I have really been lazy and just enjoying the slow pace of Laos the moment I entered at Huay Xai. I was already lazy updating the journal but became even more so in Laos. “face-palm” ... so now I have to update so many places at once base on memory ... not that good but I guess it will have to do.
The road from Huay Xai to Luang Namtha was perfect, just perfect. Good tarmac roads, no vehicle in sight for hours, and endless open nature everywhere. If this was how Laos was going to be I would be thrilled to just ride around relaxing the whole time.
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| Pit Stop on the way from Huay Xai to Luang Namtha |
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| Road to Luang Namtha from Huay Xai |
There is something about Laos that I still cant explain after travelling through, there is nothing exciting, nothing spectacular, and thinking back, nothing that sticks out in mind but somehow the impression was, it is a country that was worth every minute visiting despite the least memory of it.
Luang Namtha was a large city according to google, but it looked more like a one way street village to me. Then again after travelling longer in Laos, I grew to understand the meaning of relative. If a village sells hardware construction materials and paints in a can ... yep that's a city alright in Laos.
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| Luang Namtha City |
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| Luang Namtha Night Market |
Daytrip to Muang Sing
I took a day-trip though the mountainous road of crazy dirt road nearly 60 km away to visit the local border of Panghai and the small town Muang Sing on the way there.
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| Gravel Road through mountainous terrain to Muang Sing |
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| Road from Luang Namtha to Muang Sing |
Doing the day trip I could not help but get nervous with every kilometer I traveled with the dirt road behind me. I had to go back the same way and lingering at the back of my head was whether the roads in Laos was going to be like this all the time. Worst yet I already had an inkling that to get from one stop to another in Loas there will always be a mountain climb and decent. It was that kind of country. Very mountainous terrain.
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| Road through the green forest & river to Muang Sing |
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| Villages along the road to Muang Sing |
The feel is very different from Cambodia where everything is very flat but lousy roads from poor construction technique but here in the beginning from Huay Xai to Luang Namtha, I felt that Laos roads were workable even with the constant climbing of mountains through never ending winding climb and eventually followed by never ending winding decent before reaching the next destination.
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| Muang Sing, a Crater Bowl like town surrounded by mountains. |
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| Muang Sing |
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| Agricultural in Muang Sing |
At the end of the destination would be a small town or city in comparison to the Asian counterpart and always the town would be surrounded by mountains all around. A flat place among all the monsters around. That was the real reason I felt that riding in Laos was about going over a mountain or two always.
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| Stopping at a local house in Muang Sing for Lunch |
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| The Kitchen |
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| Pork Noodle with Spare Parts |
The Panghai border was not very friendly and almost no English was spoken. I went to the very edge, took a photo and then made a turn and headed back. Such is the pace of most of my little adventures in Laos
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| Pang Hai Border - Laos - China Border |
Traveled on: Jan 2019
#panghaiborder
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