Relaxing in Udon Thani before heading back home tomorrow

So we have reached the end of this years holiday and adventure. It has been an amazing experience as always and we have thoroughly enjoyed our time here.

We have had a relatively event free trip with only a minor accident for Chris and a tired dropping of the bike for Dave. Either way our steed's are relatively well intact except for Chris's top box, helmet, intercom and Go Pro which will need replacing upon our return home. Thank goodness for insurance!

As always the vast majority of Thai and Laos people we have met along the way have been amazing, so helpful and kind, really reminds us why we love to keep visiting this magical part of the world.

Whilst there are some last day blues, we are so excited to see our little man Mason when we get back home on Sunday morning. A month seems like such a long time to go without a hug or snuggle from the little fella, miss ya heaps buddy!

As i type we are packing our luggage and getting ready for the 3 flights home beginning tomorrow morning.

We have a tonne of footage that we will go through when back home over the coming week(s) and post the Video's including the book party and following Baci Ceremony as well as the rides from Ban Namsanam to Savannakhet, Savannakhet to Pakse/Boolaven Plateua and finally Pakse to Udon Thani. I hope you enjoy these videos and they give you a view to what we find so amazing and special about these countries and their people.

Tomorrow morning is an early start leaving Udon Thani International Airport at approx 0700 bound for Bangkok's Don Muang Airport. Then after a 4 hour layover we head to Singapore's Changi Airport where we will be relaxing in the Ambassador lounge for the duration of our layover (Approx 5hrs), before catching the overnight flight back to the Gold Coast landing on Sunday morning at approx 0900. Here's hoping we don't have too many issues at Gold Coast airport, which i have had many not so nice things to say about them in the past, last years experience was pretty good so hopefully they don't hassle us too much again this year.

Thanks everyone for following our blog and don't forget to check in here every now and again to see the videos we will be posting and a round up of this years events including a summary of the funds raised and where they went. Remember we are still yet to raise some more funds to add to the left over funds raised to help provide a Well (water) and electricity to the Ban Oh village school in the coming months with the invaluable assistance and coordination of Mr Vongsamay and his family from the Sainamhai resort in Ban Namsanam, Khammoune Province Laos.

Sunset over Pakse, our last Sunset in Laos

Slight change of plans and a night giving books to the children in the quieter, poorer streets in Pakse

After some deliberations today, we decided to cross back into Thailand tomorrow and ride diagonally from Pakse, through the Chong Mek border crossing in south East Issan rather than heading back north on Route 13 and crossing into Nakom Phanom.

We made this choice for a few reasons.

Firstly the roads are much wider through Thailand and they drive on the right (Left) side of the road.

Secondly the roads are much safer with far fewer stray dogs and cattle to avoid.

Third reason being we haven't yet seen this part of Thailand or used this border crossing before unlike the route 13 and Thakek border bridge.

We have so enjoyed our time in Laos and can't wait to plan our next adventure for 2016.

Off to a last night in Laos dinner at the Daolin Restaurant in town, some of the nicest food we have had in Laos. Except for Joy's Restaurant and the Sainamhai Resort of course.

We were going to stop at some villages on the way to Takhek tomorrow so instead we headed out to the poorer less tourist part of Pakse and the outskirts to give the remaining books to the children as well as some more at the local markets.

With the books delivered, so ends another successful tour providing education supplies to the wonderful people of Laos.

Tomorrow we have a 523km ride from Pakse to Udon Thani, will be a long day but a beautiful ride through Isaan passing through Ubon Ratchathani and some other towns we are yet to see.

Handing out books at the Night Markets and another day relaxing in Pakse

After dinner yesterday we headed to the night markets to give out some Momosign Books to some kids at the night market. We only ended up getting two photos of the book giving as alot of the kids seemed very shy and their parents unsure of us, all the same we gave them some books but it didn't seem right taking all of their photos.

The photos we did get were some kids who were so happy and running around with balloons.

We have saved quite a few books which we will be giving out in some of the poorer villages further from the main districts on our way to Thakhek tomorrow for our overnight stay before crossing the border and heading back to Udon Thani on Wednesday,

Only 1 week left of the holiday, really going to miss this place and cannot wait to start planning our next years adventure to Laos.

As you may know, we mentioned with the money raised this year we would purchase school books and uniforms and any donations left over would be put towards getting a Water Well and electricity to the Ban Oh village school after our return to Oz. We will be working with Vongsamay and the malibayphit's who will do all the organizing and pricing up the cost of this endeavor.

We will soon start another fundraising campaign to raise some more funds to make this Water and Electricity connection possible. Can't wait to see the smiles from these kids when they see this come to fruition.

Thanks again to all for your help and support, this years trip has truly been a pleasure for David and myself. We are so lucky to be able to come here each year to share these experiences with the people of Laos and yourselves back home. Remember, a little bit goes a long way in Laos, a little from a lot can do amazing things!

