Charming Luang Prabang (22nd - 26th March 07)

After the horrible day riding while suffering from food poisoning, staying put in a city for a few days came at great relief. What is even better is that Luang Prabang is one of the nicest and most beautiful cities we have visited so far in South East Asia.

Before arriving I had heard of Luang Prabang being compared to Hoi An in Vietnam. While this is true in that they are both world heritage cities with beautiful old buildings, we rank Luang Prabang much higher. The Lao people here contribute to the town having this amazing relaxed atmosphere. Even walking through the night market is a tranquil event, rather than the hectic hustle and bustle of other night markets in SE Asia (see pic below).

At the night markets there are beautiful silks, handicrafts, bags and almost anything one would need to tastefully decorate their house. It was so hard not to buy any of these products as the cycling bags dont have much spare room.

We planned to stay in Luang Prabang for 3 nights, but that quickly turned into 5. The guesthouse we stayed at was one of our nicest so far, with a great communal area to met other travellers. From now on we are going to make sure our guesthouse has a communal area as this seems to be our main way of meeting people. With a British guy, Canadian women and Irish guy we met, we spent a fun day at the near-by waterfalls. These waterfalls were stunning with many different levels of pools to swim in (see pic below).

Even though we were both still struggling with our stomach problems, we had a great time in Luang Prabang. It is definately a must for anyone heading to South East Asia!!

Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang (19th - 22nd March 07)

Day 1:
Vang Vieng to Kasi
Distance - 60km
Average - 16.1km/h

After relaxing in Vang Vieng for a few days we were about ready to get back on our bikes. We were not off to a good start on day 1, when 7km out of town Nick realised that he had lost his sunglasses which were sitting on his handbar bag. So we re-traced our path with no luck of finding the glasses. 14km later we started the day off again minus a pair of sunglasses. But the abundance of fake glasses in Asia means a new and cheap pair is never far away.

The ride towards Kasi was easy enough rolling hills, with the odd steep part. Kasi is a stopping point for every bus heading between Luang Prabang and Vientiane, and this seems like the main business for the town with restaurants everywhere. Other than this, there was very little to Kasi.

Just as we were about to have a ridiculously early night at 7pm, we were approached by a school kid who wanted to take us back to his high school so that his classmates could practice their English on us. We agreed and off we went to the 'high school' which was actually a basement in a local mans house.

There were more than 50 kids packed into this small area to learn English from a man who spoke poor English himself. He explained to us that he has this class as at the students actual high school, the 'English' teachers dont actually know any English to teach. So it seems a bit like the blind leading the blind with students trying to learn English off people who can not speak it themselves. But miraculously, there were a few students in the room that could speak very well.

It was a really touching experience to spend time with these students. Nick spoke to one 18year old student who explained that when he finished school he wanted to do computer programming at the university in Vientiane. Yet he did not have a computer, nor did anyone in the whole Kasi town and had never actually used a computer. Another girl who spoke excellent English wanted further her English classes at university, yet at fees of US$200 per semester, university is unattainable for most of the Lao population. We left the class wanting to establish some university scholarship, so that these students could actually go through with their dreams. One student explained that most will probably end up picking cabbages once they finished school. It was really sad but at the same time amazing as all the kids were so enthusiastic about learning, they all had big dreams but its a pity that in reality they will not be able to leave their families due to responsibilities or be able to afford to study.




Day 2:
Kasi to Phou Khoun
Distance - 47km
Average - 9.8km/h

Today we hit the mountains!! We new we had a big day ahead of us, even though the distance is quite small we knew we would be travelling mainly upwards. After a cruisy 5km out of town we hit our first climb, a steady 5km climb that wound its way through some beautiful limestone landscapes (see photo). We were in high spirits when we met two chinese cyclists heading the opposite way who told us what we had ahead of us.......so we stopped at some hot springs to fuel up on baguettes and ice coffees. We set off again then started the final part of the days riding - a 23 km climb that took us up to 1500m elevation. The climbing just didnt stop, it was 23km straight up and quite often we could see the road snaking high up the mountain, so while demoralising that we had so far to go, it also provided a target. We got into a pretty good rythym, we would climb for 45 mins then stop for a break. It took us about 3hrs to do the 23 km climb, riding at 5-8 km/hr up the hills. At the top was Phou Khoum, the town we would be spending the night.

