The streets of Luang Prabang are made of some sticky substance that prevents me from leaving the town. I have thus been unable to leave this place for five days – for me an unusually high number of days to stay in the same place. One more day than intended as I had everything set to leave today … or so I thought, for when I got up this morning (at 5 something in the morning … and hold on now, that is the 3rd day in a row!) and discovered my bicycle had at flat rear tire I convinced myself that it had to be a sign that I couldn’t leave today. It also buys me time to organize my photos and write this update. Finally, I shall buy my ticket back home to Denmark today.

So Luang Prabang! Yes, tourists are plenty, and most of the shops in the central part of town cater more or less directly for tourists: restaurants, souvenir shops, tour agencies etc. But the geniality of Luang Prabang is that there are almost no cars – but tuk tuks, scooters and cyclists – in the central part of the city, and that make it ideal to explore on foot or supported by the two wheeled iron horse. It is truly  a town of colour and scent. Flower covered gardens with old crumbling colonial style villas are everywhere, decorated temples are plenty and young monks roam the street in their sienna coloured robes. In the early morning people come from the countryside to sell their fresh produce at a morning market. In the evening people is offering their handicraft – and for once the quality is exceptionally high and price low – at the night market. Unfortunately I have an aversion towards shopping – I know, in the Western world it is indeed a very rare disease, you might never have heard of it before!)

Apart from spending time exploring the city I took the bicycle for a spin the other day and went to a waterfall some 30 km from town. I’m sure there are more spectacular falls (I have seen some myself) but the place was lovely with local people having a picnic and swimming in the cool waters of the water fall’s pools. Perfect for a days escape from the sticky heat.

I got tons of pictures from Louang Prabang, but little time to deal with the slow connection. Therefore, I will save the rest for later:

I spent some time resting from my bicycle adventures in Laos in Louang Prabang. One of the highlights of this city is the reliogious ritual of Tak Bat. Photo: Joel Schumann, 2010

Part of the reason for getting up before 6 in the morning is to behold – and photograph – the monks on their early morning round where they collect food from townspeople. Even more curious than the monks performing this old ritual is the townspeople participating by getting up at dawn, preparing food and then sit down at the roadside waiting for the monks to pass and without an exchange of words or getting eye contact hand over a small handful of rice. It is a beautiful ritual, certainly showing the people’s respect and admiration of the monks. It takes maybe 15 minutes then it is over for that day. For the same reason, it was quite challenging to photograph, but I managed to get quite a few decent shots. The one I chose to upload here is a bit curious. The motion blur is intentional, but I have to admit the faces of some of the monks look quite disturbing.

Louang Prabang is one of those places I hope to come back to soon. I even got a friend here now, Souly, a monk with whom I talked and am now exchanging emails.

Leaving Kasi the road is easy for the first km, just enough to get the legs prepared for the work that lies ahead. Soon a long climb begins that takes me into 1500 km along a winding road. Along the way, some 20 km from Kasi I get some food at a restaurent. They also have some bungalows there, apparently there are some hot springs – could be nicer than staying in Kasi. I talk to one of the girls there, and she mentions she has a sister living in Denmark. “Oh, is she married to a Dane”, I ask. “No.” “What is she doing in Denmark, then” She is not able to say and I can only guess … I don’t see many job opportunities for a girl from Laos.

By now it rains and because of the altitude it is getting a bit cold – I notice a record low temperature of 22 C. For the second time in more than 3 months in the steaming hot tropics I am actually a bit cold and put on long sleeves. It is uphill almost the whole day with a few descents. The gradient is even and negotiable so even with my 20-25 kg of luggage it is not too backbreaking – it just takes some time. The weather is spoiling some of the fun as it is bad most of the day, of it doesn’t rains I’m riding through the low hanging clouds. It is thus getting late when I reach Kiu Kachan where I pick the least depressing of the small towns guest houses. The following days reverses the pattern, now it is down hill all day till I reach Luang Prabang. The weather is nice again.

On these two days I have passed through numerous small towns clinging to the sides of the hills. From the saddle I feel I get an flickering first hand impression of life in a Lao small town as I pass through. I see people working, walking home from the fields carrying vegetables on the back, playing, taking a nap or taking a shower at the roadside (children naked, guys wearing trouser, women wash themselves wrapped in a Sarong). Almost every children is shouting Sabaii Dii (hello!) as I pass.

It reminds me of my first trip to Malaysia 12 years ago. That was my first cycling trip at all, and in particular my experiences from Malaysia is still something I think back to with great fondness. The Malaysia I saw this time had changed tremendously, though, and there’s no doubt that changes will come to this part of Laos as well.

Typical houses in this part of Laos. Photo: Joel Schumann

Low visibility because of the clouds.

I spend a last day in Vang Vieng exploring the surrounding countryside on bicycle. That is not to be missed, if you are Vang Vieng. It’s beautiful, easy riding and there are multiple opportunities for diversions. I join some other tourists for some cave exploration, followed be a refreshing swim in a nearby lake.

