The Loop: Day 1 – From Tha Khek to Thalang

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20 October 2010

The bike we hired from Mr. Ku was a black 100cc Kalao, a Taiwanese make motor scooter.

“Not Chinese, Taiwanese!” Mr Ku said proudly, “Many Chinese bike say 125cc but only 70cc. This good bike!” He thumped the saddle with enthusiasm.

Judging from the nicks and patches on the body it looks like it had been around the block a time or two.  27680 kilometers on the odometer. Around the block many, many times. Checking the treads the tires appeared to be fairly new. Mr. Ku confirmed that they were and that the engine had recently been replaced. The gas gauge didn't work but he said we should have a range of over a 100 kilometers on a tank of gas. Noticed the bike was a manual. Hadn't driven one of those before. Hopefully, we could make it out of Mr. Ku's sight without embarrassing myself too much.

That endeavor failed right off after many failed attempts to kick start the engine. Mr. Ku came in with the assist and we were rewarded with a throaty growl from the motor. He assured me I would soon get the hang of it and wished us luck. We donned our helmets, secured our bags and proceeded to lurch down the gravel driveway to the road.

In Laos, we're back on the right side of the road. I wanted to test out the bike before getting to far and we had a few errands to run in town. ATMs still don't like my bank card so we spent a lengthy time at the bank withdrawing another stack of $6 bills. After searched in vain for the post office we picked up snacks and by mid morning I had gotten a fairly good grasp of shifting gears.

With a full tank of gas (that would be 3 liters or ¾ of a gallon) we hit the road east. The day was bright and sunny and the way was straight and smooth. Leaving Tha Khek we soon found ourselves in bizarre landscape of wide open low lands broken by sheer, jagged peaks jutting out of the earth.

Our first stop was a natural cave converted into a Buddhist place of worship. In the back of the cave were several Buddha statues that in the gloom looked pretty creepy. Jean and I also managed to get some quality Facebook profile shots. We left the cave and found that the bike wouldn't start. Jean noticed a wire hanging down near the front wheel. I reattached the spark plug wire and it started right up.


Example of a good couple Facebook profile picture
I turned the bike off at a sign for “Falang waterfall 2 kilometers ->;”. The dirt road soon got  very sloppy so we parked the bike and walked. We walked well over the 2 kilometers and didn't find any waterfall. “Falang” being the Lao word for “foreigner” I wondered if it was some kind of joke.

We were hot and sweaty and it was nearing one o'clock, Mr Ku's suggested take off time to reach Thalang before dark, we hiked back to the bike and motored on.

Stopped at a roadside shop with some plastic tables out front for lunch. Using the Lao phrase cheat sheet on the back of our map and some pointing and nodding we managed to get some fried veg and noodles.

After crossing a bridge over the out flow from a dam and hydro electric plant the road began to climb sharply. It was one switchback after another for half an hour. Our little motorbike was none too happy. The road had also downgraded from smooth tarmac to a dirt/gravel mixture with interspersed concrete on the inclined sections.

We reached the top and rode on the mountain ridge. It's amazing how the air gets cool and crisp after a little elevation gain. The concrete disappeared and the road got rougher and more chuck holed the farther we ventured. Looks like we'll be eating lots of dirt.

Jean and I rolled into Thalang in the late afternoon. It's a small village hemmed in by tree filled lakes on two sides. The houses all seem to be wooden and of similar construction built on stilts. We found the one guesthouse at the edge of town, secured a room, toured the town, and returned to the guesthouse for dinner and a few hands of rummy before settling down for an early night.

For more pictures from day 1 click here.

Comments

sly said…
I kept thinking, while looking at your pictures, how far away you are from AAA! Maybe someday you can get a real touring bike--like a Gold Wing--with some power and room for two! What flavor is your brown toothpaste?
6 December 2010 at 08:04
Unknown said…
Interesting to hear Jean has a new talent = fixing motorbikes! Hope she is not required to use it too often.
6 December 2010 at 11:28
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