Last days of southern Laos
I believe this is where I left of the blog last time and much time has flowed since. So many experiences over washed the memories so I had to grab my diary to check in what juices I was simmering back then… It has been a very long time since I made updates, but step by step we will get to the present stuff without having to dig up the past.
So it seems ever since leaving the capital of Laos, Vientiane, I was up for some monster off-road madness again. The bike had been yet again upgraded, new chain, new back suspension, new steering wheel, brake pads, generator and battery plus some more. You can imagine that I could not await to unleash the beast on the gravel and get some dust on my face. I left Vientiane the night of New Years 2010, I had not the least intention to celebrate it in a city. I rather drove almost all day long to one of the longest (forgot whether worlds, Asia`s or Laos`s) cave/tunnel of Kong Lor. Spanning some 7.5km inside a mountain with a river flowing through it. That same night was mad crazy, I joined a drinking game of the locals and we sucked the home made beer from kegs till year 2011 came.
And the year started with a hangover… and finally the visit to the cave. Day after I was back on my bike, surrounded by dusty, African type landscapes, gravel under me with ever expanding horizons. The more south I went the more hot it got and the more sunscreen I had to spray on my Baltic skin. There were roads that were impossible to drive, rivers that had to be crossed and getting wet and dirty was part of the game. It was taking a toll on me, I often felt tired and it was hard to keep concentration and focus on the road and the potholes. Bed bugs had festered on my skin in one of the places I stayed. Remembering it all now it seems like a marathon. But one that I chose with free will. There were normal paved roads to get from A to B. Often, however, i chose the back country roads, getting away from civilization, small villages only and dust in the eyes, the helmet, the mouth and no more turning back. Forward ever.
On one of these little roads I reached a massive river only to found that its bridge had been completely blown apart by the Americans in the 70`s. (Check the secret war in Laos) so needed to load up the 150kg bike into a little boat, which rocked like mad in the currents to reach the other side. Luckily we didn’t drown.
Another time I got stuck in a very muddy place away from any village in sight. And no matter how hard I tried there was no way to get the bike out of the mud, up a slippery slope, standing in 15cm of muddy almost dried out river. Luckily some hunter came out from nowhere, swinging a gun on his shoulder and somehow with his help we managed to drag it out the mud. Big thanks to him, hope he caught much game after.
Once, with no energy left even to pitch a tent and no drinkable water around I kind invited myself into someones house for rest. Arriving to a small small village middle of nowhere, everyone came to check me out, leaving me feeling like monkey in a zoo (so often!). But after some laughter exchanged I would start my cave hand sign language to show that I am tired and need roof to sleep. Soon the kindest of all would grab me by the elbow and lead me to his hut. The morning after I would leave some money and continue chasing dust.
There was this one time as well when the road got damn narrow with bamboo growing left and right. After a quick turn on sandy path I found a bamboo leaning over the road and drove straight into it, hitting it hard with the helmet, loosing control, flying of the bike, landing face down into sand, checking now broken bones or misplaced shoulders to run quickly back to kill the engine and put the bike back into vertical position before all of the already low petrol runs out. Petrol, being away from major road is worth gold.
Driving one of these roads my bag, which was attached behind me on the seat like a second passenger, opened itself. While trying to check for a map I noticed the zip open, going through the bag i realized minor stuff to be missing, but most importantly the Pentax analog camera that produced so many wonderful pictures…. There was no chance of driving back as in 90km i did no stop and the camera could be anywhere on that bumpy road, most probably broken anyway due to the fall…. Tired after all the driving I could not even get the energy to get angry. Kicked the bike and swore loud once, squeezed my head back into the helmet and decided to visit a hospital next by. I needed to know what was happening to me and my skin. At the hospital they only laughed. Nobody spoke English and the nurses cared more about their nails than patience. Kid of frustrating moments, especially with scent of death hanging in the air of the patients left to the hands of faith. I got a little mad, mostly talking Lithuanian and soon they prescribed me something to fix my problems. I had medicine but no diagnosis of what I actually had. Damn. Back on the bike I turned the accelerator to the limit.
Realizing there were only few days left on the visa for Laos I took the decision to push it further the very same day and go to the 4000 islands, one of the last places on the southenr tip of the country before entering Cambodia. Once there, I got myself a little quiet room, washed of the dust and after eating some dinner that took almost 2 hours for the local “mama” to cook, enjoying the company of Jungle Brothers (will be explained later) found myself pretty soon walking back to the silence of the night, in the palm squeezing a little of sticky green. A night filled with reminisces of the days passed followed, and any time closing the eyes I would see the orange dusty dirt road, feel my palms squeezing the steering wheel and the feet resting on the brakes. With actual blisters on my palms I realized that another chapter in the trip, another story, another memory has been made. The struggle was worth it and priceless experiences would stay forever under my skin. Impossible is nothing if you got perseverance and a real adventure never comes out from something easy.
I had to pay the price though, to learn, that at the moments of extreme physical performance the brain might go into low activity mode, constantly staring at the road you would fall into a kind of trance. I have to admit, that after much pondering and weighing of facts, I am not sure anymore if the bad luck with the open bag and the camera happened on its own, or whether I was so tuned out in the morning that I forgot to close it properly in the first place.
Chilling outside the bike shop. Vientiane, Laos. December 30, 2010 yo!
The road awaiting the adventurous:…
The condition of this one compared to so many is great.
