From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lima_Site_85:
Lima Site 85 (LS-85 alphanumeric code of the phonetic 1st letter used to conceal this covert operation[3]) was a clandestine, military installation located in the Royal Kingdom of Laos guarded by the Hmong "Secret Army", the Central Intelligence Agency, and the United States Air Force used for Vietnam War covert operations against communist targets in ostensibly neutral Laos under attack by the Vietnam People's Army.I'm not going to recount much of Lima Site 85's history and will only post a few links here to get you started. I have to admit a certain schoolboy fascination with the site and the circumstances surrounding it though.
There is a ton of Lima Site 85 stuff to Google.
On March 10, 1968, 12 USAF personnel were killed at the site, making Lima Site 85 the single largest ground combat loss of United States Air Force members during the Vietnam War. There have been several POW/MIA investigations and several American's have visited the land strip and radar site at the top of the mountain looking for remains of men lost there but in there is no mention of any Americans visiting the Laos Army camp at the base of the mountain.
Fog in the mountains - riding in the clouds
Panorama
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I also didn't think I'd be writing this report because I didn’t
think I'd make it to the base camp. However, I was confident that between my
limited Laos language skills and my ability to make people smile, I'd be able to get
myself out of whatever trouble I got into. It turns out that I didn't get into
any trouble and apparently didn't break any laws or rules since there weren't
any signs posted saying stay out or any other indication that the general
public wasn't welcome. In fact, I saw some boys collecting firewood on the
trail, prior to the Y and also saw evidence of some recent sawmill activity
along the trail.
The video I shot and the accompanying narration was intended
for my Mom and grand-kids since they wanted to know what I was doing over in
Laos.
YouTube playlist of my 13 Lima Site 85 video clips
I also had no idea at all of what to expect but knew that the GT Riders Brian and Chris made a hit and run visit to the base camp last January. I would have been happy to copy what they did but ended up hanging out for 20 minutes before being chased away.
YouTube playlist of my 13 Lima Site 85 video clips
I also had no idea at all of what to expect but knew that the GT Riders Brian and Chris made a hit and run visit to the base camp last January. I would have been happy to copy what they did but ended up hanging out for 20 minutes before being chased away.
We planned on Swiss Danny being my wingman but after careful consideration of his current physical ailments, decided that it would be best for me to go solo. It would have been great to have Danny but alas it was not to be. Moral of the story: if you don't have a good wingman, you better have a good selfie stick.
Saturday, April 30, 2016
This map, made from my GPS track, shows I spent about 20 minutes at the
camp. I made a waypoint to show where the pavement starts/ends on the road as
well as a waypoint of where I parked the XR for 20 minutes. The POI labelled
Ban Phathi on the OSM map is where the base camp itself is. I also dropped a
waypoint where the "Y" is that others have taken before. According to
Auke, a left turn at the Y (heading north) will take you to where the recent drone footage was launched from. Speaking of drone footage, I probably wouldn't
have done this ride if I hadn't seen the footage showing the new building and
someone staying there. Also, I think the drone footage is where I first saw the
term "ladder" used but I'm not 100% sure what it refers to.
I had breakfast at the farang friendly Dannao Meuang Xam
restaurant and was on the road by 8:20 AM.
City center to end of pavement ~ 16 km.
Road to village: ~42 km
Trail (2 track) from village to the base camp: ~7 km
Total: ~65 km
I was pleased that there was as much pavement as there was
and even more pleased that the road wasn't all that bad. Only a few wet spots
to deal with but this was just the beginning of the rainy season. Still
shouldn't be too bad in the wet since the entire road is covered in some kind
of crushed rock and fairly well drained. Once again the XR was the right choice
as I was able to move at a good pace and take the bumps in stride. Road
construction isn't complete but it's good enough to be called a road instead of
a dirt track as it is on the OSM map.
Once I was on the last
7 km of trail north of Ban Houayma, I stopped to swap glasses and pull
my ear plugs out. I didn't know what to expect, if there were any armed
checkpoints nor if I would make it to the camp but I wanted these guys to be
able to see who I was and I wanted to be able to hear if they were putting a
round in the chamber of their AK-47s!
I climbed the last
hill in first gear and even then it felt like I came on the camp quickly since
I had to keep the revs up to stay in the power band. I'm positive my BMW GS1200
would not have made the final climb and even the good old Suzuki DRZ-S with the 5
speed gearbox would have required more speed than I would have wanted to use.
Having said that, the last 1-2 km of trail was in pretty good condition –
without any real erosion. Take a look at the gpx to get an idea of how steep it
is or see Brian's GT report for an elevation profile.
