Since leaving Luang Prabang we have had some of the best days riding of the whole trip! Wow! The first day saw us ride 80km with 2 big uphills (20km each!) and 1 super long down (20km!). Great day to be riding, not too hot and passing through some stunning valleys and fields and along a very cool ridgeline. We think this guy was telling us we could climb the rock up there if we wanted.....or go around it....something involving lots of pointing and hand gestures and us nodding our understanding!
We spent that night in a village called Kiewkacham which was perched on top of the hill - had a breeze and we actually felt cold! Selling point of the guesthouse was the dining area with a magnificient view out over hills, where we sat for a few hours playing ukelele, journalling and eating!
The next day was probably my favourite of the trip yet! Mostly downhill, we stayued high on the ridge for a while and then dropped down to a village called Phoun Khoun for lunch. Just stunning riding! Then met these kids who got excited by some hacky sac action while we recovered eating lunch....it lasted until one of the kids put the hacky in his pocket and walked off.....bad choice of hacky inheriter on my part perhaps!
Feeling refreshed by a good noodle soup we set off and passed these boyus a few times as we stopped continuously for photos. Their best line was "I love you!", along with much laughter, high fiving and pushing each other all over the road. Lads.
Then BOOM! This big rock appears in the distance! It was almost raining hence the washed out look but the cloud and mist made it so captivating and we stopped to stare at it for a long time! We then had a super smooth 15km of downhill right down the valley until we were beside the big rock where we spent the night! Epic! We stayed at a "Hot Spring Water Resort" which sounded amazing. Stunning wee waterfall into a pool....it wasn't really hot at all but it was nice to laze in the water for a while after another 80 kms of riding.
Us, still smiling!! Our bodies must have eaten up all our reserves as today we downed 3 bowls of noodle soup before midday and arrived here at 2pm and got more food! Just sooooo hungry!!!
We met these 2 guys from Korea - we have stopped to talk to all the other cycle tourers (haven't been many until today!) and exchange routes and plans and general experiences. These guys were 7 months into a SIX YEAR round world bike trip! And they seemed to be loving it! Theyu had clocked up 12000km so far and congratulated us on our 900kM! Their bikes were so loaded down with gear but they seemed pretty fit! We biked away feeling inspired and in awe of them!
Amber on the road - again, spent the 80km today cycling past stunning rocky mountains and cliffs. Just beaut.
Now in Vang Vieng, known for the tubing trip where you get horribly drunk and copious amounts of Opium! Rest day planned tomorrow to check out a few sights tomorrow and then it will be 2 long days into Vientiene, the capital city of Laos.
LOVING CYCLING IN LAOS!!!
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