It’s time to get British, arm yourself with a brolly and lets talk about the weather.  The bombastic winter storms haven’t only been battering the UK.  We’ve hit sub zero one minute and burning sun the next. A packed few weeks of highs and lows and we’ve sweated and shivered our way through them all. 

It’s a reminder whilst doing something you love that there are tough times too.  Hopefully that passion paints it as part of the picture and pleasures essential equilibrium.  I’ve had to dig deep to remind myself of this mantra and was relieved to find the silver lining.

Our last couple of days in Thailand were treated to time on the flat.  From the mountains we’d been hitting of late it was a welcome change to roll through farmland and another landscape of this beautiful region. 

Arriving on the banks of the Mekong was the gateway to our next country. From the moment you enter Laos it’s apparent how wealthy a country Thailand is and how poor it’s neighbour must be.  Local homes are back to bamboo built shacks and rubbish once again adorns the roads.  Border towns the world over could do with a good scrub and our guidebook had thankfully warned us to hold judgment until we’d passed this settlement.

The next two days were to be off the bike and into the jungle. Care of both our generous parents we booked a two day trek and zip lining adventure with the Gibbon Experience.  They’re the only company to have access to the Bokeo Nature Reserve and employ 130+ locals, provide revenue to a rural part of the country and carry out essential conservation work.

As well as the positivity imparted on the community they also had us smiling from ear to ear.  Lines measuring up to 600m have you flying through the canopy across ravines 100m in the air. Absolutely breathtaking.  We spent the night 50m above the jungle floor in a treehouse that would make the residents of Never Never Land green with envy.

After two days trekking it was with tired legs we boarded our bikes. Although the country is poorer than it’s neighbours, Chinese investment has helped build some fantastic roads and the smooth surfaces sped us forward. 

Chinese investment is rife due to the rubber plantations which mottle the surrounding forest. At the end of the 19th Century a crafty businessman made his fortune selling seeds in Asia from their native origins of South America.  Now deforestation makes way for the rubber making ‘money-on-trees’. As the plants need so much water their upper most leaves discolour from the heat and swaths of these cultivated slopes are mottled with brown.

A few hot days in the saddle and we arrived for a rest in Luang Namtha.  Due to isolation of this Northern part of Loas we’d struggled to find much tasty or filling food en route.  It was Eureka California rolling into Luang Namtha and finally getting to try some of Laos tastier offerings.  Soups and piles of fresh veggies jostled for our ravenous attention in the morning markets and it was a well deserved break from the trekking and cycling of the last week.

Mist was now enveloping our mornings and the temperature was dropping to around 0 degrees.  We were surprised to be cracking out the thermals but relieved we’d come prepared.  From here it was a 3 day cycle on to meet the colonial town of Luang Prabang.

A couple of months back in the saddle and the climbs are starting to get easier.  The best passes can be seen 20km into the distance, snaking their way up through the ridges and turns of a range. Psychologically you can break these down, measure your progress and feel the rising achievement with each pedal.

Most surprisingly the toughest days are bordering the banks of ravined rivers when you’ll be rising up and down 50-100m, not knowing where the end will be.  It was a final couple of such days that saw us hugging the Nam Ou River before it joined the Mekong on the peninsula town of Luang Prabang.

This old French Colonial town was a wealthy, westernised mecca. With it’s french patisseries and baguettes hanging out of shop windows, it was a little painful for a starving coeliac cyclist. Though being surrounded by French fine dining we decided to celebrate our anniversary a few weeks early and feasted on buffalo steaks and gratin potatoes. God bless Luang Prabang 🙂

Our culinary tour de force was unfortunately cut short by some not-so-friendly fried pork.  Brian spent an evening shouting down the porcelain telephone and we delayed our departure. Which was to be the day the rains arrived.

Things kicked off with 24 hours of wash out as we rested Brians tummy.  A brief gap the following morning got us 20km down the road before we had to take shelter.  Rain so thick you couldn’t see more than 20 metres ahead had us bound to a local guesthouse for the night.  The next morning and still no change.  Freezing cold and rain that would give Niagara a run for it’s money.

With our visas running out we had to press on and caught a local rickshaw 50km along our route.  The next few days should of been the most scenic sights and cycling in Laos.  Determined and stubborn to get back on the bikes we waited….and waited….and waited for the rain to stop.  Crowded around ceramic buckets of burning coal, wrapped up to the nines and separated from the elements by flimsy walls and a tin roof, things were pretty bleak.

After 2 days waiting it out we had to throw in the soggy towel.  Another bus had us to Vang Viang and the skies finally cleared the following afternoon!  This town is most famous for it’s 18-30 backpackers hedonistic delights. River booze cruises floating in truck inner tubes and cave and natural lagoons matched with sound systems and all you can drink bars. Hence we decided to head off track for a half day ride into the local towns. 

Pumping party fun aside Vang Vieng gets a 10 out of 10 for natural beauty.  Huge limestone karsts tearing and towering up from flat farm land set a bucolic, Avatar’esque landscape and with the sun on our backs once more we were ready to hit to road to the capital, Vientiane.

Two 100km days in the heat with a mighty head wind to boot and we’ve reached the capital.  It’s a pretty chilled out town but with the ever growing presence of Chinese investment we wonder how long that will last.  There’s a direct high speed rail link being built from Kunming in Yunnan that we’re sure will bring crowds, cars and cameras in all their glory. 

As our visas tick away with only a week left we’ll catch a night bus to Si Phan Don (4000 islands), an archipelago amidst the mighty Mekong.  This too in years to come could disappear as plans are in process to damn the Mekong and therefore flood this entire area. It seems progress waits for no man.

As the miles build at our backs and with a challenging stint beneath our tyres, we’re reminded of the blessing of time you have through continually travelling. Time enough to look back and resolve the tougher moments and the undisturbed space in putting it all together.  Each day has it’s challenges though keep them covered with a lens of love and patience and you soon see everything’s as it should be.

Until the next post my beauties!

Tommy & Brian

xxx