South East Asia 1402

South East Asia - back in paradise again Day 1  Arrival Tropical heat is awaiting the group in Bangkok and everybody is excited about tomorrow, when we will leave North to the Cambodian border. Our adventure group Urs, Rudi, Joe and Dani from Swizerland, Cyman and Paul from England, Wilson and Augusto from Brazil, Donald and Vickie from USA, John from Denmark, Ursula from Germany and Viktoria from Austria, at the wellcome briefing and at dinner - yummy Thai Food! Day 2  Chonburri - Aranyaprathet Our first riding day was hot! It took a while to get used to the heat and the humidity, but we enjoyed the ride to Aranyaprathet, a little town at the border to Cambodia.  Through little villages, seeing smiling people and many temples along the way. Motorcycles at the temple Group Picture in front of the `Happy Buddah` One more Buddah Lunch at a local restaurant Our cook! Ursula with wet Pants - that cools you down Day 3  Aranyaprathet - Seam Reap Our second riding day was hot too! The first adventure today was the border crossing, the paperwork was incredibble, but it was not boaring at all. A lot of things to see. The ride to Seam Reap was easy and we spent the afternoon to visit the world famous Ankor What, the biggest religious building in the world. In the jungle temple we felt like Indiana Jones and the 5 star hotel at night was just perfect. Welcome to Cambodia Gas Station in Cambodia Augusto has a new friend Adorable Kids Cyman, Paul and John trying Cambodian cuisine At Ankor What Day 4  Seam Reap - Kratie For 5 restless riders there was an off road loop to the temples at 7 a clock in the morning. The rest started at 8 direction east. The highlights today were a visit in a small Cambodian village and the ride along the Mekong in the afternoon on a scenic dirt road. Some parts of the main road were in terrible condition and we had to swollow some dust. It was a great day! What  a contrast! John is trying a typical Cambodian Snack, fried cockroaches. Arrival in the village A big event for the locals ...... Wilson leaving the Mekong Ferry A dirty hero: John   Nice lunch at a lake Day 5  Kratie - Don Khong Good bye Cambodia, unfortuately our time in Cambodia is already over. Today we were heading to Laos. A thunderstorm over night made the road relly muddy and it was some tough riding. But we reached the Lao border without any misshaps and enjoyed the stunning Mekong Falls. Border crossing was easy today and the boot beer at our Hotel Terrasse at the Mekong for sunset was just perfect. The bikes got some colour Arriving at the coffee stop, ready for some rest At the Mekong Falls Boot beer time! Rudi takes a swim in the Mekong with the locals Happy Buddah Paul! Day 6  Don Khong - Savanakhet Today was our longest riding day, over 400 km. The roads were in good condition, we got the first mountains to see and we had one really adventurous Ferry crossing over the Mekong. Getting on and off the Ferry through deep sand was quite challenging, but the ferry ride itself was fun. On a nice dirt road we reached Wat Phou, a Khmer temple complex, which is listed as a world heritage site. Rudi enjoying the morning sun On board  the adventure Ferry Our captain Augusto? Wilson our off road champion leaving the Ferry Beautiful ride to Wat Phou temple Lao fast food beside the road  Day 7  Savanakhet - Kong Lor The first twisty road of the trip we had on our way to the Kong Lor Caves, wonderful scenery and a spectacular boat ride  through the cave. Great view! Paul  descending from the lookout, next English enduro Champion? View from the terrace of our lodge Day 8  Kong Lor - Vientiane A part of the group left the lodge earlier this morning for a little off road excursion, which was not as tough as expected, because the built a new gravel highway. The last part of the day we road along the Mekong on a beautiful but dusty gravel road to Vientiane, the capitol of Laos. Some needed a massage afterwards. The off road group in the morning leaving Kong Lor Dust in the wind! Our lady Team posing at the foto stop! Jörg ready for lunch The whole family is preparing our lunch and even our Lao tourguide Nut was helping in the kitchen Paul holding a speech at the Great wall, a natural Monument. Water Buffalos Nut, our Lao tourguide At the entrance of the caves Day 9  Vientiane - Vang Vieng The city traffic in Vientiane was quite, at every red light we had a moped race going on. The destination for today Vang Vieng is a paradise for backpackers and situated beautifuly at a river, surrounded by rugged mountains. The view from the Hotel terrace was breathtaking. Only Team Brazil and Cyman took the Chance in the afternoon for an extra off road loop through the rice fields, including two water crossings and a tiny little bamboo bridge. Ursula at the gas station Cyman, Wilson and Rudi Crossing an old wooden bridge A scenic gravel shortcut View from the hotel terrasse Water crossing on the off road loop The off road team Augusto inspecting his new house Crossing the river on a bamboo bridge Dinner at our beautiful hotel Day 10  Vang Vieng - Luang Prabang A scenic road through the Luang Prabang mountain range with some challenging sections. The mountains and the pass roads get higher and higher, that means it is gettig cooler. Our hotel in Luang Prabang, the religious capitol of Laos with its old French center is wonderful and we can stay two nights here to get some rest. Thai tourists like Rudi Fruit market along the road Lao children Foto stop in the mountains Typical Lao mopuntain scenery Day 11  Rest day Luang Prabang One day to relax! Some did an elephant ride in the morning, some explored the old town of Luang Prabang and went shopping on the night market and some went for an extra off road loop with our Lao tourguide. We all had a great day. Our hotel garden - very relaxing! Wilson, Cyman and Nut getting ready for the off road trip Refreshing water crossing Grilled Mekong fish Day 12  Luang Prabang - Luang Namtha The toughest day of the trip, 320 km through the mountains, with a stretch of 100 km really bad road. At the end of the day we all were tired but happy. In the morning an elephant was crossing our way, what a surprise. The primitive huts of the mountain tribe people along the road and the villige life on the street were very impressive. View over the mountains The beer tastes good after that challenging day! Day 13  Luang Namtha - Chiang Khong(Thailand) Back to Thailand after 8 days in Laos. Today was easy compared to yesterday. We had only 180 km to go and the road was in good condition, a nice ride through the hilly countryside on twisty roads, pure plesure. The highlight of today was a visit in an ethnic mountain tribe village, where we met friendly people and learnd about agriculture. View over the mountains Strolling around the village Day 14  Chiang Khong - Doi Angkhan The golden triangle was our first stop in the morning, where Thaoiland, Laos and Myanmar meet. This Region got famous for opium production, but today it is banned in Thailand. The riding along the Myanmar boarder on old smugler trails was spectacular and challenging. We ended up in Doi Ankhan way up in the mountains where it was getting much cooler. Augusto the cook Day 15  Doi Angkhan - Pai We continued along the border to Myanmar and in the afternoon we had a fantastic ride on the road of the thousand curves to Pai. With a big smile on our faces we reached our quiet Resort. The Group was too tired to do an aditional off road Loop and we spent the afternoon at the pool. Adonis at the waterfall Day 16   - Chiang Mai Unfortunately our last riding day. It was a short but very intense riding day. First we went back two third of the thousend curves in the early morning and then on tiny little backcountry roads with some gravel parts to Chiang Mai, where we were soaked in by the bussy city traffic. Everybody made it safe to the hotel. Congratulations!! It was hard to say good by to all  our new friends, this is a fantastic group.            An adventure of a lifetime has come to an end! Team England having a nap.