How Does it Feel?

Hey guys! So Talia gave you guys a run-down of how the bike journey went! I have to admit it was a very fun and exciting experience.  I’ve been on long journeys  before but this really was something special.

When you sit in your car and start the engine, fix your mirrors, turn on your air conditioner or heater and start travelling you have a sense of comfort that the car will regulate the temperature, tell you accurately the stats of your fuel levels, your speeds etc. But on the bike it was just us and this single cylinder, going from A to a very faraway B.

Granted on a motorbike you also have these stats given to you but it has much less of a “time machine” feel. You don’t step in a door and know that when you step out you will be somewhere else, simply because you feel the distance pass you and smell the flora as it passes.

 This particular B was 230 kilometers away from our start point, and oh my god it was the best 230 kilometers of my life. Every second I got the smell of the rice paddys, the feel of the wind on my face, the insects hitting me and my bike, instead of my windscreen and front grille.

Consider closing your eyes and imagining driving down a road that winds, twisting, turning, with a vast upwards sloping jungle on your right. This jungle has vines, bamboo and palm trees. You know in your mind that this jungle has tigers, bears, leopards, snakes and more, all living and hiding somewhere amongst the trees.

While on your left there is a steep drop with only a small patch of grass and on some turns a small barrier to prevent certain death. Beyond the steep drop there are mountains, as far as the eye can see, literally, everywhere. Some mountains are way higher than you as you zip past and you can only see them to a certain point before they are lost to the clouds. Other mountains are below as you look over the cliff and you can clearly see their peaks.

As you drive this winding road you are passing through villages of local tribes’ people. Some of these people are just farming,  and you wonder to yourself whether they just farm for sustenance or if they sell their wares at a local or nearby market. You see families of animals wandering and meandering all over the road, some with a purpose you will never understand and some just crossing your path.

As you continue on down this road you notice the temperature around you is rising and dropping constantly at small increments. You don’t notice it at first but it takes a while, as you continue on the winding road southwards.

At some points you may have to slow down, as a recent landslide has covered the road and you have to traverse the rubble with care. Or in other cases slow down to watch an old dog, or slow lizard or snake cross your path.

It’s at this point you know you’re in Laos.

The 4 Best Things About Driving a Motorbike in Laos, Part 1

Well, we weren't eaten by tigers. We survived the motorbike trip from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng, without a hitch.
Here's the video of the departure:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voUvlHNYjwo&feature=youtu.be

And here are the best things about the trip. Be jealous.

4. The scenery
China doesn't have anything on Laos. We put up a couple of posts on Chinese scenery here and here. Now, China is beautiful, but dang. I mean daaaaang! We saw some of the most beautiful things either of us had ever seen. We drove up into the mountains, I mean straight up into them. And there we were at the top, staring straight at the tops of the other green mountains around us. Lush green jungle surrounded us, and on the hills around us were fields of rice and banana trees. Tiny villages dotted the hills and cloudy blue skies were over the whole world.

3. The road
Now, as some of you may know, I (Talia) am not an expert motorbike rider/driver/pilot or whatever it is you do with a motorbike. Ricky, on the other hand, is. So he sped along, taking the tight curves at high speeds while I tried to get the hang of leaning into the turns instead of braking and inching along. I'll have you know I am improving. Often, Ricky made me go in front so he wouldn't unintentionally leave me behind, because he is the tenderest morsel of them all.  So there I was, struggling around tight mountain curves, dodging potholes, in too high a gear going uphill...
and I freaking loved it. It was the most exhilerating and frightening thing I've ever done, and I can't wait to do it again! Remember all that stuff I said about the scenery? Picture driving through that. Picture the jungle around you, the wind rushing through your...er...helmet. For safety. The twisting roads and the downhill speeds, everything. Everything was perfect.

And here's a video of a little break in the trip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_UkBggue_s&feature=youtu.be

2. The local fauna
No, we didn't see tigers or monkeys or elephants. But here's what we did see.
1 lizard, which Ricky almost destroyed.
1 small brown tortoise, which Ricky did destroy (accidentally).
A million butterflies, 7 of which destroyed themselves upon our chests, helmets, and goggles.
2 dogs gettin' it on in the middle of the road. Don't worry, all the traffic drove around them so as not to sour the moment of passion.
Several cows, which I shot with my finger gun. (pyew pyew!)
A family of sprinting pigs.
4 fat ducks waddling slowly across the road.
Chickens.

1. The people
Oh man. The people. This is where Laos has China beat again. The people are so nice and friendly. Many a time we drove through a mountain village and small children waved at us. When we waved back, they let out a cheerful "wooohooo!" At one point, after we stopped to fill up the bikes, I started to pull away. A girl waved to me, and when I waved back, she ran after me, waving and shouting.
Later in the afternoon, we passed a whole horde of kids going home from school, some walking, most on bikes. They waved, we waved, smiles all around.
Not just the kids were friendly. Many adults waved and smiled at us, including truck drivers, other motorbikers, and villagers. There was no way we could be unhappy.

Well there it is. The 4 reasons we had more fun than you'll ever have, ever. No. I mean, 4 reasons we loved driving for 8 hours despite potholes and humping dogs.

Second Thoughts and the Swedish Man

Tomorrow's the day. We're nervous. We're excited. We're packed and ready to go. Tomorrow we begin the motorbike tour of Laos!
We've spend the last two days packing and tying our bags to our bikes, to make sure they'll stay, and Ricky even figured out a way to tie up the guitar so he doesn't have to carry it on his back. We finally got our license plates, too, so we're actually legal.
As of this afternoon, we were ready.
And then we had dinner.
The only other customer in the Indian restaurant was a white man that we thought we recognized. We started chatting, and remembered him as Dan, a Swedish man working in Luang Prabang. We got to talking about the trip we were about to embark on, and he tells us that he did part of the same trip in March.
He proceeded to caution us about the cold, the many hours spent on a bike, sore legs and back. He said he even cried as he drove, wishing he didn't have to finish the trip.  He also told us the trip was double what we had calculated it to be, because of the twisting mountain roads.
Well, that took us by surprise. And by that I mean that we almost wet ourselves thinking of the misery that lay ahead. Admittedly, I was a little distracted by Dan's accent (oh yah!), but once I got past that, I was a little scared. And now, second thoughts. I'm all for it still, but Ricky was fairly certain we ought to just cut our losses and sell the bikes now. But we're doing it anyway. We have to.
So here we are, going to bed, hoping we are ready and prepared for what might come our way: rain, flat tires, running out of gas, breaking down in the middle of the jungle...
This is going to be an interesting ride.
Stay tuned for the update on how it went!
If you don't hear from us in a few days, we were probably eaten by tigers. Seriously. There are still wild tigers in Laos. 

Bigger and Better: Building the Blog

Hello readers! We're glad you have found us at our new address!  We're still in the process of making the blog bigger and better, so bear with us. We've made a logo, which needs some work, and have changed the name of the blog.

For those of you that are new to the best blog you'll ever read, check out our older posts at taliaandricky.blog.com. You're in for a treat. There are pandas, waterfalls, monks, elephants, temples, complaints, and a few laughs. You won't be disappointed.

Until next time!