I had read that it was possible to hire 250cc trail bikes in Vang Vieng and after the failed loop I really wanted to get out and see real Laos by proper bike. I had also read that you could now ride up to Long Cheng (Long Tieng) the old CIA town used during the secret war. But first some background, around the time the USA got involved in the Vietnam war the CIA started recruiting Hmong men to wage a griller war from the Lao side aimed at disrupting the main supply line to the NVA, when the war ended and the CIA town fell and  some of the Hmong fled to the surrounding mountains in fear of retribution, there they have lived since some groups hiding some still causing problems for the Lao government, this has resulted in an area of over 4000 square km being closed off until up to very recently. Looking at some maps and based on a trip the author of the lonely planet Lao had taken I worked out it should be possible to make a 4 day trip into the special zone, up to the base and back round the top. After a bit of investigation I discovered it was in-fact not possible to get a dirt bike in Vang Vieng and I had to head back to Vientiane by bus to pick one up there and arranged to drop the bike in Vang Vieng for an extra cost and headed out early the following day. Heading north the roads were empty and the bike was great. About 3 hours in I turned east on to the road that would lead into the restricted zone, about an hour in I saw the check point that signed the entrance to the zone, but that is as far as I got. As I approached the check point I got waved down and stopped by the army, as I don’t speak more than 2 words of Lao and there English was enough to say “closed” and “go now” I wasn’t able to work out why I wasn’t allowed to pass, without much choice I turned around and made my way up to Vang Vieng. With the bike booked for another 3 days the only option without back tracking was to drive up to Luang Prabang and back in 2 days which was meant to be a great drive through the mountains. As the crow flies it’s only 170km but the drive was a enjoyable 6 hours of bendy mountains roads and breath taking views. Randomly bumped into Jasper in the mountains when I stopped for lunch and then again in Luang Prabang at dinner, he was traveling by bus from the plain of jars. Back in Vang Vieng again with the bike for one more day I did a easy 45km on dirt tracks through the hills around Vang Vieng and in the afternoon went tubing one last time.