Entering the mountainous area we were also getting close to a rebel stronghold zone - which when we say rebels we mean US trained guerillas who have staged attacks against government interests - so there is a large increase in the presence of guns. There were a lot of army checkpoints and random guys walking along the road with machine guns, which was a bit unnevring when we were riding slowly up a hill and couldnt really make a quick escape. But most of them were friendly and we made sure to say sabaidee (hello) to show our good will. Some even tried to practise english on us as we rode past! Even groups of people working in the bush always had at least one armed person with them.

Most of the villages in the mountains lie on the roadside, usually at the bottom and top of the hills. Quite often the kids would come running out to greet and wave at us but it often took us a few minutes of riding up a hill to reach them, meanwhile they were yelling out sabaidee and waving the whole time. At one village a group of 5 year olds ran along next (and often running faster than we were riding) to us cheering us on and ended up following us for 3km out of their village and up the hill!









Day 3:
Phou Khoun to Kiew Ka Cham
Distance - 50km
Average - 12.6km/h

Today was another hilly day, but this time we were heading to Kiew Ka Cham, another mountain top town. So we had a mix of climbing and descents. Most of the climbs were about 5-10km, much shorter than the previous day. The legs were a little sore but we knew at the top of each mountain we had a speedy descent.

We met a Scottish couple at our guesthouse who were travelling south. They had just been to china and so we picked their brains over dinner for routes in china. We have decided we will be taking the bikes to china and probably riding the southwest part. So it was great getting some tips on cycling over there.

Nat and I both felt weird after dinner, kind of nauseas and not quite right. We both could not sleep due to discomfort and Nat ended up spending most of the night vomiting. Having to share a bathroom didnt really help the matter as everytime Nat felt sick she had to go up the hall to the toilets. I faired a bit better, felt like crap but nothing "came up".

Day 4:
Kiew Ka Cham to Luang Prabang
Distance - 78km
Average - 16.5km/h

After a restless and sleepless night we decided it would be best to try and get to Luang Prabang. We both felt slightly better but still very nauseas. But we agreed getting to LP would be better than staying there another night. We were not keen on catching a bus so we decided to head out riding. All we could stomach was a green tea and two biscuits but we headed off knowing it was mostly downhill with only one 15km climb as we would come down off the moutains to Luang Prabang. If we could get up the 15km climb we would have 2 descents then rolling hills to Luang Prabang.

After a 2km ride out of town we had a steep 20km downhill descent, which was worth all the effort we had put in over the last few days. Now was the hard part, we had a 15km climb up a road which zig zagged up the valley ahead of us. We broke it down into 2km blocks, using the kilometer markers as short term goals. We rode for 2km then had a break, 2km then a break. As we approached the top of the hill (4 hrs later) where a village was sited we came across a group of school kids walking down the road, we said hello and they could tell we were stuffed so they gave us some encouraging pushes for a few metres up the hill. When we reached the village we craved sugar so we went to a thatch hut which sold drinks, to our delight when we looked in the hut there was a brand spanking new fridge, so we downed an ice cold pepsi while sitting in the shaded comforts of the shop ladies house. The climb up the hill was incredibly hard, we both felt very sick but knew it was the hard part of the days riding, amazingly we made it up without pushing the bikes once!!

We headed off pumped on pepsi and had a amazing 15km descent, that took us out of the mountains down a warm river valley. The ride down was great, it wasnt too steep and had flowing corners so we hardly had to use the brakes. We were passing trucks and bikes that had passed us on the way up!! We stopped for another pepsi (the only thing we felt like having), at the bottom of the hill, we both decided we made it this far so we kept on pushing and covered the remaining 25km to Luang Prabang in 1.5 hours. This part was mainly rolling hills which seemed tiny in comparison to the last few days.

We arrived in Luang Prabang totally famished after eating only a few biscuits all day. The last thing we felt like was asian food so we splurged on some western comforts!!

Vang Vieng - touristy yet relaxing (16th - 19th March 07)

Vang Vieng is a well known location of the backpacker trail in SE Asia. So we were a little unsure of what to expect for a place that everyone talks about.

