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Published: April 1st 2007
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Short Rest
A little ways north of Vang Vieng. Really starting to get into the mountains. In Vientiane our cycling companions Brice and Elise decided to take a turn to the south. Their plan was to head to Bangkok to get some visas worked out for the ride back to France and to meet some family that was coming to visit. We ate at Nazim Indian restaurant one last time together and they were off to the “Friendship” bridge to cross into Thailand.
We left Vientiane the same day but headed north into the mountains. We had heard a lot from various travelers about a town called Luang Prabang in the mountains of northern Laos. It would be cool to check out this town but really it was the road through the mountains we were interested in. Any cyclist we met who had been to Laos said this route was a must. Gradually we came to agree as we rode north.
We cycled all afternoon, stopped for lunch and to fix a flat then continued on. At sunset we were surprised by a sudden wind/dust/rain storm..?..We pushed through it for about a half hour until we came upon a Temple in the country. We quickly ducked in, talked to the eldest monk
Only one way to go...UP
This was what we did pretty much all day. Just a slow rythm in the granny gear. Stopping to catch our breath and wipe our brows. and set up our tent. We had fun practicing Thai and English with all the monks for a bit then retired to our tent to have a banana and peanut dinner before sleep.
We got up and out early and set off toward the mountains. About the only traffic on the road was VIP tourist busses carrying tourists from Vientiane to Luang Prabang and logging trucks carrying the hardwoods out of the jungle and into the furniture shops. Personally I like the trees better in the jungle but how do you make quick money off that?
Vang Vieng was our destination for the night. Our ride was great, the mountains had yet to become too steep. Vang Vieng was a sort of “eco”-tourist wonderland, rock climbing, kayaking, mountain biking, caving, drinking beer and floating down the river in an inner tube seemed to be the most popular activity, as well as nightly American sitcom marathons at several bars around town.
Leaving this town we really got into the mountains. Began to meet other cyclists on the route. The first folks we met were headed the other direction and they suggested some hot springs we
Drastic Measures
I'll do anything to protect my rim. Bamboo and Grass to the rescue. Organic innertubes....maybe there's a market.? ought to check out, which we did. The hot springs relaxed us before our hardest day. Started out early with a 20km uphill. Relentless incline, sometimes 10%!. 6km per hour for hours on end. A struggle to keep body sugar and protein levels up and hydrated.
When the downhill came I realized we were in world class cycling territory. Sometimes an hour of downhill at a time, silently whizzing down the mountain road with the wind and it’s kind of hard to explain but it’s a real rush. Then 15 kms up, which is a real rush too, then 10 down then 25 up then 15 down. And this is how it went for a couple days. A breathtaking location, had to stop many times just to take it all in.
Pretty close to Luang Prabang I got a flat that was irreparable and had to resort to drastic measures (see photo). I read about this in a bike magazine years ago as a way to get home if you forgot your patch kit while on a mountain bike ride. I took the tire off, took the defunct inner tube out and stuffed the tire with
Majestic Rest Stop
A little farther up the mountain, here's Nikki taking it all in and relieving the burning muscles for a minute. Didn't take long to realize we were riding a world class cycling route. as much grass and bamboo I could fit and put the tire back on the rim. It made for a bumpy ride but we limped in to Luang Prabang.
Also kind of a strange town. A “World Heritage City”? is what the sign says as you enter. The “World Heritage” status has attracted so much tourism to this small town that every business relies on it. The local cost of living has gone up and the Laotians that don’t get into the service industry have to sell their land or move out of their own town. For me getting to Luang Prabang was about the ride.
We took a slow boat up the Mekong river to the Thai boarder. I tied our bikes down on the roof of the boat and we set off on the two day boat ride. It was nice to hang out on the boat, read, play chess and backgammon, eat snacks and share stories with other travelers.
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Tot: 0.057s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 7; qc: 45; dbt: 0.031s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
shannon
non-member comment
bumpy ride
That's a good technique with your bike tire. How long did you have to ride like that? Looks like fun, except all the smoke but it's all part of the experience. Talk to you soon, hey not like you guys know but where are you headed next?