In Vang Vieng, Laos, Keith and I had the happy coincidence of running into Gillian and Jason from one-giant-step.com. We spent the next few days together exploring caves, kayaking down the Nam Song River and just hanging out enjoying the sunsets behind the karsts. Perhaps our greatest adventure was learning how to ride a scooter and going out on our own to explore some of the caves and waterholes off the beaten tourist path.
Having never really ridden on a scooter before, Keith and I jumped at the chance to learn from people with experience. While Jason gave Keith a lesson on how to drive the bike, I suited up in my jeans, facemask and bubblegum pink helmet. Not exactly the most stylish outfit, but I enjoy keeping the skin on my body intact and my lungs dust-free.
It didn’t take long for Keith to get the hang of the bike and soon the four of us were off on the quiet dirt roads that branch out to the west of town. The roads were bumpy and dusty, but with almost no other traffic. And while the fact that no one drives faster than 30 or 40 kilometers per hour can be incredibly frustrating on long, hot bus rides, the slow speeds make riding a scooter an easy experience even when we had to share the road.
The most amazing part of learning to ride a scooter is the new found freedom we have to just jump on a bike and take off, without having to find public transportation (which is often quite limited) or join a tour group (which are often too big or too expensive). For the first time in five months on the road, we were completely on our own schedule, able to spend as much or as little time as we wanted at the different sites around town. Having this freedom will transform how we travel through the rural parts of northern Laos and Thailand. Those sites that once seemed too obscure or difficult to get to are now easily within our reach.
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We LOVE scootering and were so happy that the two of you took to it so easily and happily! Checking out the traffic in Hanoi today though, and I think we’ll have to find a quieter spot to try it in Vietnam. Remember…keep the rubber side down. Cheers guys!!
Lookin Good!..IM lovin the face mask and pink bubble gum helmet.. Be safe enjoy your new found freedom.
HAPPY SCOOTIN!
Awesome and like Ellyn love the pink helmet.
xodad
We still haven’t tried out a motorino; I’m in no great rush because everyone here drives like a lunatic! But maybe you’ve given me new motivation. We’ll see…
You guys should start a gang.
A goofy, overly-educated, food-obsessed gang.
Scooters are an awesome way to tour around small towns. We never rode them either, and other than one major accident that involved some charred flesh, it’s pretty good. We learned that Dee and I both like having our own scooters to control.
We really enjoyed exploring southern Laos by motorbike. We loved the freedom and definitely met a lot of people we wouldn’t have if we’d been on the bus. And like you said, it’s a great place to get out on a bike because there’s little traffic and pretty decent roads.
So glad you guys got a chance to meet up.
And, I absolutely agree — motorbiking is the best way around Southeast Asia.