The ride begins!

Another 2 days in Luang Prabang made it all the more harder to leave this beautiful french provincial town but today, it had to be done. After a hearty breakfast at the Chang Cafe along Kingkitsalat Road just by the Nam Khan River (look out for an old 1960 white Mercedes), we made our way south along Route 13 to Vientiane.

The cool 15c ride for the first 25km was easy enough, passing through quite small villages. Traffic became increasingly lighter though a few huge trailers and coaches, particularly the "King of the Bus" ones, zoomed passed us a bit unnervingly on some narrow sections. Their exhausts spewing black poisonous diesel smoke can truly induce vomit.

Then, the torture started. 15km of continuous climbing. We started at 300m and ended up 1100m. It was a bitter taste of what laid ahead and getting stuck on granny gear on the LHT most times was not fun. I quickly learned that climbing is a mind game, spinning at a leisurely 8 - 10kmh, the temptation to push the bike was great. But the shame of it was too unbearable and provided the perfect motivation to plod on. My strategy was to stop every 2km to enjoy the view and catch my breath. That worked very well. It helped immensely too that there were plenty of drink stalls every 10km for a recharged if necessary.

What goes up must come down and our reward for the hard climbing was flying 15km downhill. Zooming at 30-40kmh will give any adrenaline junkie a satisfying fix. Add in the spectacular mountain views, I knew this was going to be one heck of a ride. One concern was overheated brakes but that sure was better than having over-tired legs.

We arrived 53km at Nam Ming, a village at the foot of the hill with a beautiful bridge around 1pm, hungry but happy.

Unfortunately, the only food available was instant noodles and the heavily made up shopkeeper took pity on us and made some spicy ones with eggs. Beggars can't be choosers and we wolved it down, pondering our next move - a steep 22km to Kiou Ka Cham.

As there were only 2 guesthouses at KKC and we estimated the 1500m climb to take 3-4 hours, there was a chance we could be up there stranded with no room. It so happened that Ms Make Up had a spacious pick-up and her brother was willing to bring us up for 150,000kips (US$18). So feeling slightly embarassed, we loaded our 3 LHTs behind and enjoyed the ride. That move happened to be a smart one as we found out later that a Belgium couple started the climb at 9am, and reached the peak at 3pm!

Chris asked the driver to drop us 1km before town so we could experience some "climbing" and maintained what precious dignity we had left. A prudent move as only one guesthouse was opened and we managed to get the last "big" room at the back of the restaurant. The Dung Rabbit guesthouse was reputed to be the dingier one with non-flushing squat toilet in a "Oh my gosh" common bathroom.

You won't want to stay in this toilet for too long - Pic CW

DR was described by a CGOAB cyclist to be a trucker's brothel stop but we found it "acceptable". The owners tried to make us comfortable and got hot water in a pail for our evening bath. I enjoyed that very much.

Our pre-dinner walkabout of KKC was pleasant enough with us busy snapping pictures of village children playing and having lots of fun in an abandoned truck.

Dinner was a simple affair of rice and dishes and we met Meerteen and Katherin, the Belgium couple with brand new mountain bikes. They soon became our riding buddies to Vientiane.

We retired early into our pink beds as the evening was getting colder, surrounded by too many posters of various Lao ladies on the wall.

Temp raising posters ... good for cold weather - Pic CW

Nam Ou cruising...

Getting the boat back to Luang Prabang was a dicey affair. The boat ticketing office resembled a cowboy trading post filled with backpackers at the mercy of the Sheriff of Nong Kiau, the stern looking controller.

Pic by CW

Chaos mixed with Laotian order was the order of the morning and by His grace, we managed to get ourselves a seat with 8 other tourists. Our transport was a wooden 5 ft narrow but 35 ft long boat just barely inches from the water line. It did not help that the boat driver had only one good hand, and he was accompanied by a weather beaten old lady who acted as Chief Stewardess.

With our 3 Surlys tied precariously at the rear of the boat, we set off nervously at 11am. Getting comfy on kindy sized wooden seats was a challenged for me and pity the much bigger Caucasian passengers. Amid the loud din of the salvaged Toyota twincam engine from a Corolla, the ride proved to be a surprisingly pleasant one.

The Nam Ou meanders through even more beautiful limestone hills and cliffs. Crusing down the river with ever changing scenery with the cool breeze in the face is magic. We passed by villagers happily fishing and planting crops, and I felt a tinge of envy at their simple Shangrila existence. A Belgium lady seated in front of me, kept her long lens Nikon SLR continously busy trying in vain to capture the amazing views unfolding before our eyes.


The river soon joined the mighty Mekong and this was obvious at the huge width of the river. No wonder huge ships can make their way nearly 4000km inland into China from Vietnam. Our one arm driver obliged a request to stop at the Tham Ting caves where a beautiful temple with many Buddas awaited beady eye tourists.

We arrived at Luang Prabang at 4pm sharp and checked in backed into our usual guesthouse. This was followed by a lovely dinner at Tom Tom Cheng. I can still feel the boat rocking as I write this, but somehow, I do not mind.

Luxuriating by the river @ Nong Kiau

In the shadows with the LHT

Flying on land as usual...

The colour of the coffee and the river was the same!