We managed to find this beautiful place to stay that was slightly out of the main centre, with a US$4 bungalow. It was a great place to relax and read after a few days of cycling.

The town of Vang Vieng was another story. There were numerous bars with blarring TVs all day long, with anything from the Simpsons to Friends to the latest movie. These bars were set up as 'TV bars' and so the reason to go to them was to sit and watch the blarring TV. This aspect alone was something we have only seen in the real touristy destinations in southern Thailand. While trying to avoid these, there were some other nice places to eat.

Vang Vieng is set amongst limestone cliffs which normally would be a stunning backdrop for the town. Yet unfortunately when we were there, there was really bad smog from the surrounding 'slash and burn' agricultural techniques. So for us, we could only see an outline of these limestone cliffs, and anything more than a few km away was impossible to see.

The other aspect of Vang Vieng, that anyone who goes there will do, is tubing. This involves sitting in a truck tire tube, while floating down a river for a few kms. As it is so popular bars have set up down the river with blaring music, swings and lots of Beer Lao. So off we went to pile into a jumbo (3 wheeled vehicle) to take us upstream to start tubing.

The swings were great fun with some being like a flying fox over water, and other like a giant circus swing. We saw a few nasty lands with people stumbling out of the water soon to be black and blue. Our choice of day to tube ended up coinciding with St Patricks day (not intentional). So things were more rawkus than usual, with naked irish men on the swings with an irish flag off their back.

The bars down the river are well described by being very 'beach boy'. Loud music with people in their bikinis dancing. These bars weren't really our cup of tea so further down stream we found some more laid back bars to enjoy tasty Beer Lao. It took us a bit longer than we expected to get down stream and for the last hour we had to swim in order to avoid the late penalty fee for returning our tubes. All up it was a really relaxing and fun day.

We ended up staying in Vang Vieng for 3 days which was great to rejuvenate before the mountains further north.

Vientiane to Vang Vieng (14th - 16th March 07)

Day 1:
Vientiane to Ban Na Keum
Distance - 99.9km
Average - 18.8km/h

To head out of Vientiane we decided to go up the less busy route 10, rather than the main road of route 13. We were happy with our choice as the road was in great condition, yet had very little traffic. We would go for a few kms before seeing another vehicle. Also the scenery was really nice and it was a really enjoyable ride. It was such a change to riding on the expressways in Thailand with zooming trucks and buses.

In the last 20km or so, we hit our first big hills. These were quite a challenge after already riding about 70km. Nick also had a really sore knee, which he thought could be a ligament problem. So we had to take these hills very slowly. The last 5km or so was so steep that Natalie had to push her bike up the hill.

When we got to our destination of Ban Na Keum, it was stunning. It is a very small town on the south of a man-made lake. The lake was really mystical with little islands scattered in the centre. We found a guesthouse for 50,000 kip ($7nzd) which had a great view of the lake.

We met this older Lao man who spoke excellent English, who ran one of the local restaurants. We ate there for the next three meals, and he was great to catch to about issues in Lao. On our last meal he gave us these woven braclets as a good luck symbol. His present was really touching. Looking back on it, we have both concluded that so many experiences such as this one, would have never happened if we were not on bike. If were were on a bus we would have never stopped in this town and never met these amazing people.

The one other person at the guesthouse was a Spanish cyclist heading south, so it was great to get tips on the roads further north.



Day 2:
Ban Na Keum to Tha Heua
Distance - 85km
Average - 17.1km/h

The next days ride was quite flat with a few little hills. Our riding average was a bit lower as we were both a bit tired from the day before. Nicks knee seemed to get better over night which was a god-send as that could have ruined our whole trip. He had the odd pain after that, but no where near as bad.

Tha Heua was a town on the north of the same lake, yet not as beautiful as the southern town. As the guesthouse we befriended this very cute little boy who helped up with our laundry.




Day 3:
Tha Heau to Vang Vieng
Distance - 28km
Average - 17.2km/h

The ride the next day was nice and short to Vang Vieng. Most other cyclists we have spoken to did the same ride we did in two days in one day. We could have done this but we didnt want to arrive in Vang Vieng really exhausted and we have a few days to spare to take things slow.

