonial houses, cozy cafes, beautiful temples and monasteries as a haven in the lively city. Our favorite is the small Paphai Monastery, because with its curved pagoda roof, the gilded carvings on the facade and the monks in their orange robes, it corresponds to the ideal image of an Asian temple. Luang Prabang relaxed and fascinated, we stay longer than planned. But then curiosity becomes overwhelming. A rustic pontoon ferry takes us across the Mekong. Then the slope to Hongsa begins, and nobody can tell us whether it is even passable. But it is. Sometimes it meanders through pristine land barely two meters wide, prancing like a roller coaster over sharp mountain ridges beyond the 1000 meter mark. In the absence of bridges, cross a dozen rivers, then deep ruts and a lot of red dust. In short: a dream route for our light enduros. Definitely not for the fearful.

Passing the insignificant city of Hongsa, we reach the Mekong again and the cozy place Pakbeng, landing stage for the long boats upstream. We would love to go there. Ask around until we find the captain of boat number 36, who is ready to add two rows of seats to fit the mopeds on board. But how do we get the enduros on board now? A jetty? A quay? Not here, just the steep, stony bank. A problem? Not here. In no time at all, someone got hold of a wooden plank that is placed on the side of the boat. We balance the enduros down to the river and with the help of numerous hands over the ship’s wall on board. Eight hours by boat lie ahead of us to the Thai border at Huay Xai. The aged Nissan V8 truck diesel engine roars at full speed, there is no silencer – the noise is infernal. But the slender boat pushes up the river surprisingly quickly, sometimes through tricky rapids and wild water. Past the last primeval forests of the Mekong and countless clear cuts. Laos is selling its natural resources to China. Oppressive. A quiet, green mountain landscape, now and then a tiny village with simple bast huts and waving children playing in the river. There is no road to be seen far and wide. What a different life, what a strange world.

Jo Deleker

Transport in Lao.

The bridge of friendship that connects Laos with Thailand announces Huay Xai in the evening. The enduros are booted out. Helping hands, without which we would never be able to do it, smiling faces, friendly pats on the shoulder, the captain in a T-shirt, shorts and flip-flops proudly mounts the Honda Baja, which deserves respect. It’s just a big bike according to the local definition.

Three days later, after endless curves through the mountains of the north near the Chinese border, we are in idyllic Nong Khiaw on the Nam Ou River. A place to feel good in a green landscape of steep karst mountains. But also a place to shiver. The people here have experienced terrible things, were drawn into the horror of the Vietnam War. Laos was never involved in the war, but the Americans threw over two million tons of napalm and cluster bombs on the country, trying to destroy the infamous Ho Chi Minh Trail, the supply line of the Viet Cong. There are still countless duds in the area, signs warn against leaving the paths. Risk of death! An oppressive feeling. Why can’t anyone force the Americans to at least pick up the remains of their bombing, which is contrary to international law, here? The world power apparently does not care that even today Laotian children are mutilated or killed by duds while playing or their parents while working in the fields.

Cut. Take a deep breath. Where could we do that better than in Luang Prabang, which is already on our way back to the capital? Vientiane, we don’t even think about that. Three weeks in Laos allowed us to look into another world. A world full of calm, spirituality, poverty, exoticism and smiling people. How different will Vientiane now appear to us? Definitely huge, hectic and loud. Standards change.

Information about a motorcycle tour in Laos

A dream route for the light enduros.

Laos is easy to travel to for individual travelers. There are rental motorbikes in Vientiane, the visa at the airport, the infrastructure is sufficient, the experiences are unique.

getting there: Thai Airways offers the fastest flights of around 17 hours from Frankfurt via Bangkok to Vientiane. Alternatively, you can fly to Laos with Vietnam Airlines via Hanoi. Tickets are available from around 700 euros, direct flights from Germany are not.

Travel time: The north of Laos has four seasons: Quite dry and pleasantly warm in November and December, the ideal travel time. In January and February it can get cold in the mountains. The hot season extends from March to May with high humidity and temperatures of up to 40 degrees. Then there is the rainy season from June to October.

Entry / health: The passport must be valid for at least six months. The tourist visa is valid for 30 days and is issued upon entry. With the caution customary in tropical countries, you can get along very well: no tap water, no salad, no ice cream, no unpeeled fruit (“Cook it, peel it, or forget it”). Vaccinations are not required. No malaria risk in the mountains of the north.

Costs money: The national currency is the kip. For 100 euros there is a million kip. There are ATMs in larger cities. For around one euro you can eat your fill in cookshops. In tourist restaurants, dinner costs from two euros. Rooms in average hotels start at ten euros.

motorcycles: Jim Barbush from Remote Asia (www.remoteasia.com) offers guided tours, he also rents out handy Honda Enduros (XR 250 Baja, XRF 250 L, XR 400) and Suzuki DR 400 for 35 to 45 dollars a day. Long term rentals are cheaper.

security: Laos is one of the safest travel countries ever. The usual precautionary measures also apply here.

Books / cards: The author used the Laos travel guide from Stefan Loose Verlag. Handy, informative, for just under 25 euros. Alternatives: “Laos” from Lonely Planet (23 euros) or “The rough Guide to Laos” (16 euros). Also good: Map of Laos (scale 1: 600,000) from Reise Know How. At OpenStreetMaps (www.osm-download.de) digital maps for the Garmin-Navi are available.

Further information:

• www.rideasia.net
• www.gt-rider.com
• www.tourismlaos.org
• www.visit-laos.com

Travel time: 3 weeks
Route driven: 2000 kilometers

Laos

• Capital: Vientiane
• Area: 236,800 km2
• Autonomy: 1949
• Currency: Kip
• Population: 6.8 million.

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