Day 7 & 8 - After a lovely breakfast at the Zuela Guesthouse, we loaded up the bikes and said farewell to our new friends from Melbourne and France. About 90 minutes out of Luang Namtha, we had a short break before turning off the main road and heading towards Boun Tai. Unlike the road from Huay Xai to Luang Namtha, the dirt trail to Boun Tai was a stark contrast, and much slower going. However, we felt that we were up to the challenge. About an hour in, we made a brief stop to refuel before the first of many river crossings. The first crossing we encountered, was relatively shallow and quite easy to pass through with a steep muddy incline which proved to be an interesting challenge. A few kilometres later, we approached our second river crossing. There was a rickety bamboo bridge, which appeared to be for pedestrian use, and the occasional scooter. It didn't seem to be suitable for our fully laden bikes, with heavy falang (foreigners). A local who was nearby, gestured us to cross via the river. With Chris in the lead, we rode our trusty steeds, into the murky flowing waters destined for dry ground. Whilst Chris made it through, David deviated slightly from that line and found a deeper part of the river which his Kawasaki disagreed with. A futile attempt to restart bike, and a few expletives later, Chris waded into the river to help push the drowned Kawasaki the rest of the way. Scratching our heads, whilst attempting to restart the flooded beast, we noticed a local fixing a scooter across the river who had witnessed the spectacle. After a short game of charades, the local crossed the bridge to provide some assistance. We drained the water from the fuel overflow and used a sock to wipe the water from the air box, to no avail. About an hour had passed in the middle of nowhere, sunset was quickly approaching. Our priorities shifted from trying to restart the bike, to getting it and ourselves to a more suitable location.
A few minutes later, a tek-tek conveniently drove past after successfully crossing the river. With a wave, and a sa bai dee, he pulled over to offer some assistance. Luckily we had bungee cords and a velcro strap which enabled us to somewhat crudely strap the bike into the small trailer towed by the tek-tek, despite the back wheel half hanging out the back. The strategy was, that I would sit in the back holding the bike, and the front brake for the duration of this journey. 15 minutes later, with wheels slipping when going up hills and averaging around 2 to 10kph, we decided it might be prudent for Chris to ride ahead to Boun Tai, to find a truck or something similar. We exhanged farewells and went our seperate ways, in the hopes of meeting up again later that evening. From here Chris went full steam ahead towards Boun Tai, which proved even more challenging than the roads prior, especially given the fading light, and the notably ineffective
headlights. Using scooters as a guide, several more river crossings were negotiated, in pitch black darkness. Cheered along by locals, Chris made it to Boun Tai at about 8pm checking into the Hong Thong Hotel, which looked to be the most suitable accommodation available. The first big place that he came across. A few failed games of charades later, it became clear that a rescue mission, was out of the question that evening. With no signal, or way to contact David, Chris settled in for the night, with hopes of finding assistance in the morning. Meanwhile, about 50kms from Boun Tai, the tek-tek that David was riding for a few hours, came to a stop at a small village, where it was suggested that he should stay for the evening. It quickly became apparent, that nobody in this village spoke a word of English. David made the universal gesture towards the mouth to suggest that one is hungry, and almost immediately the daughter of the family where he was to stay the night, went off and fetched a bowl of instant noodles from what seemed to be a local store, and a kettle with hot water. He then thought he would push his luck even further, by saying the words "beer lao", and within moments was snacking on noodles and drinking a beer. The family invited him into their home, where he changed out of his wet boots and pants, and shared a traditional Lao meal around the table, with soup, green beans, some kind of spicy salad, and sticky rice. Some of the locals showed up afterwards, and to David's much relief, one of them spoke a little English. His name is Som Pho, and is a teacher at the primary school in the village. He explained that David could stay the night, the sleeping arrangements, and that he could organise to take David's bike into Boun Tai in the morning. With not much else to do, David showed all who were present, with great interest and amusement, the video of the failed river crossing on his netbook before eventually retiring to bed. In the morning, David's phone had dried out enough where it was useable again, and miraculously found some signal to be able to ring Chris to inform him that he was on his way into Boun Tai, with the bike, in a Hyundai truck. A 3 hour or so journey later we were re-united at the Hong Thong hotel. Several failed attempts were made to get someone to take the bike to Luang Prabang, where it would be likely that we could get the bike going again. It was suggested by a few people, that we could take the bike on the bus, however, there is only one bus, and it leaves at 11am. This meant staying another night at the Hong Thong hotel.
headlights. Using scooters as a guide, several more river crossings were negotiated, in pitch black darkness. Cheered along by locals, Chris made it to Boun Tai at about 8pm checking into the Hong Thong Hotel, which looked to be the most suitable accommodation available. The first big place that he came across. A few failed games of charades later, it became clear that a rescue mission, was out of the question that evening. With no signal, or way to contact David, Chris settled in for the night, with hopes of finding assistance in the morning. Meanwhile, about 50kms from Boun Tai, the tek-tek that David was riding for a few hours, came to a stop at a small village, where it was suggested that he should stay for the evening. It quickly became apparent, that nobody in this village spoke a word of English. David made the universal gesture towards the mouth to suggest that one is hungry, and almost immediately the daughter of the family where he was to stay the night, went off and fetched a bowl of instant noodles from what seemed to be a local store, and a kettle with hot water. He then thought he would push his luck even further, by saying the words "beer lao", and within moments was snacking on noodles and drinking a beer. The family invited him into their home, where he changed out of his wet boots and pants, and shared a traditional Lao meal around the table, with soup, green beans, some kind of spicy salad, and sticky rice. Some of the locals showed up afterwards, and to David's much relief, one of them spoke a little English. His name is Som Pho, and is a teacher at the primary school in the village. He explained that David could stay the night, the sleeping arrangements, and that he could organise to take David's bike into Boun Tai in the morning. With not much else to do, David showed all who were present, with great interest and amusement, the video of the failed river crossing on his netbook before eventually retiring to bed. In the morning, David's phone had dried out enough where it was useable again, and miraculously found some signal to be able to ring Chris to inform him that he was on his way into Boun Tai, with the bike, in a Hyundai truck. A 3 hour or so journey later we were re-united at the Hong Thong hotel. Several failed attempts were made to get someone to take the bike to Luang Prabang, where it would be likely that we could get the bike going again. It was suggested by a few people, that we could take the bike on the bus, however, there is only one bus, and it leaves at 11am. This meant staying another night at the Hong Thong hotel.
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