Border Crossing on Bicycle (12th March 07)

Nong Khai to Vientiane
Distance - 35km
Average - 19.1km/h

Originally we planned to spend a few days cruising around the Thai side of the Mekong river, visiting some sleepy fishing villages and seeing a more slower paced Thailand. Yet we were also itching to get across to Laos and so made the decision to head across a few days earlier.

The Thai-Lao friendship bridge is only a few km long, yet it is only the 2nd bridge to span the entire width of the Mekong - the 1st is in China.

We rode a few km's out of town to reach the Thai immigration point. It was all very exciting doing this on bicycle, and it was far easier than we were expecting. Once crossed into the Laos side as we pre-organised our visa in Khon Kaen, we had no queues or delays. The people from the buses in comparison, we put in queues with an hour wait. So all the formalities took us less than 15 mins and we were on our way to the capital of Laos - Vientiane.

Vientiane was about a 20km ride from the border crossing. As soon as you cross over you can see the different between Thailand and Laos. Simple things such as road signs were missing on the Laos side, so we had to go by our compass to make sure we were heading in the right direction.

Laos (so far) is also more developed than we were expecting. I guess I had images of Cambodia as what to expect of Laos, but I was completly wrong. Maybe outside of the capital will be a different story.

Vietiane is the least stressful capital that we have ever been to. Comparing it to neighbouring Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur, it seems almost like a small town. It will be interesting to head further north, into the real small towns of Laos to see what differences there are.

We met some really friendly like-minded travellers at our guesthouse. Had a nice dinner with them down at the water-front looking out over the Thai side. It seems like the people who travel in Laos have much larger time schedules and usually encorporate it as part of a large trip in South East Asia. That alone is very different to Vietnam, where many travellers went solely to Vietnam with tight time restraints or part of a packaged tour.

We plan 2 days to explore the capital before heading on our way north.

Chilling Out in Nong Khai (10th March 07)

Nong Khai

Nong Khai is on the Mekong River in NE Thailand, primarily visited as it is home to a border crossing with Laos. Yet Nong Khai is also a beautiful place to visit.

Upon arriving in the town we rode about trying to find a nice guesthouse. We came across Mut Mee guesthouse which has a really nice chilled out garden with basic but nice rooms. We got one of the cheapies at 250 baht (nz$12).

There are lots of hammocks scattered about the garden (see pic below), where we could read and relax after all the cycling. It was here that I made the decision to stay for 3 nights, rather than the 2 originally planned.

The first afternoon we arrived we met this wonderful man while buying icecreams at the 7-eleven. The man, Don, approached us after overhearing our question of how to make international calls. Don is a Thai man who has been living in Sydney for the last few decades and has recently moved back to Thailand. After a little chat, he invited us to visit his home the following morning. Usually we say thanks for the offer and somehow dont end up doing it, but there was something different about Don that we wanted to spend more time with him.

So the next morning we bought a few cakes and pastries and went to Don's house for morning tea. His house is amazing with lots of traditional Thai designs and use of wood, with a very stylish yet traditional back garden (see pic below). Don and his wife Lynn were great to chat with and then he showed us the 'must-eat' spots of town. It was definately a morning to remember, and we hope to keep in touch with Don in future visits to Thailand.

Nong Khai also is home to the expansive sculpture park. The artist is influenced by Buddhist and Hindu deities, and has heaps of sculptures, the largest reaching 25m high. Well worth the visit.

That is another great thing about Thailand is that these tourist attractions are so well priced at 10 baht (less the 50 nz cents). Vietnamese attractions, in comparison, are largely overpriced, usually with double-pricing for foreigners and locals. One of the reasons we were glad to leave Vietnam for neighbouring SE Asia countries.

Towards Laos (9th March 07)

Udon Thani to Nong Khai
Distance - 62km
Average - 17.5km/h


The legs today were pretty sore after the long ride yesterday. Yet after some tiger-balm and a few hours to warm up on the bikes, we were back in the swing of things.

For brekkie we had the tastiest Pad Thai (Fried Noodles) at this hawker stand near the bus station (see pic below). At 25baht ($1nzd), it is a filling nutritious meal for a day riding.