The day before I had arranged to meet with Micah to drink a beer or two before we were to go in opposite directions. The meeting never took place – I showed up a bit late so wondered if Micah had already left again or just forgotton. Next day I run into him while I’m having breakfast before leaving town. Micah excuses himself – he had a Lao whiskey or two the day before together with the climbing crew and that knocked him out with a serious headache. Still not recovered completely, he would stick around in Vang Vieng one more day.

I head of and start an easy 60 km ride towards Kasi, where I know I can find accommodation. Just outside Vang Vieng I Bump into German cyclist Mattthias and we have a rather long chat at the roadside, until it begins to rain lightly and we part ways. Matthias amazes me by riding with an acoustic guitar … that sure beats any of the silly stuff I carry around. The Internet connection here is not up to the task, but one of these days I will give his music a listen – please check out his website!

As I’m rolling into Kasi I’m approached by Souni, a girl (or young woman?) who kindly assist me in finding a guest house. I wonder what the catch is, and it turns out her agenda is to take me to visit the school she attends. This I accept, if only I can take a shower first. At the school I’m met by 30 pairs of staring eyes, but Souni herself is not there since she had to go home. I’m soon positioned in the middle of the group of people and must now face a strenuous cross examination: What is your name? How old are you? How long have you been in Laos? Are you married? Do you have a girlfriend? What is your name? are questions repetitively asked. After that, photos are taken before I’m released to go back to my guest house again. On the face of it Kasi itself have little to offer, but the country side is actually quite nice. The food is dirt cheap as they cater for truck drivers passing through.

Leaving Vang Vieng. Photo: Joel Schumann

a river runs through ... Laos has many rivers, used for fishing and to some extent for transport of goods. Photo: Joel Schumann

For once I will use a picture taken by somebody else than me, in this case the teacher from the school in Kasi.

Pupils from the small private school in Kasi. I'm the tall ugly one! Laos, 2010.

When I wake up this morning it is heavily overcast, and it rains. I have arranged to go climbing today with Australian Micah and a guide, and I wonder what effect the rain will have and if we will even be able to climb at all. We meet up and is assured the rain wont affect the climbing. Walking out of town and toward the cliffs, the trip takes us through a small village and damp rice fields. Clothes did not look pretty at this point.

As promised the actual climbing spot is dry. We get out gear on, receive some basic instructions and start climbing. Climbing is quite fun, once you get past the mental blocks – fear of falling. It obviously requires a minimum level  of fitness, but it is just as much a matter of being able to “read” the wall, and not be afraid of hanging on to the cliff with only the fingernails. It was a bit more technically challenging than I expected, and I didn’t have the strength and/or skills to make it to the top on every climb. Neither did Micah, who still  did better than me.

As the pictures show, different styles where in play today. Micah nailed a good picture of me trying to drag my butt past an obstacle. The next picture shows our  guide demonstrating a less inventive but more classical approach.

Confirmed! Cycling Laos is just as spectacular as I hoped and expected it to be. A couple of days ago I left Vientiane with map in hand and aimed for the backroads out of town and towards the north. They haven’t wasted much money on road signs here, so I made some wrong turns along the way and generally never new where I was. But people I asked where able to confirm I was going in the right direction or, if not, get me back on track. I have a suspicion that map reading is not the average Laotians prime skill, but with my assistance (pointing out cities on the map, just establishing some references) it all went well. The riding itself was along a bumpy road and took me through numerous small villages. Few cars, but I shared the road with – in no particular order – tuk tuks, people on scooters, hens, dogs, water buffaloes, children, pigs, women carrying firewood etc.

Wrong turns did cost me an extra 20 km today, so it had gotten rather late before I reached my target, the city Thalat. In Thalat I ask a young guy for directions to a guesthouse. I soon end up regretting that. The guy is pretty drunk and eventually ends up stealing my sunglasses. A**hole!! What he didn’t know was that they snapped a few days ago and I had taped them together until I found replacements. Sunglasses don’t last long on this trip, the next pair will be my fourth.

Thalat itself was quite nice, situated next to a river and even without the assistance of my “friend” I find a nice and cheap guesthouse where I’m treated like family.

Next day I follow advice to go back a bit and check out the nearby dam, Ang Nam Ngum. The dam doesn’t appeal much to me so I go back to Thalat and move on from there towards Vang Vieng. I’m now riding on the highway, but would never have guessed it as it is just as beaten up as the road I came from. Fine for cycling and quite scenic, just have to keep an eye out for potholes. Speeking of seeing, sight of the day was an elephant – together with a few scooters – loaded onto a truck. As I reach Vang Vieng it is with dramatic and beautiful limestone cliffs around me. The cycling itself was just rolling hills all day, but I know it is just a hint of what lies ahead. I hear stories of 30 km climbs!

I will stick around a few days to explore the area and maybe participate in one or two activities. Tubing down the river with a bucket full of mojito appears to be a must. I just met another cyclist today, and we might test our rock climbing skills tomorrow. So if there’s no updates to this blog, you know why…