Laos road 1D from lak Sao to Phonsavan ( plain of jars area)
 

Hi,

Anyone rode this road lately? I am doing some light planning as we set off very soon. Wondering the state of this road?

Also any info about the loop and roads north of Luang Prabang and south west down from Luang Prabang down the road 4 most welcome.

Off in October and we pick up our rental bikes from Pakse on the 12th for a month. Should be nice. :D

I cannot help you with the road as it's been 10 years since I was last around there. But the area around Phonsavan and the jars sites are great. Enjoy it
I will try and find out about the road

Wayne

I rented a bike at Luang Prabang in May 2023 to Nong Khiaw which is North of LP.
The road is good but nothing really exciting if I may be honest.

I was supposed to pick up my bike rental at Thakhek and ride all the way to Luang Prabang for 3 weeks but the lady owner of the bike rental shop kept discouraging me from riding their bike a KLX150 ouside the Thakhek loop.
Plan was to ride from Thakhek to Kong Lor cave and then Phonsavan to Luang Prabang.
Was pissed as everything had been communicated with her husband via whatsapp and I had clearly told him where I would be riding for 3 weeks.

In the end I rented a Honda Wave from another company and did the Thakhek loop only. Then took bus to Vientiane and then the nice train to LP.

For the record avoid Mad Monkey Rental at Thakhek.

lol yes! We were there last year ( backpacking around SEA and scootering a bit) and their prices were ridiculous.

We looked at shipping our 2 bikes to SEA but decided renting is the best cost effective option. I have booked two bikes (Hondas XR) in Pakse and made clear with them that we are off for a month.
Laos impressed us and is stunning. It deserves more time to explore.
We pick up the bikes in 4 weeks so I was wondering about some roads. I guess we will see once there. As usual, we will «*improvise*» :innocent:

Why Pakse? We wanted Japanese bikes and to end our trip in Don Det.
The 4000 islands area is the most beautiful place to chill out! Just don’t tell anyone :Beach:

I haven't been to the south of Thakhek yet.
Maybe I will in the future but for now I've got other destinations on the bucket list.

I believe when you say XR it is XR250. It's hard to find a 150cc dual sport in Laos.


Mad Monkey's owner is a German I believe and his wife is Lao. She babbled about not taking her bike out of the Thakhek loop and warned me that any issues with the bike, I would be on my own.
I decided that she wasn't interested in my business and walked out. Went to Wang Wang Motor Rental and rented a Honda Wave 115 for 4 days to do the Thakhek loop.

Appreciate if you could share your trip report after your trip and rate the bike rental place at Pakse. If it is positive the next time I head to Laos, I will use them.

Thanks
:scooter:

The rental place has one xr150 and several xr250 indeed. I take the 150 as the 250cc is too tall for me. Especially with a wide seat.
I exchanged emails with Xavier, the French owner, and so far he has been very pleasant to deal with and has been answering all my questions.
He insists on changing the oil every 1000 kms which is a good sign. It means the bikes are well maintained. I shall report once trip over and gives him good publicity if we get no troubles. I don’t expect it. He knows our rough itinerary already.

We walked into Max Monkey last November and walked out fast. The pricing was insane. Also no one working on the bikes.

We rented two scooters from Mixay, in the little square, they were changing oil, and doing maintenance work. Always a good sign.We had no problem with those two scooters other than a puncture on the road. We fitted a new inner tube and all, including work, was so cheap it was embarrassing. The lad had a good tip.
Want Wang was too busy and had no bikes or only very knackered ones at the time. But then it was the high season over there I think.

In Vietnam i have rented the XR150 twice and was told to change the engine oil every 1000kms too.
The long travel suspension makes potholes go away!

Have fun at Laos.

Among all my travels in South East Asia, Laos was the only country which I explored the least on a bike thanks to Mad Monkey! LOL:mchappy:
Got to use all the Kip currency I brought back from my last trip.