Two Melo Velos: Luang Prabang to Vientiane

We have spent the last couple of days in Vientiane, the capital city of Laos. There is a big buzz of activity here, and wealth of bakeries and restaurants. I think we will have to do a bit of cycling to work off what we have eaten in the past few days.

The ride down from Luang Prabang added another roughly 450kms through some of the most mountainous areas of Laos. We were also lucky enough have a freak rain-and-cold-weather system join us for the 3 days we climbed 3700M through the hilliest section. I say lucky because climbing those mountains in 35 degree heat would have been hard work. It was by far the most impressive scenery I have ever biked through, and one that I would definitely come back for. Sadly, there are not many pictures as the rain kept the cameras under cover.

By the 3rd day, we had figured out a working system: Wear everything you have, put socks on your hands and then wrap them in plastic bags. I have always wondered what it would be like to take a 3 day long cold shower with all my clothes on, and now I know.

Here is what one of the days cycling looked like:

And here is what some of the windy roads looked like from that section:

Looking down on a section that we just climbed up - just follow the brown trail from right to left

if you ever wondered who uses hotel shower caps - cyclists are probably at the top of the list

At the end of the days in the rain, we had heard of a "hot spring", so stretched ourselves to the point of grumpiness, and came upon this great little spot in the middle of nowhere. They even cabins for us to stay in!

Hot spring pool in the front, and glimpses of the wonderful scenery in the back - giant limestone karsts everywhere

We spent a day in Vang Vieng, waiting out the rain and trying to get dry. At this stage John and B went off to the Plain of Jars while Monica and I celebrated the good weather by cycling on another 200kms in the next couple of days.

Vientiane is full of museums, weird arty stuff and temples, so we had to have a look. Great city, and well worth a visit.

First thing in the morning, we are heading off to Savannakhet to cycle through one of the most bombed areas of Laos on our way back into Vietnam through the DMZ area from the American War. We hope to see dinosaur footprints, downed helicopters and tanks, perhaps even a tree or two.