To Kiew Kacham: or Kiou Ka Cham or Kiokajam ?

Thursday November 13, 2008, 82 km (51 miles) – Total so far: 318 km (198 miles)

We try our best to leave at 7 but end up pedaling off at 8.15. Baguettes and bacon got in the way. The cool, foggy weather made it slow to warm up our bodies, and the first 25 kms to Xieng Nguen were relatively sweat free.

 

only 88 kms this morning

Racing our way up the mountains

The names don’t matter really. Once you get there, you can’t go wrong with the 2 reigning guesthouses perched on a ridge line at about 1300 metres high. Both are actually restaurants with basic rooms attached. Water supply is interesting. There are no wells or pipes at this elevation.

A water truck makes its rounds among the houses here, supplying water through a system of hoses which feed right through to each client’s holding tank out back.

Even further back you get to savour the bathroom facilities or lack thereof. The frequent long haul buses and vans that stop here at all hours get to use even dingier toilets even further back. I feel better already, as I’ve seen worse toilets in Nepal. One saving grace though, the mountain views behind them, especially from the Kiokajam, (I snuck in) on a clear morning are stunning.

US$5 'suite' at KKC

this is the cleaner toilet !

Some time after our arrival, Alvin spots two mountain bikers checking in. They bought their bikes in Luang Prabang and started their ride from LP just the day before and slept in a village close to Nam Ming. It took them close to 5 hours to climb the final 22 kms to KKC.

The five of us made it to Vientiane leap frogging each other over 5 days.

I remember the bike tour group leader back at the Oudom Souk in LP saying that the weirdest thing he ever saw in KKC was a group of 50 Thai cyclists camping out in both the restaurant floors here. Count me out. Besides food, drinks and peeing, the other main industry in KKC is the sale of fake CDs and DVDs to all the vehicles that stop here.

Tonight we are also lucky to have KKC to ourselves. No weddings, no karaoke, no drunks. The slightly better guest house next door is closed, the whole family having gone to Vientiane for the That Luang festival.

There’s a full moon, cold air and my sleeping essentials of an I Pod and ear plugs are within reach. I crawl into my silk sheets and doze off with the soothing trumpet of Chris Botti swirling in my head.

Luang Prabang: Part 2

Wednesday November 12, 2008, 15 km (9 miles) – Total so far: 236 km (147 miles0

This journal will finally lift off once we leave this town. In the meantime, here’s 0.3 % of what I took.

Wat Xieng Thong's funerary carriage hall

the Nam Khan river as it flows to meet the Mekong in Luang Prabang

Joma Cafe's delights

a local eatery, packed every night

On the Nam Ou: Back to Luang Prabang

Tuesday November 11, 2008, 10 km (6 miles) – Total so far: 221 km (137 miles)

It was hard to leave Nong Kiau this morning, but the promise of a slow boat ride that had been put off for 3 years made me hop out of bed in a jiffy, only to hop on the bike for a chilly ride 10 kms to nowhere. I managed to find some solitude by the river a few kms before the town proper. That peace was shattered by mamy, many school kids on bicycles, some pillion riding as they plodded on to school. I wonder what they made of their tiny village being on the bluelist of the backpackers of the world.

2 words, learn English. That’s the Sheriff of Nong Kiau’s forte. He’s the one with the fancy hat and  can’t fault his dedication to serve the backpacking world.

Introducing the sheriff of NK

Conversing with the rest of the world in halting English, while cursing and joking with the rest of his Lao counterparts at the boat landing. He must get tired of the same old questions thrown at him, day in and day out. As Lance would say, racing the Tour de France, SSDD (same sh*t, different day)

Goes like this, “When’s the next boat?’”

Rhetorical answer, “Ten or eleven, maybe”

So in reality, it’s anytime a boat fills up. Your guess is as good as mine. I deduce it to be ten and eleven, 2 boats. The ten leaves from Nong Kiau, the eleven arrives from upriver Muang Ngoi. If heaven is smiling upon you, you get to Luang Prabang in 5 hours or so. If the boat from Muang Ngoi is full, tough.

