Back to Lao for another tour part 2

Well woke up in the morning And I was feeling a bit better and decided we would push on up to Luang Phrabang. We packed all the bags onto the bike for the winding road up the mountains, a road that I really enjoyed riding last time we here,lots of switcbacks up and down an endless mountain range,has long as I kept the fluids up I would ok,right? Well we both got in the groove with the bike and we chewed up the miles,I was feeling tired but the vistas kept my mind off things in the rear plumbing department!!

We got to place that had a rest stop cafe that was made by pushing the top of the hill with a bulldozer,we had a cold coke and a chocolate bar overlooking a fantastic view down the mountains,we went back to the bike and I glanced across to the loos and then by magic there was a little grumbling in my stomach,that was enough I was no longer in control with my bum,I had to go ,well I only just made it!! Well I was nervous now with the rest of the journey.

We made it to Muang Phu Khun and stopped and had a tastiest pineapple ever,it's a y junction town with the other road going to Phonsavan where the plain of jars are.The town is a real hub with every traveller stopping for refreshments,there is also a local market where they sale some strange little animals??

We saddled up and pushed on to Luang Phrabang,up here is bandit country but now the Lao army has posts up here they are very quite,but we did see a bandit standing on a hillside looking down at the road below with what looked like a machine gun!!

Further on in the day the bike started to play up,missing occasionally and back firing,until going up one hill it stopped completely and wouldn't start again,I whipped of the back pack that was strapped to the tank and discovered we were low on fuel f@&k!,we were in the middle of nowhere on a mountain road,miles and miles from the nearest hut,let alone a town with fuels,I had a idea that if I lied the bike down on it's side so all the fuel would go over to the side of the tank where the fuel tap was because it was lower,we stood up the bike and it started,we strapped the bag back on to tank and got the he'll out of there with our finger crossed ,we coasted down hills with the engine to save fuel and then a hour later it started again but that last hour I was pondering on the bike what the problem could be.I came up with the conclusion that with the backpack srappted on the tank it was blocking the air vent on the filler cap and therefore was creating a vacuum,so basically starving the car by of fuel!,I took the bag off and it cured the problem,we cruised into Luang Phrabang with a sigh of relief!

Pottsville sept 2010

We all had a great time shareing a house,going for walks on beach,fishing, kite flying and relaxing together as a family

Oliver

Our daughter made us proud grandparents with the birth of Oliver,born 4.30a.m September 3rd 2010 7lbs 6 oz

Back to Lao for another tour

We left the gold coast 9.05am on the 17th February 2010 bound for a over night stop in Kuala Lumpar at the new Tune hotel ,which is just outside the airport within walking distance,this would be are first trip to Lao and Vietnam on our own without are good friends Deb 'n' Al'. The Tune hotel room was very small and basic,but it will do as it is only a overnight stop before the real adventure starts,you could only walk around the bed sideways without touching the walls!,are evening meal was a 2 min noodle from the 7/11 in the foyer of the hotel,yum!

We boarded the flight in the morning for Vientiane Lao arriving 9.40am,we hadn't booked a hotel so had to get the taxi to take us around a few until we found one good enough and cheap enough! It was in a good spot close to the Mekong river,It turned out are hotel window was opposite a karaoke bar!,thank god it didn't go on to late in the night! We had a meal at a local place,where it is a sort of do it yourself spicy salad wrap things! all served by friendly smiling kids.

The next day we had to go and hire a bike to take us north to Luang Phrabang,we used Jules again,and despite a mix up on reservation we got a Suzuki 200cc Van Van bike again,we had it for a week and hired for just one way. We spent the rest of the day exploring Vietianne and rode out to the Budda park on the outskirts of town,it was an amazing place,full of statues made out of concrete!,we were quite surprised how good and peaceful it was there with lots of colorful dragonflies we took countless photos.

The next morning we loaded up the bike for the ride to Vang Veing,

this time we would try and find the back road that we missed last time that takes the scenic way out around a picturesque dam,it was an awesome place to have lunch that we brought with us,fresh french loaf,cheese, tomatoes and onion. It was very undeveloped and only used by the locals for there holidays,it was like the tourists haven't discovered this place yet.It was hot and we made good time to get to Vieng Vang the scenery was spectacular. We rode around just out of town away from the backpack rat race to a quite little hut on stilts with a little balcony,it was only when we were unpacking we noticed little pile of sawdust everywhere,the place was infested with termites!but it was cheap! I had pizza for tea and i picked up a dose of food poisoning! The next day i had the shites and we decided to move in to a better room.We went for a walk to some local caves and got conned into having a kid for a guide who did a whistle stop show of the cave and has soon has we finished he put is hand out for a tip,it was hilarious the way he did it.

The next day i got worse and couldn't move to far from a safety of a toilet,despite popping Imodium ,we were booked on a sunset cruise on the river and i had to pull out at the last minute,that night i shook it off with a sweaty fever or i thought i did,because the next day we had the winding road up in the mountains to Luang Phrabang

My son Simon and Kayla's wedding

My son finally got married today 27/8/10  up on MT Tamborine,a great day,and I was really proud.

and his beautiful wife Kayla