t Mae Jam we met with representative from the Rak Thai foundation who was to take us deep into the mountains - heading north for Ban Mae La Op. The distant was only 150 km but the journey was to take 6 hr. Right away I new the big bikes (back on Honda’s Blackbird & Hornet) would not make it through the mountainous mud tracks and op to leave the bikes in Mae Jam, riding in a car with the crew instead. However, our Rak Thai rep mentioned that they had a few small Honda XL150 (they were donated by Japanese NGOs many years ago) and we were welcome to use them. Hui and I jumped at the chance right away, a bike over a car any day.
We left Mae Jam around 4:00 pm and I was in a hurry, not wanting to ride in the dark. However, these 150s would not go faster than 70 km/hr. More so, the gearing, breaking and clutch did not work properly. While Hui’s bike had no power, mine kept on stalling. The two things I hate most is riding dark in the rain and we were doing both- on steep mountain roads. Making matter worst we could barely see what was ahead of us with the dim lights on the XL150. Somehow I manage to stay on the bike and did not fall off once, after the Pink Route I did not want to embarrass myself again. We left Mae Sot that morning at 6:00 am and arrived in Mae La Op at 10:00 pm. 16 hours in total, the most I had ever ridden straight in one day. Tired as hell, I got to the homestay, had dinner, took a shower and went straight to bed.
Ban Mae La Op is a small Karen village with roughly 300 villagers. Rak Thai project here is to help educate the villagers on the latest farming and agricultural techniques. We were to hike 2 km into the jungles to help build a small dam that would allow the villagers to better control the flow of water into the rice and corn field. Rak Thai/CARE goal is not to just donate money but to educate the villagers to be self contain. The Karen village leader honored me by letting me name the dam. I named it “Sukie Monkey Dam.”
That night it rained hard and the following day we had to take the long way round back to Mae Jam to pick up our bikes. The next day we drove to Chiang Khong and crossed border into Northern Laos. The drive from the Thai border to Luang Nam Tha was on an excellent paved road, which I later learned was built by the Thai and Chinese government. The road was to be a main trading route transporting goods between China, Laos and Thailand. There was not much in Luang Nam Tha and we were there just to spend the night. The next day we continued our journey east. The road from Luang Nam Tha to Udomxai (where we stop for lunch) was terrible; however, from Udomxai to Muang Khua was one of the most beautiful roads I have ever ridden. The road snakes through the mountains along the river and was extremely scenic; I lost count of how many times I stopped to take picture. I also learned on this leg of the journey how much fun you can have on a small 250 bike. I’m used to riding big 1000 cc bikes and have to admit in the pass was a bit prejudice towards smaller bikes: however, the XR250 changed my attitude completely. With the 250 cc you are constantly pushing the bike to its limits; something you would never be able to do on a 1000 cc unless you’re Valentino Rossi.
Muang Khua is a small border town that sits on the bank of the river. There is something charming about the place which I can’t quite put my finger on; a combination of the architect and life along the river. There was a big temple fair that night and it seemed the entire town was there; the electricity normally goes out at 10 pm but for that night the town brought in a special generator for the party: Beer Lao was flowing everywhere.
The following morning we started of early for the Vietnamese boarder. Again it was a scenic route with many river crossing and once in the mountains we were literally driving through the morning mist. At the Laos/Vietnam border we had to walk the bike across the boarder. I asked the guards why and he said it was to prevent criminals and drugs smugglers from quickly driving through the checkpoint.
So, here’s a few things I’ve learned about driving through Northern Laos: a) chickens will run towards you and then turn away at the last minute, b) pigs will walk straight into you and its up to you to get out of there way, c) dogs would look confuse for a minute and then quickly run off, d) cows would just stand there and do nothing e) best of all, children’s are always on the road and never fail to wave at you- every time it puts a smile on my face.
The Tay Trang International border crossing has just resently opened and I was told we’re the first Thai ever to use this crossing. Right away you can feel we were in a different country. The language was different, the signs were different, everything here moved to a different beat from Laos. It was to be the beginning of our journey into Northern Vietnam. 
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