tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2016324833343262832011-07-08T03:52:46.701+07:00Lost in LaosRather than spending another Fesitve Season in Sydney, feeling obliged to entertain people on New Year's Eve when all I want to do is go to bed, I thought that I would pack my (smallish) bag, pick up my 30 year old Rollei for one last outing and don my bike gear and head to Laos for a month.Daniel Alexander-Headhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691132111577529271noreply@blogger.comBlogger161100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-201632483334326283.post-86163079447959062492010-01-07T17:22:00.000+07:002010-01-07T17:22:06.853+07:00The last few days of LaosNow I am desperately trying to update the blog before I either forget what happened or before I get home and never get around to it. As I have a flight home in 16 hours, time is not on my side, but here we go... ... So I got to Phonsavan where I was going to hang out for a few days for some time off the bike - I had done 4 days riding of which 3 were pretty long. Phonsovan as a town if pretty Daniel Alexander-Headhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691132111577529271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-201632483334326283.post-63305559787712316312010-01-06T20:52:00.000+07:002010-01-06T20:52:03.252+07:00Catching up on paperwork...It has been a while since my last update on where I am or have been and to be honest I have no idea when I last updated, but that is all cool, I will just make assumptions... So at the moment I am in Hanoi. I got here on New Years Day and it was a big shift from Laos where even the captial Vientiane seemed like a rural town in comparison. Here is it manic with the traffic everywhere and at first Daniel Alexander-Headhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691132111577529271noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-201632483334326283.post-84454598705593186392010-01-02T14:33:00.000+07:002010-01-02T14:34:13.112+07:00Is there anything you can't buy from a local Market? Daniel Alexander-HeadWell, you can't buy regular stuff, but if you want a butchered dog (including the head), live moles or counterfeit US money, a market in Laos may be your thing. Shame the notes are only printed on one side...Daniel Alexander-Headhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691132111577529271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-201632483334326283.post-37662048545298632102010-01-01T07:44:00.000+07:002010-01-01T07:45:00.105+07:00Dressing for the occasionSomeone appears to have stolen a bolt from my handlerbar protectors whilst I was in Luang Prabang. The people at the hotel are off looking for a replacement and so whilst they are off doing that, I thought that I would write another post. This time I thought that I would talk about what I actually wear on a trip like this as I pack relatively light.After a few different bike trips and some Daniel Alexander-Headhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691132111577529271noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-201632483334326283.post-58399591440417444442009-12-25T12:29:00.000+07:002009-12-25T12:29:59.193+07:00When the greater good dictates not to take the photo, no matter how perfect it appears.I thought that I would spend some of my Christmas Day in Luang Prabang taking photos. I certainly have not taken many since being in Laos and definitely not on my Rollei SL66. For those of you who have no idea what that is, it is a large studio camera that is 30 years old, bulky as hell and due to a lifetime of work, no longer the reliable machine it probably once was. Sort of the opposite of meDaniel Alexander-Headhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691132111577529271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-201632483334326283.post-27425052383524296342009-12-25T06:45:00.000+07:002009-12-25T06:49:50.054+07:00Christmas morning in Luang Prabang Daniel Alexander-Headhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691132111577529271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-201632483334326283.post-67507151063565618112009-12-24T15:46:00.000+07:002009-12-24T16:22:46.027+07:00Why did the chicken have to try crossing the road?Any driver will probably know what it is like to have to perform an emergency stop. Any person on a motorbike will know how it makes you heart race. In the villages and towns here there are signs for 30km speed limits. That is less than school zones in NSW and certainly less than Queenslands 80km school zones in rural areas.But it makes sense in a country where it is the cars, not motorbikes thatDaniel Alexander-Headhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691132111577529271noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-201632483334326283.post-50713855647859898442009-12-17T17:37:00.000+07:002009-12-17T17:37:39.210+07:00"Guess what the cooked