Toerke

- We were lucky, weren’t we? Only three flat tires. Besides, the last one was right near a garage. That was good timing. - Yeah, and with the first one we could load the bike on a dok-dok. That was ok, wasn’t it? - Yeah, we were lucky. That bruise of mine won’t show in a couple of weeks. - What was that again? - Well, I slipped in the sand, didn’t I. The bike started spinning and the footrest slammed into my calf. Could have been much worse. Imagine looking for a doctor out there. There was nobody around. F*cking middle of nowhere! By the way, how’s the knee? - Oh, disinfected. It’ll be fine. Could have been worse. That is so dangerous, a bike just jamming into steerlock! You don’t want that happening in a curve, do you? It’s a good thing that lock just rattled out of the bike in the end. - Yeah, much better. The kickstart is all you need, really. No use for anything else. Funny actually, that sticker on the side “electronic starter”. - Yeah, surreal! Say, fancy another beer Lao? - Mmm sounds good. My teeth are still grinding with all that dust. I think I’m just gonna dump my jeans. I’ll never get them clean. And look at our boots! - Nice shower later. - Mmm. Shall we have another Lao? - Good plan! What a fun ride, hey? - Great laugh!

Route Tha Khaek – Nakai – Lak Sao – Ban Na Hin – Kong Lo – Vieng Kham – Tha Khaek. A.k.a. “The Loop” (circa 350 km). Terrain Asphalt – gravel road – sand road – rice paddies (with walls!) – dry and wet riverbeds – rockhard earth road with deep tractor tracks. Vehicles Chinese Yincin 100cc work horses with a rather shabby-nonchalant demeanor. Team Yincin pilots Caveman and Woodbut Pitstops Guesthouses and homestay Highlights A small, somewhat larger and one gigantic cave. Top of the bill is the boatride through the 7km-long Kong Lo cave with her spooky stalag… (what do you call these things?). All this surrounded by the beautiful Khammouan karst scenery. Sponsors Beer Lao – Toughlick leather cream