{"id":2368,"date":"2010-12-06T00:59:24","date_gmt":"2010-12-06T05:59:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/transworldexpedition.com\/?p=2368"},"modified":"2010-12-09T06:34:51","modified_gmt":"2010-12-09T11:34:51","slug":"the-last-dirt-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/transworldexpedition.com\/?p=2368","title":{"rendered":"The last dirt road"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>
The last dirt road of my trip brings me to amazing places.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now that Kathryn s gone, it is time for me to go explore another Asian country I am looking forward to. Laos is still underdeveloped and the north part of the country should be the last great adventure of the trip.<\/p>\n

\"Temple<\/a>
Temple in Chiang Rai.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From Chiang Mai I drive to Chiang Rai where I spend the night. Before I left, I made sure to buy enough food for one week, as it will be more difficult to get edible goods in Laos. With only two millions tourists a year, people are a lot less used to westerners roaming around, and the infrastructure is not here yet. And this is great, because Thailand was decidedly too touristy and the experience with locals tainted as a result. On my way I stop in an abandoned gas station where I do some work on the car. I was finally able to find the right type of oil for the transmission, and I change the fluids on the front and rear differential as well as in the transfer case.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Mekong River. From the place I spend the night, I can hear music coming from Laos on the other side.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From Chiang Rai, it is only two hours of driving to get to Chiang Khong where I hope to get a boat to cross the Mekong and get into Laos. I arrive there at lunch time in December 2nd and learn that it is the National Day on the other side; therefore the ferry boat is not working. I am still glad to learn that if I wish, I can charter my own boat for US$170 instead of the usual cost of US$33 for passage on a regular day. Of course I choose to wait, but enjoy the fact that such things are still possible in Asia at the opposite of the western world.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The ferry to cross the Mekong in the early morning.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The following morning I am at 8 a.m. at the boat landing. Paperwork is easy on the Thai side, and I meet a fellow overlander, Philip<\/a>, a Swiss guy who is driving is bike from Singapore around Southeast Asia. We board the ferry and ten minutes later we are on the other side.<\/p>\n

\"Crossing<\/a>
Crossing the Mekong River.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is time to go through immigration, and get the Laos visa. By now, I am using an old passport with no free page available in it. I know I may not be able to get by like that, but I try my luck. It takes few minutes to convince the officer to just place the sticker on top of a page already covered with stamps. I pay the US$30 for the visa, and I am on my way. Philip, as me, is trying to get to Phongsali, in the extreme north of Laos, close to the border with China. We decide to stick together in the next few days so we can share some expenses.<\/p>\n

\"Warm<\/a>
Warm welcoming on the road of Laos.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We spend the first night in Luang Namtha after a stop on the way to get lunch. Laos is dirt cheap and you can eat anywhere for US$2 including beer. In the evening I cook, more to get a balanced diet than to save money. From now on, we will never be under 500 meters altitude and we are presently at similar latitude with Mexico City. That means nights are getting quite cold, and when the sun disappear, one need to wear a jacket, an experience I forgot about.<\/p>\n

\"People<\/a>
People at work in rice fields.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As soon as I passed the border, I found the landscape a lot more interesting than in Thailand. I am driving among mountains and forests on small and sinuous roads. On the roadside, I can spot people working in the fields, a vision reminiscent of Cambodia.<\/p>\n

\"Planting<\/a>
Planting rice on the road from Oudom Xai to Phongsali.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"In<\/a>
In Boun Tai as everywhere else, life depends of the water. Here we can see women bathing and washing clothes. On the artisanal dam, you can spot small power generators delivering electricity to the town.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the morning we leave Luang Namtha for the first day of intricate driving. In the next two days, we will have to put behind 125 miles (200 km) of dirt roads. For me, this final unpaved portion has a special signification. I didn\u2019t drive such road in a while, but more important, it will probably be the last one of my trip. Soon enough, I feel I am in Africa again, the truck filling with dust as I advance in the mountain, gaining altitude toward unreachable Phongsali among the tea plantations, 1,500 meters high in the mountains. We stop to rest for the night in Boun Tai, a small town where people still live in a traditional way. As in Cambodia, people seem to subsist well, despite the poverty shown in statistics. In the morning, after 30 minutes driving I have another puncture, rapidly taking care of. My two front tires are not in top shape after riding them through 30,000 miles, mostly on dreadful tracks.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The dirt road follows the river, and from there it is possible to spot fishermen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The road reminds me of Africa, but the landscape and villages we cross are closer to the ones in the Andes. There are coffee plants and tea plantations everywhere. With only one bus going up to Phongsali daily, there\u2019s almost no traffic on the way up.<\/p>\n

\"Typical<\/a>
Typical village nested in the hills.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Bringing<\/a>
Bringing back some wood.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

People are very nice and wave hands when I go through the villages. I can see that they are not too used to much travelers getting by. Kids are very excited and run after the car. People dry crops in the sun along the road and I see wheat, coffee and spices. All houses are made of wood; teak but more often bamboo.
\nIt looks like there are fewer schools in Laos than in Cambodia, but it is difficult to say as I am in a remote area.
\nLaos was very isolated during its 30 years under communism regime, and it is now slowly changing.<\/p>\n

\"R_KIDS<\/a>
Kids are everywhere. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This dirt road preserving Phongsali from too much activity is scheduled to be paved in the next two years, and then everything will be different.<\/p>\n

\"Watching<\/a>
Watching the foreigner going by.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

People are very beautiful in this country. Always smiling to you, and not automatically seeing you as a source of income.
\nSoon enough we come to the end of the dirt road. Before arriving to our goal, there\u2019s still a segment of 20 miles (35 km) of paved surface.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The end of the dirt road. Philip is leading the way.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is easy now to continue. The constant change between rocks dirt, sand and mud is very energy consuming, and you need to be alert all the time. Now I can relax and enjoy the ride through the mountain.<\/p>\n

\"Taking<\/a>
Taking a break on the road close to Phongsali.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And finally I arrive in the 25,000 population town. On the way up we were as close as 15 miles with the Chinese border. The weather is cool up there, and I enjoy stopping in the dormant town for a while. In addition it is Sunday, and the town seems asleep. We decide to stay two nights up there before backtracking all the way down south.<\/p>\n

\"In<\/a>
In the forest on the way up.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now that Kathryn s gone, it is time for me to go explore another Asian country I am looking forward to. Laos is still underdeveloped and the north part of the country should be the last great adventure of the trip. From Chiang Mai I drive to Chiang Rai where I spend the night. Before … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The last dirt road”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[250,229],"tags":[252,251,255,339,253,257,256,254,337],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/transworldexpedition.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2368"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/transworldexpedition.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/transworldexpedition.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transworldexpedition.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transworldexpedition.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2368"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/transworldexpedition.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2368\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2391,"href":"https:\/\/transworldexpedition.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2368\/revisions\/2391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/transworldexpedition.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transworldexpedition.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transworldexpedition.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}