Gentle Hilly Road – Page 2 – Simply cycling around

Houai Ngam > Taothane (93km)

That’s quite a long trip today but that’s normal because the road is not that hard anymore. And Today, I met Bright, a Chinese guy who is cycling from Chengdu (China) to somewhere :-) He doesn’t really know. He has a simple mountain bike and a backpack, that’s it. Late this morning, as I was going very slowly up hill, Bright arrived next to me. Both of us are going to Vientiane so if I can follow him or if he as the patience to wait for me, we will make it together towards the capital city. Let’s see :-)

Nam Nga > Nong Khiaw (79km)

Today I’ve reached one of the famous place in Laos, Nong Khiaw. Due to the big hills around, this place is well known for its peacefulness and treks which I won’t do because of shortage of days. Since I’ve started cycling in Laos, this portion of the road is one of the easiest one I’ve done. The road today was completely new. I’ve seen the workers painting the lines on it. I’ve done a 20km downhill from approximately 1300m high down to 350m! Finally, I arrived in Nong Khiaw earlier than usually and could rest a bit more.

Luang Namtha > Ban Keuocheb (82km)

After 12 days spent in Luang Namtha I’m on the move again. I can say, I had a good physical rest :-) I’ve got 15 days left in Laos to get to Vientiane from where I will renew my visa. I must do 70km per day everyday with one day off in Phonsavan. If I feel I won’t make it I will take the shortcut through Luang Prabang. For the first day, I have done more kilometre than expected but that’s good! I prefer to be on time this time :-)

Nam Fa > Luang Namtha (70km)

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.

Ban Saeo > Thailand border (47km) > Laos border (3km by bus) > Roadhouse (53km)

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 :-)

Kom and Tu’s house > Ban Saeo (7km + 43km return)

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…

Tha Khao Plueak > Kom and Tu’s house (17km)

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.