Southeast Asia 3SA1601
22 Jan 2016
Day 1 - Arrival in Bangkok/Chon Buri
Our Adventure team: AAmy and Brian from USA, Scott from USA, Bernard from Canada, Stefan from Germany and Karl from Austria. Everybody arrived in time and is excited about tomorrow. Scotts lugage did not arrive and he went shopping. It was very hard for him to find gear in his size - Asians are much smaller.
When he came back from shopping, his luggage arrived at the hotel.......
Day 2 - Chon Buri - Aranyaprathet
An easy day to warm up and get used to the bikes and the road conditions. It is really hot and humid, we have to drink a lot. At the hotel we were asked for many signatures for the border crossing the next day.
Day 3 - Aranyaprathet - Siem Reap
Today we went to see the famous Angkor Wat, what an experience. The boarder crossing was easy and we could enjoy the fascinating traffic and living style at the Cambodian side.
Day 4 - Siem Reap - Stung Treng
320 km - a fantastic riding day, some off road in the morning with heavy rain, to make it more interresting. The new route to Koh Ker was nice and this temple in the remote north of Cambodia is really worth a visit.
Day 5 - Stung Treng - Champassak
250 km - In the morning we tried out asingle track along the Mekong river - a great experience. We crossed the boarder to Laos and the next highlight was the Mekong waterfall. The ferry crossing to Vat Phou on a adventure boat was great. After visiting the temple complex of Vat Phou we enjoyed our wonderful hotel at the Mekong.
Day 6 - Champasak - Thakek
420 km - a long day including 60 km offroad in the morning through a very poor and remote area. Everybody was tired but happy after this day. Some were even fit enough to go to a Karaoke bar.
Day 7 - Thakek - Kong Lor
170 km - the first day in the mountains, a short but challenging ride. The boat trip through Kong Lor cave was great and we all loved our Eco Loge, so friendly people, chicken running around and a campfire at night. Of course we had to have some Lao Lao, the local whiskey.
Day 8 - Kong Lor - Vientiane
320 km - First we did two offroad loops to a cave and over a small wooden bridge and than we continued to Vientiane, the Capitol of Laos. The last section along the Mekong was quite hard, dust and mud were alternating, but we all made it!!!
Dinner in Aranyaprathet
A wild elephant beside the road
Koh Ker Temple
Mekong waterfall
Kong Lor cave
Scotts new bike
Day 9 - Vientiane - Vang Vieng
240 km - After moped racing in the city, we went to a beautiful reservoir for coffee. We reached the mountains now and the roads are really twisty. Bernard, Karl and Stefan did the off road loop in the afternoon, where we had tricky conditions, but we all made it.
Day 10 - Vang Vieng-Luang Prabang
210 km - Today we had a great ride through the Luang Prabang mountain range with one pass close to 1900 meters. Lunch at a waterfall and in the early afternoon we arrived at our wonderful hotel in Luang Prabang, where we will stay two nights.
Day 11 - Rest day Luang Prabang
Finally our first rest day, where we stay two nights in our wonderful hotel. Amy, Bernard and Scott went for an Elephant ride. Only Stefan and Karl went for a short off road loop around Luang Prabang. They can´t get enough riding. Everybody enjoyed his rest day very much.
Day 12 - Luang Prabang-Luang Namtha
320 km - After a relaxing day we had a quite tough one. All the way to the Chinese boarder on a really twisty road after we had a gravel loop along the Mekong. We arrived at Luang Namtha exhausted, but happy and were ready for a beer. The remote villages in the mountains with all the life along the road, were very special
Day 13 - Luang Namtha-Chiang Khong
210 km - An easy ride back to Thailand on a nice sweeping road. On the way we had a stop in one of the ethnic villages and had a cigarrette with the old women at the campfire. A great experience. Boardercrossing was easy and we had time to relax at the pool right above the Mekong. At the boarder we met a group of Chinese people and the wanted to pose for them - see Karl doing a great job!
Day 14 - Chiang Khong-Doi Angkhan
300 km - What a day! After we visited the famous Golden Triangle, we got to the mountains. On fantastic roads without traffic, we followed the boarder line to Myanmar. It was challenging, but a lot of fun. At lunch we met Elvis. The afternoon ride up to Doi Angkhan was very steep and it cooled down a lot, for tomorrow morning they expect temperatures close to freezing point!!!!!!
Day 15 - Doi Angkhan-Pai
250 km - After a really cold morning rid through the mountains on scenic roads we stopped at an Elephant camp to say hello. A refreshing break at a waterfall and than we were ready for the road with the 1000 curves. Unfortunately som construction, but still fun. Pai at night was great.
Day 16 - Pai-Chiang Mai
190 km - unfortunately our last riding day. But a superb one. After a challenging dirt road over the mountains we hit a special road with more than 2000 curves and no traffic. Pur riding fun! In the afternoon we reached Chiang Mai in really hot conditions and crazy city traffic, but our adventure group made it without any problems. Congratulation to the team! Well done!