Southeast Asia and the Corona Virus
At first we we only really heard about the virus from concerned friends and family back home. It's not talked about out here, there's no panic and all the shelves are still fully stocked with toilet roll. Although, its effects are certainly showing as everywhere is empty. That might be perfect for travelling, but local businesses are really struggling and it's very hard for people who rely on tourism. And of course many people the world over are seriously suffering, in far worse circumstances and our heart goes out to them.
From a travelling perspective, we're starting to notice difficulties. We're running into border problems, visa exemption removals and restrictions and it's making travelling dicey. Our plan was to leave the bike in Thailand, catch a flight to Vietnam on 16th March, rent scooters and ride from South to North for a month (foreign vehicles aren't allowed into Vietnam so we couldn't take our own bike). However, Vietnam has put a load of new restrictions in place, have stopped issuing visas and are quarantining new arrivals.
Even if we could get in, we're unsure we'd be allowed back into Thailand and that would be a huge problem as our bike's Temporary Import would expire and we'd be hit with a fine when we eventually exit to Malaysia. A few friends of ours who are also travelling with bikes are in much more difficult positions, being refused entry to countries like India and Myanmar with nowhere to go and expiring visas.
All that's left for us to do is extend our Thai visa and Temporary Import, find a quiet little island and wait it all out...
Anyway, that's enough of the virus. For the last month we have been falling in love with Laos. It took us by surprise; we weren't expecting it to be drop dead gorgeous around every corner and didn't realise it was a raw, rustic and rugged country brimming with natural beauty and insane riding... the only thing we didn't like about Laos was leaving.
Happy travels and thanks for sticking with us,
Andy and Alissa
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