Thursday, August 12, 2010

Day 46 Thu 12/08 - Vieng Phoukha to Luang Namtha

Today Distance : 67.6 km      Total : 2719.9 km
Today Weather : 25 - 30C     Fine cooling whole day
Time on Bike : 4 hr  09 min
Ave Speed : 16.2 kmh       Max : 56.0 kmh
Ave Climb : 4%                 Max : 18%
Trip Altitude : 604 m          Max : 819 m
Today Spend :

This is my 2nd trip to Luang Namtha,the provincial capital of Luang Namtha. The last trip 2 years ago was backpacking with my ABM trekker Yong. Nothing much has changed since then,I still remember very well the street,the few guest houses and restaurants , except that this time I ride up a steep gravel road to a famous Misay temple up on top of a hill, with a good look over the whole town. This temple resembles like a Tibetan temple I saw in Kamanthu,Nepal. Today,s good weather makes riding so much enjoyable with morning mountain coolness,rolling freely on small hills , except for only one giant hill. Started at 8.10am and completed at 12.30pm. Met a few South Koreans youngster sent here by their Government on voluntary projects in nursing and IT, we had lunch together but foot our own bill. Love the Darasavath guest house, big clean bed with attached bathroom cost 40000k. Plan to stay 2 nights here before I continue my ride south east to Oudomxay, 120km away hopefully in 2 days!
Nice road with lots of greens
Negotiating a sharp bend

One tree hill

Energy refiling stop

Lao worker working on the power cables

Luang Namtha main street

South Koreans on voluntary projects




Lao traditional musical instrument

Ride up to the Misay temple

Bird eye view of Luang Namtha

Misay temple in uang Namtha


Night market

Nice wooden chalet style room with clean bed

Home cooked dinner with half bbq duck and a bottle of Beer Lao

9 comments:

ChrisW said...

Meng I think some people (me included) were quite worried for you along Hwy 3 in the rainy season but as usual you made it in one extra day and had good hospitality with the locals too.

I heard the road to Oudomxai is quite rough too, but at least that town is big. It reminds me of the smaller towns in China, well all the rubber plantations there are owned by Chinese.

Ride hard but rest well !

Thighland Meng said...

Thanks chris,you r such a source of inspiration to me,providing lots of guidance.I think one day we should meet,I don't even know how you look like.

Anonymous said...

Hi Meng,
Since ur staying longer here, we hope to see more pics of lesser ventured trails. Ur spinning of stories first then pics come later adds mystery to the travel.
To Chong5 at least.

ChrisW said...

Glad to be of help Meng. I should actually thank you for the blog and photos, as those of us 'at home' in front of the computers wish we were there. Ha ha.

I am just an orang biasa, but with an addiction to cycling! Can search for me on Crazyguyonabike.com

Brentles said...

Meng! I can't believe it! We missed each other! I was in Vieng Phouka on Wednesday night, I think you were too! Gah!!!

I stayed at the mountain top resort overlooking the town, but rolled in pretty late around 6pm from Luang Namtha. Hope you are getting used to the big hills, there are some punishing 700m climbs coming up, yikes! I have got some profile pictures of the roads on my CGOAB site if you need (or if you dare!).

Damn, hope you are all good, amazing we sailed past each other! I haven't been interneting much due to the lack of availability in Laos... last time was Oudomxai!

Thighland Meng said...

Chong5, I don't quite get your point,pls be more clear

Thighland Meng said...

Brent, so u r heading to Thailand again via chiang kong. Yes what a miss in Vieng Phoukha . make sure we meet in Chengdu,ok?

Anonymous said...

Hi Meng,
I meant leave ur load off the bike & go for trip (like the one with Jew). You start from the guest house you are staying & come back to the same guest house at the end of ur trip.
Chong5

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