The Nong Kiau bridge - a 1975 gift from China when Laos become communist

Mom & child on the family MPV

One of the many beautiful scenes along the river in NK

140km north of Luang Prabang is the dusty and ramshackle town of Nong Kiau. Its a stopover for many on their way to Muang Ngoi by boat but Nong Kiau itself has its own charm. Located at the base of a red-faced cliff and towering hills, it makes for delightful place to just chill out. The famous landmark of a bridge - a gift from the China in 1975 when Lao became communist, stands as its main landmark and this is the place to absorb the remarkable scenery. Trekking is also popular here as many traditional, unspoilt Lao villages with carefree and remarkably cute children play while women wash their laundry in the stream.

3 young wood-cutters - radiating warmth and friendliness!

Of course, we preferred to do our exploring by bicycle and our adventure had already started since Luang Prabuang. The ride up to NK was absolutely brilliant with rolling hills and towering limestone cliffs. The cool weather was also just starting to kick in and it was like cycling in aircon. Chris was smart enough to hijack a pickup truck for the steepest section and it was a smart thing to do if we wanted to arrive before sunset.

A long way to go but who's complaining?

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Two nights at the Nong Kiau Riverside Resort spoilt us rotten. A generous 45sq m villa, 4 poster beds with thick, firm Marriot-style mattress, quaint mosquito nets and most importantly, a huge balcony that could park 3 dirty and tired Surlys impressed us thoroughly. Add the best views of majestic & misty limestone cliffs with unobstructed river views, this was a slice of heaven.

Our beautiful villa!

The service too was very satisfactory thanks to Japanese owner Naomi San who looked into the minute details that kept her guests happy. We were dining yesterday and it was getting chilly. Suddenly, a hot charcoal stove appeared beside our table to keep us warm. Is that service or what?

I can't say enough of this great place especially after a hard day's ride. Do check them out if you are ever in this area of Laos.

http://www.nongkiau.com/

Luang Prabang by twin propellors

Cycling to the airport from Vientiane in the morning was a very pleasant experience. This capital city is still blessed with light traffic and we covered the 5km in 30 mins flat. With the cardboard we salvaged from our bike boxes, we sort of wrapped the frame, straightened the handle bars, remove pedals and deflate tires, presto - bike was ready to fly.

Of course we attracted a curious crowd in our packing at the very quiet domestic airport. It was a small plane and we were required to remove the front tire as well which was no big deal. The 480km by road or 10 hours in the bus was reduced to a painless 50 min flight.

I could see a glimpse of the mountain ranges that we have to conquer by bicycle next week but for now, we just want to enjoy the historical UN Heritage city of Luang Prabang. We fixed the bikes at the airport and cycled into town, overtaking many other local cyclists. The highlight was crossing an old wooden narrow bridge that could only take bikes and small motorcycles.

LP a charming small town situated between 2 rivers and have an even more easy pace than Vientiane. Its the start of the cool season and we enjoy nice 18c nights but days still hover at 30c. 33 temples, some centuries old, are fascinating and await our exploration. Plenty of French Provincial houses and buildings give LP a most European flavour.

Lots of quaint guest houses and obviously the numerous construction going on to build even more testifies to the growing number of tourists descending upon LP. Night markets, stretching for over 2km await the ardent shopper. Certainly, the coffee culture here is strong and it reminds me of Pai, but with far too many tourists. This is probably the downside of this lovely town but with bikes, we could stay away further from the touristy spots and still savour some old world charm.

Namphu flowing in Vientiane

First of many temples to come - Nong Khai

The new Boardwalk at Nong Khai's Mekong riverside

Former Governor's mansion

Two flights with a 3 hr stopover, plus one 50km ride on a chartered Hilux pick-up saw us finally in the border town of Nong Khai, Isaan district Thailand. It was not a good start to find out that our supposedly booked room at Kiang Khong Guesthouse was given up. Fortunately, the Ruan Thai guesthouse next door had a spacious big room. That evening, we experience the heaviest downpour ever that turned the road outside our guesthouse into a river of mud.

What was formerly a road, now a mud bath after heavy showers

After a late breakfast, we set off for an easy 30km ride from the border town of Nong Khai, Thailand into laid back Vientiane. There was a sign prohibiting bicycles crossing the Friendship Bridge that spans the Mekong and that got us worried. Fortunately, the immigration ladies at the Thai side were too busy having their sticky rice lunch, and we didnt stop to ask. A quick 1200m zoom through and we were in Lao PDR.

Pic by CW

It was about noon and with some head winds, it was hard to maintain 26kmh. The blazing sun didnt help but we were in the city within an hour. A quick meeting with Nang, Country Manager of Joma Bakery saw us secure our most important flight ticket to Luang Prabuang tomorrow. Being high season, most of the hotels we checked was full but surprisingly, the ever popular Mali Namphu had one room and we grabbed it.

It was great to be on the saddle and the short ride was just the thing to warm up our legs for the long ride to come. I certainly didn't deserve a massage but had one anyway, and it was super. Prices have gone 50% since I was last here and talk about runaway inflation especially in hotel rates. With the global financial turmoil, I don't think this will last.

It was nice to see that the Namphu fountain shooting spouts of water, something I didn't get to see in March last year. Well, at least this is still free, for now.