IRuth: On our third day in Luang Prabang we decided to take the slow boat a few hours up the Mekong River to visit the the Buddha Caves at Pak Ou. The Mekong is still a major transport route for all the countries along it, and perhaps the only flat ride in Laos. Of course, as soon as I got on the boat I needed ...
Gordon: Like a number of other travellers we have met we made an effort to be in Luang Prabang for Christmas. This small city is certainly the most popular destination for foreign tourists in Laos. And for good reason, as Luang Prabang is a charming town on the Mekong River with a laid back vibe. It has UNESCO world heritage status for its fusion of ...
Ruth: So what do you call sea weed that is not from the sea? The villages along our route this morning were busy producing a nori like river weed product. Women were working the river collecting the greenery that was later slapped out into a uniform layer on a drying mat. Tomatoes, sesame seeds and slivers of onions were sprinkled on top before more slapping ...
Ruth: Nong Khiaw is only a 30km detour off our route to Luang Prabang, and well worth the additional distance. The Karst landscape provides a stunning backdrop to this lovely town squeezed between mountains and the river Ou. We visited a nearby cave that sheltered the Pathet Lao, the communist revolutionary force, from American air strikes during the Vietnam war. The former regional capital was so damaged ...
Gordon: Ruth started writing today's blog, producing a single sentence before collapsing on the bed. It is 6:30 pm and she is snoring beside me as I write this. Ruth is justifiably tired after our most challenging ride. On other days we have cycled more than the 82 kms we covered today, but never with as much climbing. There were two major ascents, with a ...
Gordon: Today's ride was a modest 61 kms in length, but it did involve a 500 metre climb to 1120 metres, the highest we have been on this trip. Conditions were perfect, however, and we had a relaxed and rewarding ride. Unlike some of our previous climbs, the road was well designed, with grades limited to 7 or 8 percent. We gently wound our way ...
Ruth / Gordon: This is the second time we have cycled within spitting distance of China. The closest we have been was during our trip in Northern India, when we were only a few kilometres away. The Chinese influence is strong here, with the majority of the restaurants and guesthouses being operated by Chinese. We were hoping for one or two guesthouses in Namor, but ...
Ruth: Luang Namtha is a trekking base and most tourists here head off for one or two nights into the jungle to stay with different minority groups. About five Akha women work the town's tourist area officially selling bracelets and purses, but they also showed us their secret stash of pot for sale.It is a magic moment checking into a guesthouse with a sitting toilet ...
Ruth: The challenges and rewards of cycling in Laos are amazing. We have cycled two days in a row with a total climbing of at least 800 meters each day. This morning we spent three hours climbing up to 1043 meters averaging only 7 kms/hour. The reward, however, was the time we spent traversing a ridge dotted with tiny hamlets with split bamboo houses before ...
Gordon: We spent a night in the Lao border town of Houay Xay to give ourselves time to purchase cellular data service, acquire some Lao money (Kip - about 6,000 to the Canadian dollar) and purchase a new bike seat (mine broke just after we crossed the border.) Houay Xay is a node on the Southeast Asian tourist circuit - it is the place where ...