Out of the mountains, into the valleys

Bor Nam Oon is certainly worth another night just to enjoy the serenity and beauty. Therefore it was with great reluctance that we had to set off, a little later. Breakfast of bacon, eggs and baguette was just too good to rush through and we took our time to enjoy it.

The last 18km downhill ride continued much to my delight and some 10' degree slopes saw the Surly hit 55.5kmh. Its ultra long wheelbase made it absolutely stable.

However, that rhythm was broken many times with compulsory stops for photos. The green ricefields, sweeping valleys, blues skies, limestone mountains, flowing streams and signature ridges bathe in perfect morning light beckoned us to just take it all in.

Kasi, 20km away signalled the end of the mountainous part. We regrouped and had refreshments, and waited too long for Chris who was captivated with the landscape. His camera truly had an early morning full on aerobics workout. Typical of Lao hospitality, the friendly shopkeeper bantered with us and proudly showed off his gorgeous 2 yo grand-daughter.

The 60km ride to Vien Vang was flattish and a bit boring compared to what we have rode through. Down to only 300m above sea level, we were getting fried by the blazing sun. Many parts of the road here in Route 13 were broken and spoilt.

Gravel, sand and dust were the order of the day. All the rough and hard riding took its toil on rider and machine. Any fillings in our teeth were well and truly shaken out and my bike panniers came loose through a screw that fell off no thanks to all the poundings. Our Belgians friends unfortunately lost their handlebar mounted camera in this stage too. 3 weeks of photos all gone and it was most tragic. But I will always remember the kindness of a little girl selling fruit at one rest point. I must have looked pretty pathetic, and she came over shyly to give me a refreshing Mandarin Orange. I was touched!

Reaching Vien Vang was a relief and we felt like dusty cowboys on horses at the end of a long trail. We checked into Mekong View Guesthouse (our friend Michelle Dodd stayed here 6 months ago) tired and dirty.


The magnificient view of the mountain ridges and Nam Ou River from the 2nd floor balcony, spacious and clean rooms and location away from the noisy centre of town, made this a most suitable abode for our next two days in the valley.

More climbs, more descents, more beauty

At 1500m, even with the first rays of sunlight, KKC was chilly. We exhaled "smoke" while having breakfast and managed an early start at 0830 - with our 2 new friends joining us. It was misty and cold as we started our descent.

Slicing through the mountain fresh air in complete silence, save for the sound of the rumble of fast spinning tires, was pure bike heaven. The steep mountains and valleys made for the most spectacular scenery ever and I was in holy awe. One of the great joys in riding Laos must be the ever friendly children who will run out to the road screaming "Sabai-di" with outstretched hands. Their warm smiles never fail to melt my heart.

The 20km descent ended too soon into a lush valley with a quiet small village by a bubbling stream. We stopped for some refreshments and recharging for the 8km climb ahead. It felt so unfair to be crawling when I was flying a moment ago but that is the brutal honesty of cycling. There is no free ride!
It was back to granny crawling until we reached Muang Phu Khon and we reached there with wobbling legs. A hot bowl of Pho noodle soup never tasted so good and we simply sat down speechless for a while in the restaurant, catching our breath. MPK is a junction town where 2 highways meet (to the famous Jars of Clay) and it was bustling with traffic and numerous stores filled with made in China products. Some people stay here for the night but we knew better...

Another 27km of largely downhill would bring us to a lovely simple resort by a hot spring. Thanks to the helpful sharing of previous cyclists online, that was our destination for the day. The scenery now switched to limestone mountains and with the setting sun, throwing beautiful shadows and lighting, it was a field day for the camera.


Flying down the mountains is one thing, but one's eye must be peeled on the road. There was a stretch where half of the road collapsed due to soil erosion, and it would be treacherous to be encountering that at night!


Arriving at Bor Nam Oon, I jumped straight into the hot spring only to discover it was a warm spring. But that was still very nice especially for aching muscles and I just sat there soaking in the surroundings until a Lao mom and her 2 young naked children joined me. With laundry and toothbrush in hand, they decided to carry on their daily routine and this was when I decided to leave. The Belgians rolled in about an hour later and we were glad they made it. Dinner was surprisingly delicious too. My only complain about this stop is that many truckers decide to make this their stop too and somehow, their heavy engines and the serene surroundings did not gel.

However, my rustic, wooden chalet provided the perfect toasty place to just lay down for the cool evening. With the quiet sound of a nearby gurgling stream, I was at absolute peace. I have seen God's creation today in all its finest splendor and I have been richly blessed.

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.