I arrived to Tha Khaek after my 12 hour bus, mini bus, boat combination which for some reason felt really long and draining and after stupidly attempting to walk in the dark with a Danish couple I ended up hopping into a tuk tuk which already had two boys in it.It turns out that the boys in the tuk tuk were really friendly and after a less than 5 min chat I had accept their invitation to ride The Loop with them, starting early the following day - the boys are lovely, there's Adam who I kept calling Allan a very tall ozzy with an addiction to knowing the time and Dave an English lad from near Brighton who loves music and has the same sense of humor as me.We checked into the hostel, all 3 of us sharing the same room and after beers around the hostel camp fire it was bed time, an early night to prepare for an early start the next morning.

DAY 1 OF THE LAOS LOOP
So we all woke at a decent time had breakfast in the hostel where we met a couple who had driven their huge motorbikes all the way from England! They are an inspiration in the way they are so adventurous and I couldn't wish them more luck on their trip around the world.After some bread and butter (my fave breakfast at the moment - because its vaguely normal to me) we needed to hire bikes, the hostel was sold out and so off for a wonder we went and eventually got hold of the last 3 bikes in town, mine was lovely - bright yellow and running smooth, Adams was a difficult starter but once it was going it seemed alright, Dave's wouldn't move for 40 mins whilst the mechanics fixed a problem, I decided that our bikes matched our personalities perfectly - we should have known if the bike is faulty before you leave it might not survive the 3 day drive.After the little wait and me practicing how to change gears on my bike we set off! Woo hoo 3 days of travelling around Laos ahead of us which came with a huge sense of freedom, we could stop when we want, go and look at what ever we wanted and enjoy the drive at our own pace - the road here we come!

We all set off optimistically and I was really excited, bikes fixed, day bags packed and helmets on - nothing stopping us ….. apart from the second breakdown of the day at the end of the road J

Yes we literally barely got to the end of the road when Daves chain snapped and again we had to get it fixed, as we were at the mechanics Adam went to get petrol but he took ages, Dave joked "knowing our luck, maybe he has had a crash haha" he couldn't have been more spot on, Dave had been knocked off of his bike by another driver and now had no skin left on his knees or elbows, luckily his helmet saved his head.I started to think we were jinxed and kept finding random wooden objects and surfaces to touch, I have never been superstitious before but that day was a so coincidental I started to think it Karma or something and figured a little knocking of wood could do no harm right?

"Have you ever? Ever felt like this? How strange things happen, are you going round the twist?"

So as Im tapping the doors like a retard, the smashed up bike was being fixed by a bloke which had little mechanical experience but was happily whacking a hammer against everything on the bike which in his eyes looked a little odd and Adam was having his wounds bandaged which left him looking like an 80's roller disco dancer and then a mere hour after attempt no.1 to set off we finally got on the road.

The drive was nice nothing better than I have done before but I didn't mind as I knew that there was an amazing road we were due to ride that after noon, plus I had good company and we got to stop at lunch to meet some locals and eat some delicious noodle soup outside a wooden shack surrounded by children, dogs and chickens.The sun is hot around here but the wind created by driving my bike makes the temperature pleasant and the drive a lot more enjoyable and after an hours drive we were making good time, no more disasters just the dusty wind whistling past us, what more could go wrong?

Well lots apparently, breakdown number 3 occurred 10 mins after lunch, Daves damn breaks broke which luckily happened just as he was pulling over, but were still going to be a right faff to fix - I couldn't believe it, it was his bikes third breakdown of the day and it was only 1pm! Again another local tried to fix the bike but eventually ended up pulling a spring off and failing to remember where it went back and so we decided to ride safe and slow to the next "town" (one road with wooden huts on either side) where we should be able to find a mechanic.But of course such a simple task wouldn't be simple to us, Dave (who I later nicknamed 'Trouble') was a complete disaster and decided whilst driving 60 kilometers an hour he wouldn't watch the road but instead have a gander at his break behind him which caused him to vear off of the road and into a ditch! I couldn't believe it! As soon as I realized he was fine I couldn't stop laughing, the blithering fool - who drives them self off of a straight road?! Apparently disaster prone Dave does that's who, but like a good sport he brushed him self off, stopped the flow of blood from his elbow and again we were off but learning his lesson he kept his eyes and therefore bike on the road and before long a mechanic was located and a new break fitter costing a whopping 2 pounds.

Back onto the road we went and after a slightly less eventful drive we got to Route 8! ROUTE 8! A road I had read about and was so excited to drive, its been described as a road like something from a computer game, windy and fast with amazing views up down and around the mountains. Oh it was just as good as I had hoped, due to the crashes the boys were cautious but I wasn't, I flew around the bends with speed yet complete control and enjoyed every minute of it - but my enjoyment didn't last long as yet again one of the bikes broke, Adam got a puncture which would take over an hour to fix and so as the sun went down over the little village we were parked in, again the boys tried to help fix the bikes whilst I played with the beautiful local kids, keeping them entertained by letting them take pictures of each other with my camera and watch music videos on my Ipod, they were in awe and so grateful by the end its kind of humbling to see something I take so much for granted bring such big smiles and immense pleasure to other people.

