The ride from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang, and the surrounding area, might have me convinced that Laos is one of the most beautiful places I’ve been. 
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03/01/2014 – 240 days/21308 miles
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Category Archives: Motorcycle Travel
02/23/2014 – 234 days/20922 miles
Vang Vieng is an interesting place. The landscape is absolutely beautiful, and there are endless possibilities for what one could do while visiting.
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02/18/2014 – 229 days/20637 miles
Crossing into Laos was fairly simple, other than the fact I had to wait in line in the heat for a couple hours to get my visa.
I immediately noticed a fairly different feel to the traffic and roads. The roads were decent quality, but definitely not what you get in Thailand. And the traffic was a bit more unruly…it reminded me a little bit of India, though still not to that extreme. Cars swerved between lanes quite a lot, and it wasn’t uncommon to see someone driving up the wrong side of the road.
On top of all that, I was back on the right hand side of the road for the first time in over two months. I never thought I’d say it, but it really felt weird to have to swap over to driving on the right. Luckily, it came back quick, but I definitely had to think about it for the first little while.
Here’s the view from Thailand, looking over the Mekong to Laos, with the Friendship bridge barely visible in the background.
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02/16/2014 – 227 days/20478 miles
Pai almost had me sucked in for an extra couple days, but Bo and I decided to stick with our plan to stay there for 3 days. We headed back to Chiang Mai, and then split and I continued north to Chiang Rai.
I only stayed in Chiang Rai for one night and the main thing I wanted to see was Wat Rong Khun, otherwise known as the White Temple. This one is rather new…it was designed in 1997 and parts of it are still under construction.
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02/13/2014 – 224 days/19678 miles
The ride from Mae Hong Son to Pai was probably the best portion of the loop yet.
Yet again…great scenery, on a windy and well paved road.
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02/10/2014 – 221 days/19593 miles
The riding from Mae Sariang up to Mae Hong Son was absolutely incredible…filled with a wonderful variety of turns
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02/09/2014 – 220 days/19492 miles
The Mae Hong Son Loop is about 600km of road through the Mae Hong Son province, the most mountainous in Thailand. Supposedly (and so far, I agree) it has some nice riding and scenery, along with a few great stops to make along the way.
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02/07/2014 – 218 days/19316 days
I spent a few days in Chiang Mai…here’s some pictures…
First off, a flat on my nice new rear tire. The three man gardening crew that was working near me dropped what they were doing to come help. They also thought it was pretty funny how much a Minnesotan sweats when he’s trying to change a tire on a 31degC sunny day.
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02/03/2014 – 214 days/19271 miles
I left Bangkok on the morning of the 2nd…election day. There have been protests and demonstrations throughout the city, but they haven’t posed much of a problem. For someone traveling through the area and wanting to mostly avoid them, the most inconvenience I had was that some roads were closed, making taxi rides a bit longer sometimes.
So my plan was to leave pretty early in the morning, just in case things got a little more rowdy with the election going on. I had plenty of detours to take getting out of Bangkok, but other than that, no issues…
An hour north of Bangkok, I made a stop in Ayutthaya, which back in the day, was the the capital of Siam. This lasted from 1350 to 1767, when the Burmese attacked and took over Ayutthaya, pushing the Thais back to Bangkok. The ruins of the old city and some temples are still present and preserved, so since I was already passing through, I decided to take a short break and look around.
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02/01/2014 – 212 days/18770 miles
Thailand is one of the 3 countries (US and Canada don’t count) on this trip that I’m seeing for the second time, and its the last of the three.
I arrived in Bangkok, from Kathmandu, and immediately felt different about the city than I did on my first visit. At first, it felt crowded, busy, loud, and dirty…to be honest, I didn’t really like it, and didn’t have any desire to come back. Arriving this time, with a different perspective, it feels much more calm and comfortable.
a pat on a motorcycle 