Motorbiking in Vang Vieng

On the second day while I was in Vang Vieng, I rented a motorbike to go around the place and visit some of the caves around the area. This was quite a scary experience, not because of the road conditions nor because of the traffic congestion but it was due to my lack of skill and experience on a motorbike. I have not been riding a motorbike since I was 16 and that was only around my school compound or around my residential area. The moment I started on the bike, I had a bad feeling about the whole thing because the motorbike was so crappy and I already paid my rental fee. The engine couldn't start well, the gears did not shift well and the overall feel of the bike was just bad. Fortunately, I had a very pleasant ride in the morning 25km south of Vang Vieng. It was a trip to see a big lake with small islands jutting out of it.

The mistake started when I took some people's advice and visited the Pukham caves. On the journey, the first obstacle was crossing a 200m b ridge that was four plank wide without handrails. Given my skill at the motorbike, I was constantly afraid of falling of the bridge into the river. Also there were the bridge trolls that collected about $1.50 USD for the short journey on the bridge. The price seemed quite high to me if I compared it to the price of the Penang bridge in Malaysia that is 10km long and costs millions to build and cost about the same to cross. After the bridge, it was a 6km journey on a dirt road that was so bumpy, the shock absorbers on the motorcycle fell off. Naturally, I wasn't a happy camper when I had to pay for the shocks on such a trashy bike. I had to abandon the journey and walk the last 700m because I came up to a two-plank wide bridge with gaps in between across the river. I tried to push the bike across but figured there was a 95 percent chance the bike would fall into the river. Not very good odds in my head. I finally found the cave but was down $25USD for 2 new shock absorbers. Af ter thinking about it, I guess it is a small price to pay for motorbike lessons and for coming back in one piece.