I’m excited to tell you about my next great adventure!!! I’m going to Laos. And it’s not just any ordinary tourist trip to Laos. I’ll get to the why in a minute, but I suspect one or two of you may not know where Laos is. Take a look at the map.
(If you click on the map or other stuff on this page, it will open in a new tab.)
Laos is smack-dab in the middle of Southeast Asia. It is known as the “Land of a Million Elephants.” It’s also known for the sheer-walled rock karsts, jutting up thousands of feet from the earth’s floor. It’s a land of magnificent beauty; rivers and waterfalls, lush green jungles, and mountain ranges. The people are gentle and welcoming.
But that’s not the only reason I’m going. Yes, I want to see this incredible place, but the compelling reason is because of the role Laos had in the Second Indochina War: the Ho Chi Minh Trail… the most bombed place on earth.
On this great adventure, I will be riding an on/off-road motorcycle (it’s mostly a “dirt bike”) down the Ho Chi Minh Trail… HCMT. The adventure is being called the HCMTrail Ride.
This is open to anyone who wants to go. But the numbers are limited: 6-to-8 riders and up to 3 in the support vehicle. The video below will give you an idea of the adventure.
The HCMT isn’t just one trail or road. During the war, it developed into a web with thousands of miles of roads, pathways, and foot-paths. The “Trail” led from North Vietnam, through Laos, and into South Vietnam. (There is now only one, unified Vietnam.)
The “trail ride” will actually have two segments. One eight-day loop to areas in Northern Laos, and an eight-to-ten day HCMT “loop.” We can’t possibly ride the thousands of miles of the HCMT, but we will ride through the main areas. Besides… with that many days on a dirt bike, I will already have a bad case of Monkey Butt**.
The HCMTrail Ride isn’t for the timid or couch potatoes. There won’t be any room service or Margaritas on the Lido deck. You’ll get dirty and maybe muddy. You are certain to get wet crossing streams. And… you are certain to have the trail ride adventure of a lifetime.
If you are interested in going or for tons of information about the places the trail ride will go and lots of war-time history of Laos… CLICK ON THIS LINK
Another excellent site for information comes from Don Duval (AKA The Midnight Mapper) who is the guide for the adventure. Poke around on the web site to see some astonishing stuff. LaosGPSMap.com
There is also a Facebook page: HoChiMinhTrailRide
**Definition – Monkey Butt
[mon-key butt] – The condition suffered by off-road motorcycle riders after days and days of riding, in which their buttocal areas acquire the color of and resemble the rear end of a baboon.
P.S. If all works as I expect, I will write a book after this trip, but I am not getting paid for advertising, nor will be making any money from this trip itself. I am 100% paying my own way.