It was very much dark when we left the village and set off winding our way along the cliff face of the mountain trying to get over it to the town on the other side where we could stay the night. The road was steep on both sides and in the dark it wasn't easy but I held on for dear life, kept in the correct gear and avoided all the boulders, cows, goats and people on the roads to make it to the town safe and sound.I was so pleased when we finally got there and checked into our hostel, my tail bone was hurting (past injury from me throwing myself off of a cliff) from the days drive and I was so hungry I could have eaten my helmet, which might have been a good idea considering how much it hurt my head by being too tight all day.Some tea and a beer and then bed, we had to make up some time tomorrow and therefore a really early start would be needed - however my nights sleep wasn't amazing due to our hostel being filled with cockroaches, my room had a questionable yellow puddle on the floor and the boys room next door had used condoms in the bin and under the pillow … delightful. The walls were so thin I fell asleep to the tunefull sound of Dave killing cockroaches by b**** slapping them with his flip flop repeatedly until it was dead and yet amazingly moving? He soon realized that was because the local ants had decided that the dead roach was dinner and were happily marching it away across the bedroom floor haha - ah the life of traveler, so normal to us yet so strange to everyone else.

Day 2 Of The Loop

So day two was less eventful crash and break down wise as apart from the fact that Adams bike refused to go faster than 50 kilometers an hour we had no difficulties but it was eventful due to the caves that we went to visit. Kong Lo caves are down a beautiful stretch of road which is completely flat farm land up until your view is cut off by the massive hills with sheer sides, it reminded me of the landscape from the cartoon The Road Runner.We arrived to the caves in good time, hired a boat with driver, got all jazzed up in our florescent orange life jackets and headed off into the darkness.The caves are just incredible, me and the boys were in the smallest boat which due to his long legs had Adams knees up around his ears and water lapping over the sides.Into pitch black darkness we went with only the sound from the engine and the light from the drivers head torch leading the way - it was kind of eerie to begin with especially as Dave was telling me how much it reminded him of a horror film called Decent or something? But after a while I kind of enjoyed the quiet darkness in a strange way and before I knew it our boat pulled up to a pebble embankment where we got off and began to walk into the unknown - ok maybe not so unknown as after a couple of minutes of me following Adams head torch and desperately trying not to fall over (very common occurrence for me) and break my neck the boat driver flicked a switch and light filled the cave.Now I haven't been in that many caves in my life but this has gotta be a good one, its literally like I left earth took a little boat and floated straight onto a different planet, with stalagmites and stalactites creating weird rock formations, odd sounds and strange lighting, we spent ages looking in all the nooks and crannies (I was double checking for signs of aliens, the boys were not) we jumped back into the boat whilst trying out our best echos and headed back into the black.

The caves are so incredible at some points they are as big as a cathedral and the way the spotlights from the boat hit the rocks make odd shadows which obviously my mind turned into images of a birthday cake, a clown and a few various farm yard animals.It was odd when we stepped back outside with the sun hurting my eyes, we were all dripping wet but still so so pleased that we went, after a few attempts at skimming stones we hopped back onto the bikes and head back to our guesthouse for the night.Upon arriving back into town we decided that it wouldn't quite be possible to complete the loop in the time that we had and everyone we had met had told us that the rest of the road isn't that great, so we would be going back the way we came - plus this meant we could have a few beers that night which we did at a little Laos 'festival'.The festival was practically over when we rocked up, already merry from the beers we had drank whilst playing ring of fire but we still got stuck in dancing with the 6 locals left on the dance floor (they dance big out here by the way, lots of cha cha's and grinding - random combination but it kind of works) and then splashed some cash on some gambling which is kind of like roulette but you bet on pictures of chickens, frogs and fish instead of numbers.A random but fun night, but we couldn't drink too much or stay out too late as day 3 of the loop was to follow the next day.

DAY 3 of the Loop
Day 3 went swimmingly, we set off in good time, regardless of our heavy heads and got back onto route 8 - in daylight this road is amazing and me and the boys flew round it perfectly.I had so much fun on my bike to the point where I would consider owning one in the future - there's something so free about it, maybe it's due to the scenery and the heat out here but its really enjoyable.After a stop at a view point and some lunch at the same place as day 1 we made it back to Tha Kaek in time to catch an afternoon bus to Vientiane with the only small emergency that day was me and Adam both running out of petrol. The bus to Vientiane was an experience all of its own with me and the boys sat on plastic stools in the aisle for 6 hours, at one point me and dave found ourselves attempting to counter balance by him leaning back on his stool and me leaning forwards so that we could both have a snooze - when you travel you become inventive if your tired.

Ok so we (befittingly named The 3 Musketeers) didn't actually complete the Loop but we had an eventful and funny couple of days, I loved doing the caves my own way instead of just booking another day trip where everyone sleeps the whole journey missing all the wonders there is to see along the way.I got to hang out with two lovely lads, meet locals, eat cheap good food and ride around Laos without having to be anywhere or do anything I didn't want to.Its another cool experience that I will look back on with a smile and always remember as a highlight of my time in Laos.