The road from Udon Thani to Nong Khai was another leg of the dual carrigeway, which was flat for most of the way. The ride only took us a little over 3 hours (exclusive of stops). Our average was a bit lower than yesterday as we knew we could cruise along without much concern of reaching the destination.

Nong Khai is the border town with Laos, which is home to the Thai-Lao Friendship bridge. Most travellers stop here on route to Laos, just across the Mekong. Our guesthouse is this very laid back with bungalows, hammocks and chairs set amongst leafy trees. A nice retreat from the pollution and heat on the expressway.

We met a couple of other cyclists that gave us useful information of the roads and stops in Laos.

First day on the road (8th March 07)

Khon Kaen to Udon Thani
Distance - 124km
Average - 18.4km/h

On our first day riding it seems kinda odd that we planned a ride of 120km. Yet we wanted to head north from Khon Kaen to the next major town of Udon Thani. We were told by our guesthouse that there were no accomodation options on route, so we had to tackle the whole distance in one day.

So we tried to beat the 40 degree temperatures by heading off at the crack of dawn, after a filling breakfast of Khao Phat (Fried Rice). The road linking Khon Kaen and Udon Thani was a major dual carriageway, which luckily enough had a side lane the whole distance. This ensured our distance from the buses, trucks and pick-up trucks flying along at 150km/h.

Every 5km Nick's 'baby-bladder' needed emptying, and at one such stop, he came running back from the bushes with a pack of dogs snarling close behind. We made a quick dash to the bikes and made a hasty escape. In Vietnam dogs are rarely let outdoors in fear of them being BBQ at the local restaurant, but in Thailand dogs are everywhere.

Along the way the Thai locals were super-friendly with lots of 'Hellos' and 'Sawadees'. Im sure if they new the words they would say 'Are you part mad?' One women we met asked where we were going, and we said 'Udon Thani' which at that stage was 15km away, which she said was very far. When we told her we had already riden the 110km from Khon Kaen, she looked at us with disbelief.

For lunch we sampled the famous Isan-Thai holy trinity of Gai Yaang (marinated BBQ chicken), Som Tum (spicy papaya salad) and Khao Neow (sticky rice). Vendors selling these delights lined the roadside in various towns.

The 125km ride was pretty tough, being the longest ride that either of us have ever done. The terrain was not too bad, mainly gentle rolling hills or flat Mekong landscape. We have two weeks to get our cycling legs ready for the mountains in Laos.

Bangkok to Khon Kaen (4th March 07)

Instead of taking on the Bangkok expressway to the North-East of Thailand we decided to train to Khon Kaen then start the riding.

The train, as usual in SEA, blasted the cool air making the top sleeper next to the air vent unbearable. We ended up sharing the small lower sleeper just to escape Antarctic temperatures - made us question why we paid NZ$20 for each sleeper.

While we slept, or tried to, our bikes were safely stored in the first storage carriage. The Thai railway service is great for its reliability and service.

Below is a photo of our loaded bikes in Bangkok before we hopped on the train. Our decision of panniers vs. backpacks is currently being tested. If the weight distribution proves unsteady, when we return to Bangkok we might be upgrading to panniers. But after our initial rides, the backpacks appear to be ok.

Bangkok - Backpacks for Bikes (2nd March 07)

We flew into Bangkok from Hanoi last friday (2nd March) and started the new part of our trip. We left our main backpacks with a friend in Hanoi and now only have the bare essentials in a small backpack; a couple of t-shirts, undies, one pair of shorts and a few toiletries. It is actually suprising how little you need to get by when thats all we have, I guess it follows the old adage, if you have the room in a bag you will fill it.

We went straight to Probike, a bike shop we were recommended by people on web forums. It stocks all western brand bikes, and has everything we need. We have never walked into a shop before and purchased so much new stuff. We bought new Trek mountain bikes, rear racks, pumps, road tyres, tool kit, helmets, cycling computer, tubes and cycling shorts. All up it cost us about NZ$800 each. Pretty good value for all new gear!!

After getting all the equipment mounted on the bikes we took them for a spin around Bangkok, and after taking a wrong turn we ended up clocking 50km in the Bangkok traffic, oh and we were the only cyclists we saw that were game enough to take on the Bangkok traffic.