God Bless and look forward to keeping you up to date on our activities over the coming week as well as our safe return to Australia to see our amazing little dude Mason and his mummy.

I miss when he was so little :D But i love that he is growing up to be an awesome little boy!

Relaxing in Pakse

After moving hotels at midday, we settled in to the lovely Champassak Grand Hotel and headed for the pool for a quick cool down before heading out for some lunch.

As i type this update we are sitting at the Doc Mai Lao Cafe for some Italian cuisine. Fantastic food and wonderful service, this place is rated number 1 in Pakse and again, not hard to see why.

This afternoon is forecast to be a thunder storm in Pakse which hopefully won't last too long so we can head to the night markets and surrounding areas to give some Lao English learning books to the kids around the area. Should be a great night with plenty of smiles and Kop Jai Lai Lai's.

After a Spaghetti Carbonara (Amazing), Chris ordered a follow up Spaghetti Bolognaise which is headed to the table as we speak. Enough blogging, more eating!

Thanks for following our adventure and look forward to updating you on our movements in this our last few days in Laos before heading back to Udon Thani and then back to Australia this coming Saturday. Will be such a shame to leave this beautiful place but we are looking forward to seeing Maz and Mason back home again soon!

Blog Updates

Hey all,

Haven't updated the blog for a few days as was quite busy with leaving Ban Namsanam, including a wonderful dinner with Mr and Mrs Malibayphit at the Sainamhai resort.

Then on the way to Savannakhet, Chris crashed his bike which have us a few other priorities, including making some repairs to the bike in Savannakhet before we could head south towards Pakse.

Will update the blog in the coming days to catch you up on our adventures thus far.

Hope your enjoying following our adventure, it certainly has been an interesting one for us!

Video: Crash on Route 1E

A short video of Chris's crash on Route 1E. No injuries, just a poor battered yet working bike. Safety Gear is awesome!

Bike Repairs in Savannakhet and heading south to Pakse (Chris) and the Boolaven Plateau (David) - New Post

Only took about 45 mins to source the bolts, fit them and secure the Givi Rack and it was time to check out and head south. Chris decided he didn't want to head to the Boolaven Plateau instead heading straight to Pakse for an additional night. David continued onto the Plateau for an overnight stop at the Tad Lo lodge, or so was the plan.

Chris arrived in Pakse after 4hrs of the trunk road Route 13 to the Champasak Palace Hotel. A free upgrade and Chris was staying in the Royal Suite on the top floor of the hotel. The room and bathroom were about a third the size of our house back home. Pure bliss!

Meanwhile, David had arrived at the map location for the Tad Lo Lodge on the Boolaven plateau to find.... Nothing. It appears the google map link as well as the agoda map link were completely wrong. Unable to located any guesthouses David attempted to negotiate a Laos Homestay for the night as by this time is was dark. With the help of Vongsamay speaking to the locals in Laos over the phone, they seemed to arrange a stay for the evening. After Vongsamay has ended the call, one of the locals got on the phone to another english speaking Laos person in a nearby town who after asking for 200USD to stay in a Laos person's home for the night, which was obviously refused, threatened to call the police to have David arrested if he did not leave immediately.

On that note, David left the village and began a slow and very rough ride to Pakse to meet up with Chris at the Palace (Literally).

David arrived in Pakse at the hotel at approx 2200, just enough time for Chris to run out and get some takeaway as was very hungry and quite tired after 11 hours of pretty much solid riding. A spa bath and some spaghetti followed by an ice cream sundae and David was out to the world.

Chris stayed awake to edit and post the video of the crash a few days prior which was the first time we had seen the footage from the incident. Very lucky we were all geared up and didn't get injured or hurt the poor bikes too much.

Tomorrow we have a huge 2km ride across town to check into the Champassak Grand Hotel right by the Mekong river, our originally booked stop for 2 nights in Pakse.

Farewell to Sainamhai, Hello Savannakhet - New Post

The book party a complete success, mostly due to all the effort put in by the Malibayphit family in preparation for the event.

We had a relaxing afternoon our last day at Ban Namsanam, had a quick dip in the Nam Hai River to cool off before packing up and getting ready for an amazing feast prepared by Nana and Thippaphone. A few Johnny Walker Black and Soda and we were all very merry and was a perfect end to our visit.

The next morning we awoke early to get the bikes all setup and ready to go, we bid Vongsamay, Thippaphone and Nana farewell and off we headed toward Savannakhet via Route 1C, the inland road south to avoid the boring Route 13.

As it turned out, it certainly wasnt a boring ride with Chris ending up coming off a corner into a ditch at about 60kph half way down the route. Thanks to safety gear and our awesome Honda CRF 250L bikes, no injuries or major damage and we were on our way again in no time at all.

Shortly after the crash, a new friend we had met in Phonsavan was riding past and stopped to say hello. He was riding south to do some trails south of our turn off towards Thakhek. He joined us for a short ride and after a quick lunch stop for some Noodle Soup, we said our farewells and we headed down the trunk road into Thakhek.

