Vientiane area

 

My bike was a 50cc Yamaha. I bought it from a journalist, Peter Bennett. At least it looked like a real bike, with the fuel tank up between your legs, better balanced than one of those plastic Noddy bikes. It was okay for trips of up to 60kms out of town; that is, until you hit the hills. The only paved roads were in Vientiane. As soon as you got past the airport, it was a dirt road. I liked the red dirt roads, despite the dust. I felt comfortable on them.

 

On my Yamaha, I could go all around the Vientiane Plain; north to Ban Keun and Phon Hong, and the Nam Ngum Dam at Ban Talaat; and south along the river. Life in the villages was even sleepier than Wattay.