No SE Asia trip would be complete without some motorbike adventures. Mine takes place over the course of five action-packed days in Laos.

Day 1: Crash
I arrive in Luang Prabang fresh off a 13-hour night bus from Huay Xai and decide this is the perfect time to drive a motorbike for the first time. Some new friends from the hostel are renting motorbikes to go to the Kuang Si waterfall, about 30km away. When the kid brings out the bikes, I ask him to teach me, emphasizing that I’ve never driven one before. His tutorial lasts about 30 seconds. I’m sensing a trend in this country (see previous post on the amazing tutorial I got on zip lining in Laos).

With not much else to go on, I decide to hop on and give it a go. Women and kids all over Asia ride these things with bags of groceries, half their family, and a chicken coop piled on the back. This can’t be that hard. I inch down the narrow little street, wobble over a couple speed bumps, and then crash full-on into a parked car while trying to make a tight left turn. Crap. The bike falls on me but luckily not much damage is done except for a scraped knee and shattered ego. The locals at that corner got quite a show.

I decide perhaps this isn’t the best time to drive a motorbike for the first time after all.

Day 2: Lessons
Refusing to accept a motorbike-less existence, I enlist my new friend Verena to give me a proper lesson. We rent another bike and make our way to a quiet corner of town. Verena is a great teacher and very patient. I’m still terrible but at least this time I know enough not to crash into any parked vehicles. A guy is amused at the sight of me puttering down the street and starts taking pictures. What the hell.

After half an hour or so, I start getting the hang of it and no longer feel the need to keep a death grip on the handle bars. I cruise around and around the quaint streets of LPB and pass the amused guy again. This time I’m going too fast for him to snap any pictures. Ha.

Day 3: Freedom!
I wake up early to get in a few hours of riding before I have to return the bike.

I ride by the monks collecting their morning alms.

I ride to the morning market.

Then I ride into the mountains.

And I come across some small villages.

I’m completely addicted to this newfound freedom.

Day 4: Manual
After leaving LPB, I head south to Ban Khoun Kham (also known as Ban Na Hin) to visit the Kong Lo Cave. Some friends and I decide to rent motorbikes and make the 40km trip to the cave ourselves instead of by tuk-tuk, but this is a small town and they only have manual bikes available. And so, with 4 days and less than 5 hours of total driving time under my belt, I find myself once again puttering around the streets of Laos, this time learning how to shift gears going up and down mountain roads. I don’t crash or stall, but it’s not the smoothest ride either. No one seems too concerned about any of this.

Day 5: Biker Gang
The six of us head off to the cave. The mountain backdrop is really beautiful — like Halong Bay but on dry land — and it’s so much better enjoyed on our own terms than stuck on the back of a tuk-tuk. I’m not so terrible at this driving thing anymore. A week ago I could barely stay upright; now I’ve got a whole gang of biker friends and a passenger on the back. My motorbiking career is definitely on the up and up.

[Laos. April 22 – May 4, 2013]