“Maybe” is for engine failures, bad weather, drunk boatmen with bad hangovers, and Sheriff having heated exchanges with boatman on who gets paid what, etc etc.

To make matters worse, some backpackers get on the wrong boats going in the opposite direction, screwing up the Sheriff’s manifest.

Then we have to haggle with the price, or plice to the Sheriff. Officially it’s 130,000 kip each on a boat of 10 or 11, maybe. Naomi’s my witness.

Enterprising boatman says his boat is special, taking up to 15. Find 14 friends and you are good to go at only 100,000 kip each. We forgo this offer, as the boat will be overloaded and our bikes are pricey and precious. Sheriff is not happy with this blatant behind his back overloading, as boat rules are being broken, and just maybe, his cut will be less. Boatman is keeping the dosh from the extra 5 passengers. More shouting in Lao.

Sheriff gets me to write down our names on his list of 11 people. Nearby grannies chuckle at something. That’ll be the extra 30000 kip for each LHT. What? There’s a charge for motorcycles. says Sheriff. Maybe they’re just bicycles, see no bloody engines on the downtube. “OK, 20000, is OK”. No more maybes.

Flushed with almost a half million kip, Sheriff smiles, thanking me and says, “Have good trip, Bob” During the mayhem, I’ve signed off as ‘Bob Magee’

5 hours of gorgeous river scenery

Our captain manages a lot even without a left hand

We docked at Luang Prabang at 4 pm and headed for our reserved rooms at the Oudom Souk, again. A couple of wise Belgians followed us, seeing that the whole street of guesthouses where we stayed at did not exist in their ‘latest’ edition of LP Laos.

 

To Nong Khiaw: or maybe Nong Kiau

Monday November 10, 2008, 20 km (12 miles) – Total so far: 211 km (131 miles)

Nong Kiau used to be just a dusty staging post for the hour long boat ride upriver to an even more remote village Muang Ngoi or Noi. Seemingly inaccessible by other means. Slouching in a hammock all day was the thing to do there, apart from fishing, exploring some caves and trekking the countryside and bathing with the locals in the river, if bathing was a priority.

These days Nong Kiau itself is a destination and if you like limestone cliffs and the sounds of a flowing river while you sleep, search no more. 3 years ago the overnight choices here ranged from grim to grimmer. And like most far flung places in Laos it was literally lights out at 9 pm when local power generators are switched off. At last count there are about a dozen guest houses here, which quickly fill up in the high season when a boat or bus pulls in.

12 degrees C !!

The classiest place in town must be the Riverside. It’s partly owned an operated by Naomi from Japan. At $35 a night, it’s an astronomical sum in these parts, but with all things you get what you pay for. It’s a great honeymoon spot, but not today, not with two other guys and their mud splattered LHTs.

KG loved the top notch mattress so much, he slept in most of the day, surfacing only to eat. I don’t blame him, what with the cool temperatures and as promised on the NK website, Darling Brand comforters and matresses, suppliers to the top hotels in Bangkok. Naomi was surprised that I did my research and of course guaranteed a good night’s sleep. Our 85 kms yesterday did too.

Views from our balcony

Route 1 continues on to Vieng Kham, Vieng Thong and eventually to Xam Nua and the Vietnamese border on Route 6 over some wild and remote mountains, worth another trip in it’s own right.

Alvin and I had a field day with our cameras and even rode down Route 1 for 20 hilly kms before turning back. The other 400 kms or so to Vietnam will just have to wait.

Tonight all 15 rooms are full and we will see familiar faces on the slow boat ride back to Luang Prabang the next morning. And I have a date with Mr Maybe, aka the Sheriff of Nong Kiau.

On their way to school

Luang Prabang – Pak Mong – Nong Khiaw: North to find the Nam Ou

 

Sunday November 9, 2008, 140 km (87 miles) – Total so far: 191 km (119 miles)

140 kms on the first day. Hmm. Not quite. It was nice to cycle out of town and into the countryside. Traffic was heavy, for Laos, meaning peace and quiet once we passed the northern bus station 3 kms north out on Route 13.

