Hi Everyone. Here’s a trip update about our latest leg of our journey; Bicycling all the way from Ha Noi, Vietnam, to Luang Prabang, Laos. It was about 800 km long. Yes, kilometers. Since we are in Asia, everything is in the metric system, and we are becoming very adept at measuring distances in k’s and temperature in degrees Celcius. You will be happy to know, that we still love bikes, and are having the time of our lives riding them!!

 

 

After navigating a very polluted, dusty, heavily overloaded major freeway out of Ha Noi for half a day we started to ascend into the foothills. Then we further ascended into the mountains. And boy were we shocked, at how big the mountains here are!! Mountains in this region aren’t rolling and don’t have easy grades, they are straight up for 30 kms and then straight down for 30 kms. This means it takes half a day to climb not very far, then half an hour to descend the same distance.

 

 

 

It took 3 days to get to the border of Laos. A very smooth border crossing despite what we had been told awaited us early in the morning. Both sides, Vietnam and Laos, were very friendly and efficient. It took about an hour to get across, although we had to walk our bikes. No riding across borders allowed I suppose.

Once in Laos, we were unprepared and shocked by the cold weather. We had a 7 day stretch without seeing the sun. We biked in the clouds every day and were so cold at night. We also didn’t shower because out here in rural Laos there’s no hot water in the showers, and we couldn’t bring ourselves to be out of clothes for very long!!

Day in day out, cold weather. But this did not shake our spirits. Perseverence and a little pushing of the other person in times of need helped get us on through the cold. We were rewarded after the week on a long uphill slug through  the clouds when we actually climbed higher then the clouds to find the sun. And it was absolutely amazing. Looking out at the surrounding mountain peaks, they stuck out of the clouds like islands in the ocean.

 

 

 

 

Some mornings we hit the local outdoor market for sticky rice and fried delicious things to fuel our fire. Every day we eat noodle soup at some point. And we love it!!

 

 

We did some cultural activities in Sam Neua and Phonesavanh. From Sam Neua, we checked out the caves in Vieng Xai that housed the leaders of the Laos Communist Liberation Front during the “Secret War”. For those of you, like both of us, who have never heard of this, it occured in the 60′s and 70′s after the signing of the Geneva Accord in Vietnam where USA pledged to no longer drop bombs on Indochina,The CIA secretly dropped more bombs on Laos then any country in the world has ever experienced.  It was shocking to learn, and we’ve had many good converstaions with people from all over the world about this topic. UXO’s or unexploded ordnance which are bombs that are left over (unexploded as you probably gathered) still plague the people of Lao on a daily basis.  Most of these bombs are cluster bombs which are about the size and shape of tennis balls and are still scattered throughout the country side.  There are about 100,000 injuries every year, 30% of which among children, with most leading to the loss of limbs and death.  Organizations such as MAG (Mines Advisory Group) are working with villages to clear bombs which therefore opens more safe land to farming and are also working to educate children in creative ways about the importance of staying away from and reporting the UXO’s.

The caves were blasted with dynamite to open them up, and built up to accommodate the residents. There are a series of over 20 caves of varying sizes and functions including meeting places, hospitals, residences, and army barracks. It was a full functioning city and the capitol of the communists during this era. The tour was extraordinary complete with guide and audio book and headphones. Very informative.

 

 

Another few days biking and we arrived in Phonesavanh for another day off and some more culture. The Plain of Jars is a collection of different sites in this region that contain stone jars of multiple sizes and shapes. There is no explanation of why exactly they are there or who made them, but I can sense a Masters Thesis for anyone whose curiosity is sparked by this really cool site.

 

 

We met an awesome German man named Giovanni who we rode bikes with for a couple days and shared stories over a delicious dinner at a point point restaurant. He was a great addition to the team and we were sad to part ways.

 

 

After another couple days on the road, and some tough climbing we arrived in the tourist town of Luang Prabang to treat ourselves to some western amenities like hot coffee and bagels. There are many temples and stuppas in this town and we hung out and recovered from one amazing route of bike touring!!

 

 

Two weeks on the bikes with a couple layover days for some cultural activities and we are truly feeling the essence of bike touring. This being my first major bike tour and Laurels second, and both of our first international bike tour, we are learning so much. Learning about ourselves, us together, the world, the universe!!  Gaining knowledge daily from those around us and the experiences that we share together.

Please, go ride a bike.

Have a wonderful day and happy tail winds!!

Jameson