hello from laos

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well we have a last arrived in laos and managed to find an internet connection even though it is painfully slow. we found that the further away from the capital you are the slower it is. and were miles away.

well after we left chang saen we headed over to chang khong it was a hilly route and as normal it was bloody hot cos we dont leave the hotel to about 9 30. we arrived there a booked ourselves in a good hotel overlooking the mekong river. The next morning we got up early to get out of thailand and into loas. only thing was that i found i had lost my bank card. err not good whn you have another two and a half monthes out here. so with a early moring call haome about 2 am uk time. i managed to get in cancelled and some money sorted out. after that drama we managed to get through thai immigration and onto a long boat with the bikes and two other touring cyclist and made the short journey accross the mekong and in laos. we got a 30 day visa which is what we needed but it was a possibility that we could of got given a 15 day one.

from the laso border at huay xai we booked ourselves onto the tourist must do and got the slow boat down the mekong. well hering about the boat from others we went for the one day option and didnt go all the way to luang prabang on it. one day sat on a overcrowded boat on a wooden bench was enough. it took 7 hours to get to our destination only to find when we got there the hull where the crew put my panniers had half filled with water a one was soaking and so was the contents.we got off the boat at pek beng. we then decided to take to long route heading northwards up to oudamaxy and then down to luang prabang. at the mo with have done 2 out of the 4 days cycling required to get the. its also been up hill for the last 2 days.

last nights accomodation was a good one as well. you didnt get any electricity till about 6 ish or when they liked to turn the generator on really. shower- that was a no as well you got a black bin full of water which you washed in. you had some nice big holes round the door for all of laos insects to get in through. and a window well that was just a pair of wooden shutters you pulled shut when you went to bed.

riding through all the villages is great, there are pigs running aacross the roads and chickens. they dont seem to lock any livestock up there is even cows just walking round. all the kids which there seems to be loads of run out to see us and shout hello, goodbye or sa ba dee which is loas for goodbye and put there hands out for a hi five. there houses are just bamboo shacks on stilts and at most places they have one water tap in the village which they have to walk to and fill up buckets. most of the poeple that live there are really poor and dont have anything by the looks of it. They also eat dog. there was a dead one yesterday on a table being cut up.

and my new favorite saying whic i have borrowed is "just because they have a fridge doesnt mean its plugged in". when mid day you alll hot and thursty and you just want a nice cold coke. you go to the nearest shack selling then pointint and franticly saying "coke,coke" and some old man that doesnt speak and english. you finally pay a massive amount of money to him cos your too thirsty to haggle him down, to then flick the lid open and down it to find that fridge hasnt been plugged in for a long long time and your coke is well warm.

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