I saw a guy loading
his scooter in front of the parking area and rolled up next to him in a
friendly manner. I tried to engage him but he was yelling up the hill at the
same time he was talking to me. He seemed nervous and preoccupied but never
impolite. He didn't give me any indication that I wasn't welcome either. I have
a feeling that my choice of helmet decorations made me appear less threatening.
After all, it would be hard to shoot someone with a bright red mohawk and a
couple of antennas on their helmet, right?
At the same time I
could see 2 guys eyeballing me from above. I kept a sharp eye on the hilltop
camp the entire time I was there because I don't like bad surprises.
Shortly after my
scooter friend left, I noticed that the 2 guys above disappeared. When he left,
I rolled the XR to a spot where I'd have a better view of the ladder area.
I took a leak, mixed a
bottle of water with some hydration salts before I realized that I didn't have
any pictures yet! Using my cell phone I took a series of photos and videos to
document my visit.
I didn't hear much
other than some rattling corrugated steel flapping in the wind.
Cattle crossing
About 1 or 2 km below
the camp there is a closed bamboo cattle guard that has a well reinforced
ride-thru for bikes. Nice touch I thought, it makes for a quick getaway.
Pig pen, cows?
There is a small,
empty livestock corral next to a steel roofed open sided mini barn. I
originally thought it was a pig sty but it makes more sense to think they kept
cattle there at one time. There wasn't any cow poop at the camp or one the
trail to it so there haven't been any cows around in a while.
There were 9 scooters
parked under the roof, ten counting the one that just left. That fact made it
feel even weirder that no one has come out to great me at all. I yelled out my
best "Sabai Dee" in a submissive manner and waved as well but was
ignored.
The next person I
would hear from would be the "big boss" when he came to the edge of
the hill to cuss me out in Laos. I call him the big boss because he was older
than everyone else and was wearing some kind of khaki quasi uniform. He made a
gesture with his hand and I copied it saying "Go?" He replied
"You go!" Once that happened, I fiddled with my camera, keys, gloves
and buttpack for a bit and he started yelling "You go!" at me again
which prompted me to play stupid, wai him and ask again, "I go?"
I put my helmet on and
did my chicken imitation in hopes of lightening the mood. The big boss wasn't
impressed but one of the young guys watching said something and laughed out
loud. I’m guessing that he was suffering from a hangover and needed 20
minutes to get up and do something the unwanted visitor?
It felt like it was
time to go so I started the mighty XR and started rolling down the hill. All of
a sudden I noticed a well-used walking trail veering off to the left and
realized that's got to be the path I will use to visit the summit next trip. I
killed and stopped the XR at the head of the walking trail, looked up to the
big boss, and made a motion for me to ride the trail. In his best (only?)
English, the big boss told me "You go!" for the last time
today.
I rolled down the hill
with an incredible adrenaline high and a grin that lasted all the way back to a
cold beer Laos at the hotel.
Army or ???
I'm not sure if it's
correct to call the place I visited an Army camp or not because it didn't feel
100% Army to me. This was my first visit to a Laos Army camp and I used to
seeing a flag flying and/or at least a few guys in some kind of uniform.
Electricity
You'll see a lonely
electricity pole at the army camp in one of my videos. I saw a lot of new and
ongoing electrical construction along most of the road.
In the drone footage,
you'll see someone walking out of the "new building" near the
"ladder." I also saw someone wearing red pants/shorts walk out from
the building and stand at the edge looking down at me with their hands on their
hips. You will have to download my original photos and zoom in to see Mr. Red shorts.
Apologies for my cell phone photos, digital zoom sucks no matter what camera
you have.
Shining building
In one of the red
pants photos you can also see something shining brightly on the RH side of the
new building. I'm guessing that it was a piece of corrugated steel flapping in
the wind.
Cell coverage?!?!?
Just before I was
chased away, I remembered to look at my phone to see if I had coverage. I was
amazed to see 2/4 bars and Edge service for data with my Laotel SIM. Chances
are that the guys in the camp have better coverage and I'm sure the guy in red
pants had coverage too.
I thought about
staying in Sam Nuea to visit the caves but looking at the rain forecast and
considering my advanced age, I decided to move on. Besides, there wouldn't be
many other things on my Laos to do list that would beat what I just did.
I had a chance meetup
with Auke Koopsman in Phonsavan and ate dinner with him and his TLC brotherhood
colleagues. We talked about the unusual status of this "army camp"
since it didn't have any flag flying. Auke's been to far more Laos army camps
than me and says he can't remember seeing one without a flag. What is also
puzzling is the reason for the new building and why there are people staying
there. That brings me to my next goal which will be to camp overnight in the
new building and tour what's left of the TACAN site the next morning.
Google Photos had some fun mashing up the clips I shot. Here they are.
YouTube playlist of all 32 Laos clips videos here!
Google Photos had some fun mashing up the clips I shot. Here they are.
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