Monthly Archives February 2015

Before leaving Hin Hoeup we captured the Monks doing their 6 am daily begging. The locals provide food and they pray for them. You may hear the prayers at the end of this video. 

          Monks in the morning

The actual ride had a bit of hills and the last 60km were relatively flat.  The last 30 km were on bumpy dirt roads. At the start of the dirt road we shared it with 100’s of kids coming home from school, on tuk Tuk, walking and bikes. They were a very happy bunch (something we didn’t see in the mountains (schools or joyous children)).  

One group of cyclists challenged me to a race. I played cat and mouse and let them stay equal and then let the Canondale engineering kick in. They had old steel one speed bikes with wide tires and loose and missing bolts...

Another day of ups and downs. The roads were in good shape. Not too much traffic. We were not sure where we would stop but when we pulled into Hin Hoeup, we felt it was time. There were lots of fruit stands and some local restaurants. We took a chance that we could find something to eat. 

Along the way we started to see one of the largest lakes in SE Asia. It is man made due to a dam. We saw lots of dried and fresh fish. Some 3 foot catfish at the markets. 

Dried fish

Big catfish

Weaving at the side of the road

Lovely work

Rolling down the road. 

          A ride through town

Both times we were in Northern Laos, we bought some Laos children’s books from an organization called “Big Brother Mouse”. We gave them to poor rural schools along our journey...

After spending time in the very remote parts of Laos, it was a bit of a shocker being in Vang Vieng.  Some many tourists and some strange tourist rituals.  The Laos government clamped down a few years ago on things in Vang Vieng. 

A menu from 2011

Info about changes at Vang Vieng

Below is a brief video about our time in Vang Vieng. 

          A lot of moving parts in Vang Vieng

Bye for now. 

After a great bath in the warm springs we headed down the road. Kasi was 25 km away and we stopped for a Laos Coffee (quite different) and a breakfast pizza. 

Cows on the road in this town. 

A busy town

Going to work

Rolling down the mountain. 

          Rolling down the mountain 

After coming out of the mountains, the landscape changed. 

Lettuce and cabbage patches

We also started to see children allowed to be children. 

          Play time

Below is a stall at a market. Scott I think they offer fermented tree rats on the Tuesday menu. 

Rodents for sale to BBQ

Below is a link to a video from today. 

          A few other videos

We just passed an area that was famous for action by the Hmong rebels.  These rebels were the ground forces for the CIA secret war...

This was another climb day, although not as tough as yesterday. We pulled into Phou Khaun around lunch  time and got a standing ovation from a group of Belgium tourists travelling in a van. They passed us on one of the climbs and were a bit surprised by our age. 

This dusty cross roads town had a few guest houses, with shared squat toilets. We decided to add anothe 25km to our day and push through to a warm springs down the road. We hear there is a few bungalow with your own toilet (enough to entice us to do the extra 25 km). 

Mountain view.

R and R.

Selfie

So this warm springs was used extensively by the locals. Because the water flowed so fast it was remarkably clean. We went for our bath just before sun rise, before the local people use it...

Well this was to be the toughest day so far and it was. We started out at 7:30 and immediately did a 16 km climb. After a lovely downhill we do a 24 km climb. For us 40 km of mountain climbing is a long day. We pulled into town around 3:30. 

Our strataegy at the end was to ride km up and rest 30 seconds. This allowed us to break the climb into bight size parts. The short rests allow our bodies To readjust without getting complacent. 

One of the characteristics of a cycle tourist is they do whatever they have to do to deal with what is in front of them. Bitching about being sore or whining about the road ahead is not acceptable. We are here for the experience (whatever it is). 

The chart at the bottom of this photo shows the route we took today. We like to know what our day will be like. 

O...

This was a short and relative flat ride. We did this to prepare for the next few days, where there are not so many guest houses. 

 As well internet access will be limited and basic so it will be a bit tricky setting up videos etc. 

Large tree

River weed drying at the roadside

A very basic room for he night

Bye for now