An ambitious 1st day and my 2nd time in 4 years at this marker !

Our destination for lunch is Pak Mong, a T junction truck stop village connecting Route 1 with Route 13. Westwards for 120 mountainous kms lies Oudomxai, another crossroads town. Heading east 35 kms on a rolling country road will bring you to idyllic Nong Khiaw, right on the Nam Ou with towering limestone cliffs on both sides of the river.

Amazing views at the Hatgna bridge

After a long climb out of Hatgna, Route 1 follows the Nam Ou north east for a long, lonely 75 kms. I spot more small riverside ‘restaurants’ mostly doing only beer and snacks, nothing major and some guest houses will soon follow. Another 30 kms and we decide to find some wheels. We pull into a nice house with a shady garden, talking loudly.

Soon enough a ‘boss lady’ appears with pen and paper in hand writing down her preferred price to send us to Pak Mong. Wow. We’re dealing with a pro here. We slash off $10 of her $30 offer and she screams in to her cell phone calling her husband. She pulls out 3 chairs for us and we get to use her toilet too, till her sleepy eyed husband shows up on a motorcycle. Boss Lady, baby and husband sit in front. Husband reverses over baby’s toy truck (yellow toy in the photo) and crushes it. More screaming.

We get to Pak Mong, sweat free in about 50 minutes.

The road to Nong Khiaw rolls slightly downhill, passing by Nam Bak village along the way. There are a few muddy and washed out sections, remnants of a late ending rainy season. We’re expecting more broken roads on Route 13 south to Vientiane next week.

Contrary to the roadside markers promising 24 kms it’s more like 32 kms on our speedometers. While we could always ride faster, extra kms in fading evening light is something to be aware of. That, and the herd of water buffaloes waiting for you around a blind corner as you’re doing 40 kmp/h downhill.

On that note please don’t take my milage readings as the Gospel truth. A 3 to 5 per cent variation either way is a safe bet. I do make U turns to take pictures behind me, or ride off the asphalt into an interesting village, picking up some vicious Laotian mud along the way. The discrepancies get worse during the mountain stages. The only way to get accurate distances, verify whatever you read online and still be happy, is to come ride Laos, yourself !

I  am heartily congratulated by my 2 trucker buddies for today’s cycle / truck / cycle combo ride. We road about 90 out of the 140 kms today. I’m also thankful for our long and lazy lunch at Pak Mong, watching the goings on, mostly a stalled bus, at this strategic road junction. Next, Naomi’s place.

Tailwind !

end of a along day

 

 

Luang Prabang: 2nd Day of Part 1

Saturday November 8, 2008, 5 km (3 miles) – Total so far: 51 km (32 miles)

On any ordinary day, I have no intention, nor desire to take pictures of monks out on their morning alms. Mostly because back home any food offering to monks are done within temple premises, and monks back home get around in BMWs and Volvo SUVs, donations from business people who have prospered from going to the right temple. But I’m in Luang Prabang on a chilly morning, enjoying cycling in rarefied weather, puffing heaps of smoke without really smoking. Besides the hundreds of monks were here first.

Polite signs and posters around town, showing the proper way of keeping one’s distance, not standing higher above any monk and especially not using a camera’s flash are disregarded as some tourist papparazi stalk and follow the endless trains of orange robes.

 

Monks under seige

There’s no denying the popularity of Laos in general as a choice destination in Indochina. As a UNESCO World Heritage site, Luang Prabang’s draw has grown by leaps and bounds. Yes there’s the idyllic setting by the banks of 2 meandering rivers, the surrounding mountains, the 33 temples that you can loose your cultural self in, and great tourist infrastructure in beautiful hotels and restaurants.

But the place is bursting at the seams. The reality is that there’s the high and very high tourist seasons throughout the year. Rainy season? No it’s the ‘Green Season’ with a little less tourists who try to avoid the messy year end high season, thinking also that prices will be a little cheaper. Wrong.

Our guest house down a once quiet lane hears the constant buzz of hammering, grinding and sawing as more and more guest houses are being built.