Smooth sailing the rest of the way to Thakhek and then south on Route 13 to Savannakhet. We arrived in Savannakhet at our hotel for the night.

After settling in we headed to Lin's Cafe for dinner where we both had one of the best Burgers we have ever tasted. Lin's is Number 1 on Trip advisor in Savannakhet and it's not hard to see why.

We retired for the evening knowing we had to head out into town in the morning to get some new bolts for Chris's bark busters as well as refit the Givi Top Box plate which had come loose in the crash.

Ban Oh Book Party

Well here it is, the planning and preparation over the last months and all the fundraising activities have led to making today possible.

Firstly and again, thank you to everyone who supported our cause whether through donations, sharing, helping to organize logistics and contacts etc.

Special mentions:
The Malibayphit family (Vongsamay, Thippaphone, Luna. Nana and Angela) of the Sainamhai Resort for all your help and support over the years, without you this certainly wouldn't be possible! Not only did you help to find the schools to visit each year via the Education Departments in the Provinces, but you also donated gifts, books, food and drinks to help make these day so magical for all involved.

Martin Momoda, creator of momobooks, an inspiration project to create language learning resources for many countries. You passion and dedication to bringing knowledge to the people of these countries is truly inspiring. The world needs more people like you!

Steve C Canyon (aka Little Chris) of Motorcycle Tours Laos for coming to Laos so many years ago and planting the seed, the idea of Riding Laos for Good Causes. Your support and guidance over the years has been invaluable and we are so happy to call you our friend. GET UP AND RIDE!

Amarin (aka Mr Moto) for looking after our bikes each year and keeping them safe and sound awaiting our annual bash where we often bring them back broken and battered :) You the man!

Jamie and EDF Laos (Educational Development Fund) for helping us to get the books for the party, you made it so easy for us and it was fantastic meeting you. We applaud the works you are doing here and are so excited for the future of the Laos people with the vital help provided by your orginisation.

Hasse (Friend of Steve C Canyon) and your neighbor for helping us to purchase and register the bikes initially to get us on our way. You're a good man and we look forward to catching up again one day!

Reed Resnikoff (from Asian Motorcycle Adventures in Chiang Mai Thailand) for sharing your wisdom and knowledge of the Thai landscape and culture. You planted the seed for us so many years ago and gave us the "Riding Bug" as well as letting us take your KLX 250's solo cross border for the month so many years ago. We wish you all the best in your retirement and a long and happy life.

Mariella (Back home looking after our special little boy Mason) for looking after everything at home as well as keeping in touch and letting us share our travels with Mason. We love you heaps and look forward to getting home to see you both again.

Last but certainly not least, The friends we have met along the way (You know who you are :D) and the people of Laos and Thailand for always being so warm and welcoming, you are a big part of why we love to keep coming back to this beautiful region.

OK, now the good stuff!

We started the morning loading the van at the Sainamhai resort after Vongsamay had picked up some officials from the Education department and some lovely villagers from the Namsanam village to help organise and make the day so special. Thippahone (Vongsamay's Wife) had prepared Fried Rice, Steamed Chicken and Sticky Rice for the villagers and children to keep everyone fed and happy.

Some Lao Lao for the celebrations :)

2015 Book Party Group :)

Off we went for the 30 km drive to the Ban Oh village just north of the Kong Lor Caves. The minivan was loaded to the brim and proved a challenging yet amusing drive to the village.

Mr Vongsamay at the helm :)

When we arrived at the village school, we were greated by the Headmaster, Teachers and head of the Village with a very warm welcome and many Kop Jai Lai Lai's (Thank you's).

Chris talking to the school teachers, headmaster and education department with Vongsamay translating

The Headmaster giving a speech thanking us all for our efforts

The head of the village giving thanks

The lady from the education department giving thanks

Presenting books for the Education Department

Presenting the books to the school for the teachers

Below are some of the photos from the party, so many happy children with some new tools to help and inspire them on the journey of learning and development.

After presenting the books we said farewell to the children digging into their lunch in the classrooms before heading to the Village to have lunch and a baci ceremony at the head villagers house.

The kids enjoying their lunch :)

Pre Baci ceremony drinks and food

The lovely girls who helped bring this all together

Boys out the back cooking a Laap Dish (Minced meat with chilli and greens)

Baci Ceremony

Ok getting really drunk now :P

An amazing day with some amazing people, can't contain the excitement from such a wonderful experience. I wish you could have all been here with us, words cannot truly describe.

The old village school building

New village school building

Lots of smiled on they way back to the resort, what a day!

We will be editing the video footage from the Book Party and proceeding baci ceremony in the village and posting this in the coming days, so many smiles and great memories!

Tomorrow Vongsamay is taking us for a special tour of the local Hydro Electric Power Plant and dam which we are really excited about. Whilst we have been to Hoover Dam in Arizona/Nevada, this is a much more sophisticated setup and has some equally impressive views. So excited! Time for some more Beer Lao and Lao Lao