Simply cycling around
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What a change! I always thought Northern Thailand was the hard part but I was wrong. The first two days in Laos was so hilly that I had to push my bike several times. At that time I thought: “Was it a good idea to get here?”. Fortunately, I met some other cyclists travelling the opposite way so I didn’t felt alone. It gave me motivation to make it! Bloody hills!
Today I’m gonna reach Luang Namtha where I will stay minimum 8 days. I’ve got some work to do from my laptop and fortunately found a very nice guesthouse on Booking. One night in a bungalow cost 69.000Kip (7.50€). I’ve my own little terrace, toilets, shower, room and bed.
That second day in Laos is on the list of the toughest day I’ve done in my whole trip. The road is in very good conditions but most of the slopes have a 10% steepness (and sometimes more I’m sure). When the weather becomes hot it’s barely possible to push the bike. Fortunately, every uphill are following by nice downhills :-) Today I could observe with more details how Laos people live. Of course, their habitations doesn’t look as solid as Thailand but the people seem to live well. Especially the kids who say hello every time they see me and any cyclist I’m sure. Some of them run next to the road and raise their hands so we can do “high five” haha.
Big day today, I’ve done much more kilometres than expected. This morning, I’ve covered the 47km that separated me to the border. I had one gentle hill few kilometres after I started and then all the way was flat. Then, I went directly towards the immigration office. I realised that my visa ended on the 4th so I had to pay 500baht (about 13€) for this extra day. I’ve read online that for one day the immigration would let me go but that was not the case today. That’s my fault, I should I checked more carefully. Another surprise is they did not let me cycle on the bridge. I had to catch a bus and pay for that… Finally I arrived on the other side of the Mekong, organised my VOA (Visa On Arrival) and started my journey through the mountains in Laos :-)
What a waste of time today… This morning was all good. I’ve stayed with Kom and Tu’s family until 3pm. They invited me to a party organised by one of a village’s member who just finished his house. The guys nearly forced me to drink their local whisky. Then we moved to a wedding party where there was about 100 people minimum and I had to drink even more Whisky. They mix it with water so it’s not that strong but the taste still doesn’t fit me. Then, one of Kom’s friend invited us to his house to have some lunch and beer (I’m not lucky). Finally, we came back to Kom and Tu’s home so I could prepare myself and continue my trip. Those two days were nice. This family is fun. Everything was fine until, back on the road, I made the decision to use a shortcut through the forest. Well, I did not know it was through the bush. After 7km on the road I had two options: going north east across some hills or cycling around it in the valley which was longer. I’ve chosen the shorter road which revealed itself to be a path, then a track, then a dead end…
An unexpected day today. This morning I left my spot at the same time as every day. I’ve done the first 17km and stopped for a break. This is when I met first two young girls who came to me. They could not speak English so their father joined them. Five minutes later, I was at his home where I met his wife, brother, father and most of the members of his family even friends. We spent the rest of the day together.
I know it, today I’m going to push my bike. Last night was quite comfortable, I had a good sleep and I’m now ready to cross that pass. Once done, the rest of the day should be quite easy. Late this afternoon I stopped in a small town and slept in a market place.