I'm in Phonsavan heading to Luang Prabang tomorrrow, if anyone is still around.

Also note that Highway 13 between Vientiane and Vang Vieng is in horrible condition, for those that haven't experienced it yet. I assume they are in the process of resurfacing some of it, but for now there are very few sections of smooth road, the rest is just rocks and dust, and with a lot of traffic. It took about 5 hours to cover that 150km. The gets much better about 20km north of Vang Vieng though.

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http://ryanbeales.blogspot.com/

Hello to all!


We didn´t check the post for a few days and so many new entries, wow!



@Donato:
For sure, we remember you! What a question!

In our travel report about Siberia, there are some pic from you!

If you are interested, you can find it here:
www.TimetoRide.de
Unfortunately, the report is not (yet) in English, but maybe you can translate it with Google! :-)
And there is also a video with parts of our Banja-experiences in Ulan-Ude! The video you can watch out here:
www.TimetoRide.de


@Gary D:
You saw us in Huay Xai!? Hm… we are sorry, but at the moment, we don´t remember that we saw any bike there…!? :confused1:



@rbslime:
The road from Luang Prabang to Muang Xai is also as bad as the road you described! But from Muang Xai to Huay Xai (Thai border) the road is very nice!


Now we are back in Bangkok and in a few days we´ll start to drive south to Phuket and also visiting some of the Islands before we´ll entering Malaysia in around 2 1/2 weeks.


Many greetings and maybe see one of you guys on the road!


Bea & Helle


PS: Does anyone of you know if there is a car-ferry from Malaysia to Indonesia or which is the easiest and cheapest way to ship our bikes from Malaysia to Indonesia? Because we heard some stories about renting a fisher-boat to ship the bikes from Malaysia to Indonesia…!? :confused1:

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The situation in the Straight of Malacca seemed to change almost weekly (for example, when we crossed it, they had recently opened a real nice "proper car-ferry service"..... but then they had closed it down already, too!!) So 4 years ago the best option seemed to be the onion cargo boats, run by Cakra shipping in Penang, and they go to Belawan, near Medan in Sumatra.

A big upside on this route was definitely, that it seemed to be a commonly used one (in Penang, we met other bikers going both ways using that route), so the carnets etc. are familiar stuff in Belawan, means you´re less likely to run into trouble with the Indonesian customs. DO NOT underestimate this – there were several travellers, that we met around Indonesia, who had had more than their fair share or troubles with the import, leading to complete re-planning of their entire trips. Do as thorough research about your intended point of entry as you can, might save you a lot of time, and headache.

If you get really lucky, then there could be a ferry operating right now. But I would not count on that, and shipping with Cakra was, I would say, on the ´easier´ side, if I compare to some other shippings during that same trip, which were a real pain in the proverbial behind! We took a passenger boat ourselves, and all in all it did not become so expensive. But sorry I have no recent info from there.

Here´s how it went for us:
MOTO1 - Matkalla

Christmas on the Road is pretty good...

This motley crew celebrated Chrimbo in Chiang Mai last night...



From right to left:
DaveG, USA: daveg travels

Harry, UK RTW on Diesel Bullet running on veggie oil: VegiBike, vegetable oil fueled diesel engine, Royal Enfield motorbike by Harry Lyon-Smith

Heiko, Germany RTW on R80g/s-outfit (and demon trials rider...)

Yannick, Switzerland RTW on Africa Twin

Chris, UK Tourist, on a quick 9 day trail riding holiday

Staying at Rider's Corner, Chiang Mai Rider's Corner Bar & Restaurant - Chiang Mai Bikers Hotel Thailand (HU Thailand Meet venue in Jan 2012) and a great resource for travellers: RideAsia.net • Motorcycle forum for riders from all of Asia

Merry Christmas
Chris

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