The road to Huay Xai

by Peter
(Malaysia/Holland)

I have traveled several times this road. Once by bus which was close to a nightmare as the road was really bad. Several years later I did it again, this time on the bicycle. In Luang Namtha I was told the road was now in excellent condition. And they were right, for the first 20 and the last 10 km's. In between was, at the time still a work in progress.

I left in good moods Luang Namtha and enjoyed the scenery of this part of Laos. The serene beauty and the lack of traffic was fantastic. However, that would soon change. The first troubles I got very soon. Road construction had totally destroyed the road. What was left was a kind of dirt path, and I had to walk (see the photo).

After that point the road became the old earth road. It was really nice cycling there although the climbs were not as easy. Climbing on softer soil is always more difficult then on asphalt roads. But hey, I was there to explore.

Unfortunately after around 50 km I got flat, not "just" flat, my tire had a hole of several centimeters at the rim site. No way I could fix that. And I didn't bring a spare tire on this 3 weeks trip. When I had left Malaysia (where I live), I had changed my tires, but apparently this one was of total rubbish quality, despite being class Continentals.

What to do? Here are no villages, I had not seen even one vehicle passing me and walking back? Hmm... 50 km is a very long way with a bicycle on hand.

I passed a hills and arrived in a small village. Here was a little shop. Sitting and thinking what would be the best thing to do, I was told there maybe would pass later on a truck which maybe would take me to Vieng Poukkha. From there, the lady explained, I would be able to get ongoing transport to Huay Xai.

There are days that everything is wrong, and this seems one of them. However, I had also learned in the years of traveling that once you really need help, help will show up. This time, I convinced myself, would not be different. I was right.

Within 15 minutes a pickup truck came along. It stopped on my signs. The guy told me I should ride further but I showed him my problem. And thus he put my bike on the roof of the pickup, I got in and we drove to Vieng Poukkha.

It was my lucky day but I didn't really know it yet. Vieng Poukkha is a little village. It has a basic guesthouse, nice and clean so I had nothing to worry for the night. But the real surprise came when I walked around the bus stop. This is supposedly the market area. One shop was open. The owner saw my bicycle, I laughed and showed him the problem. He smiled even more, went inside and ... came back with ONE Chinese made 1.9 inch heavy tire! He told me it was his only one so if I needed to change my other tire, bad luck.

But I only needed one tire. The price didn't matter to me (it was in fact $2.50). Some days there's just luck around you and today was such a day. I would be able to continue my journey. Here the full story what follows after leaving Vieng Poukkha and shows more photos then I can publish here

PS, if you like I can add another photo, let me know:)
Peter