Very minimal story as I'm typing from my phone. No laptop as I don't have space on the motorcycle. Haley and I met up successfully in Bangkok and made the flight to Luang Prabang. Very nice hotel in a great location, in the heart of the night market. Had fun a few hours there , and chatted a while with a young guy from Florida now working in Kuala Lumpur. Shared our stories. Next morning we were at Motolao getting ready for the big trip. Then we encountered a problem. A big problem. The motorcycle they had for her was the same as mine. A Honda 250 which is just too big and heavy for her. We explained the problem and how I had arranged these details 5 months ago. They searched all over town and can't locate a smaller bike. The best they could get was a 150 cc Chinese bike but Haley sat on it and started to get upset. She just knew this was too much bike for her and this is a 5 day journey. She trained on the perfect size bike with Tim but no match here. We started to explore other options. After all she just travelled 41 hours from home to the hotel (total transit time including layovers). We came up with one that felt disappointing to me at first but it was what was best for Haley. Her eyes brightened up. She would go directly to the Elephant Conservation Center in Laos and spend all 5 days there as a volunteer. No motorcycle for her. I would go on motorcycle as planned just the guide and myself. We will meet her at the elephant center in 3 days. So away we go. I saw Haley all of 18 hours and have to send her off in this far away location. But she is confident and I did my research on all of these places already. The silver lining is that not only does she spend all of her time with the animals as she preferred but there happens to be a very special event there. The centre informed us that an elephant caravan of some 15+ elephants are due to arrive that day as part of UNESCO world heritage event held only every 10-20 years. Wow !! I've been on motorcycle for 2 days now and leave shortly on probably the most adventurous day. Almost all 60 miles are off road today in all sorts of terrain. Had a blast on the first day and endèd with 8 miles of wild off road riding through the jungle to the remote small village where we stayed at a family's home. No tourism here. All good until I crashed on the final turn before the village. Terrain turned to clay and moist which just made it slippery. I must have touched the rear brake slightly which are already tight and sensitive, and immediate I was going down and over the handlebar. Got it all on Gopro though !! Hurt myself, sprained my hand. Icing it now as I couldn't pull the clutch That's a big problem !! Got some local herbal remedies from the village adults, and luckily had some hydrocodone with me. Was quite painful, and also got a nice bruise from where the handlebar went into my thigh. Bent the handlebar and brake pedal so I'm anxious to see that on Gopro. The Guide fixed the bike at the village as they were all talking in local language and I'm covered in mud. I'm sure I was part of their conversation as they keep smiling and laughing. Hey what can I say ? Can't be good at everything right ? I'll be more careful to brake earlier and downshift into the turn. Wish me luck today