animal is" prize draw!So it has been 4 days on the road and what started off as a bit on the monotonous side has day by day become a pretty amazing experience. The journey started from Vientiane along the Mekong, pretty flat and dull but good to get into the swing of riding a bike 5 times smaller than mine on a foreign road. So far it has done really well, though I have a really tender backside at the end of each day Daniel Alexander-Headhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691132111577529271noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-201632483334326283.post-6691190486098125072009-12-16T18:08:00.000+07:002009-12-16T18:09:24.600+07:00On the road to Sainyabuli from Pak LaiDaniel Alexander-Headhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691132111577529271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-201632483334326283.post-5440163094507821642009-12-16T18:05:00.000+07:002009-12-16T18:06:25.743+07:00On the roadI am trying to update this blog from my iPhone again as there are no Internet cafes where I am (Pak Beng) but there is Wi Fi if you check into the most expensive hotel in town (a whopping $70 including all meals?!?).Below is my trusty steed of 3 days. Much smaller than Guenther my BMW, but the locals think it is big and to be honest, there is little need for anything else. Actually despite Daniel Alexander-Headhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691132111577529271noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-201632483334326283.post-85713583789256575432009-12-14T09:41:00.000+07:002009-12-14T09:42:48.227+07:00Starting the journeyI picked up my Honda XR 250 this morning. It was fun riding it the 1km back to the hotel until I discovered that the brakes were a bit like jelly.Anyway, I seem to accumulated a couple of items since getting here that has made packing very hard, but Ito done now and all that is left is to put on my pants (packing is best done in underwear I find), boots, pay the bill and hit the road (Daniel Alexander-Headhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691132111577529271noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-201632483334326283.post-9254719956282800462009-12-13T10:19:00.001+07:002009-12-13T10:20:57.559+07:00 Daniel Alexander-HeadDaniel Alexander-Headhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691132111577529271noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-201632483334326283.post-67858663743297794022009-12-13T10:19:00.000+07:002009-12-13T10:20:24.881+07:00 Of course you have to appreciate vehicles to some extent if you spend significant amounts of time driving or riding for pleasure. For me it is vehicles that are retro fitted or altered whether for pleasure or just work. Fast doesn't do it for me. Here is a vehicle that I would definitely buy if it were ever made legal in Australia.Daniel Alexander-Headhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691132111577529271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-201632483334326283.post-23122781377021472532009-12-13T09:49:00.000+07:002009-12-13T09:50:14.635+07:00How long until the telcos catch onIt is a funny sign of the times when I can log on to a free public Wi Fi on my phone in a third world country and make free Skype calls instead of paying huge amounts to roam. Surely by now the Telcos would have joined the game? Buying a brand new Nokia handset here in Laos is cheaper than some roaming calls. Even updating the blog at the moment is free as I am doing so from my Daniel Alexander-Headhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691132111577529271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-201632483334326283.post-22194235425934243962009-12-12T17:20:00.000+07:002009-12-12T17:20:39.400+07:00Monks on bikesIt is funny how fast a horendous journey can quickly be forgotten. Actually to be honest it was not that bad, just uncomfortable and that was my own doing from: leaving it too late to get a good price for a flight booking on a budget carrier for long distance trying to save more money by having to take more flights than sensible It is not comfortable sitting on a plane in full enduro bike gear Daniel Alexander-Headhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691132111577529271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-201632483334326283.post-5528363740439850702009-12-11T10:46:00.000+07:002009-12-11T10:46:33.804+07:00All to save $500...The journey looks like it is going to get off to an interesting start... See to get best price tickets meant that I had to take one step forwards and two steps back. What do I mean? Well rather than fly in the direction of Laos from Sydney, instead I have to go to Melbourne to get a connecting flight. Weird. Then I have to change planes again in Kuala Lumpur. All this to save $500 off the ticketDaniel Alexander-Headhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12691132111577529271noreply@blogger.com2