While properly managed progress is generally a good thing and incomes rise, (I saw this in the glee of our 29 year old guest house owner as he washed and waxed his new $37,000 2.7 liter Toyota Fortuner SUV one night) I can take heart that cycle touring under my own steam on a LHT with like minded friends, is one of the better and simpler joys in life.

I am also much too lazy to wash any car of any size. Bicycles are fine.

 

Amazing Laos

Luang Prabang: Part 1

Friday November 7, 2008, 12 km (7 miles) – Total so far: 46 km (29 miles)

!st class service from a 3rd world airline

Vientiane’s Japanese built Wattay airport is just 4 to 5 kms away from town. With our boxes ditched in Nong Khai, it was touch and go with the airport baggage handlers. To our pleasant surprise, they decided to tape up our bikes even more, assuring us that removing the front wheels was OK, to fit in the small cargo hold of their plane. Lao Airlines is getting to be my favourite airline on this trip. They’ve had some bad press in the past, what with certain embassies forbidding their staff to travel on Lao Airlines. In their defence, their track record claims ‘no crashes since 2000′ You could also find fault with bad weather and an overused Chinese made plane for that excuse. My one bad experience back in 2005 had the pilot looking for holes in the clouds, to see his way before landing in Luang Prabang. Steep, tight banking, much like cornering too low around a blind corner on a mountain bike. Scary but fun at the same time.

The low level 40 minute flight into Luang Prabang gave us great views of the mountains that we would ride across over the next week. As this was the start of the high tourist season, the plane had just one empty seat out of sixty.

We, or rather I have planned a whole 4 nights in Luang Prabang as there is this side trip north to Nong Khiaw that I’ve always wanted to do, cycle 140 kms upriver and return to LP by a slow boat. So I’ve decided to split the 4 nights in to 2 parts.

It’s easy to spend up to a week here, lounging around, playing tourist with maybe a folding bike or two. With serious bikes like the LHT, we’re aiming for an ambitious 140 km first day, until the bikes get tired and it’s songtheaw time. That’ll be the day after tomorrow.

Today and tomorrow we’ll take it easy, have a look see across the other bank of the Mekong, generally temple out ourselves and heat up our cameras’ batteries. With the weather getting cooler, we got our lights on and even rode at night. Some nicer restaurants were out of town and walking back would be very tedious after a nice meal.

Our little guest house, the year old Oudom Souk, one out of a hundred or so in town, is chock full of touring bicycles, and even a Burley tandem. Most or the riders are older French folk on a cycling tour. They leave the next morning with a van sag wagon and small pick up, down Route 13, the very beaten path for bike tourists in northern Laos, ending the ride in Vientiane, about 420 kms away.

Day's end along the Mekong at Luang Prabang

Leaving Luang Prabang: Let’s see how far the road takes us

Lak 600,000 or Lao Kip or all of US$60. is just nough for 3 whole days spending for the both of us. The largest denomination in 05 was LAK 50000 note. I would be seeing another money changer in Luang Namtha to see how much more to change for Muang Sing and Xieng Kok.

Trying to break or get change for the LAK 50,000 outside of Luang Prabang or Vientiane is going to be a minor miracle, unless you’re paying for a very nice hotel room or dont expect any change. Before leaving Laos, change any remaining LAK into Thai Baht, Chinese Yuan or if you really still have a lot of LAK, USD. The LAK is non convertible outside Laos. To add to the confusion, if you spend any of the above foreign currency in Laos, you’ll always be given change in LAK or worse, a combination of all of the above. It’s almost impossible to get change in Thai Baht if you’ve just spent in Baht.

Dealing with such mental arithmetics on a daily basis does keep the mind sharp though and I’ve even had a granny or two out calculate me. You can also aggravate any situation further by not accepting any change, say 50 cents or a dollar equivalent (if you know that’s exactly what’s due to you) by grabbing a bottle of water, can of Coke or some snacks, assuming again that you know the average price of those items!

The better restaurants and most guesthouses and hotels in town will usually hand you a hand written bill in all the 3 widely accepted currencies in Laos. For eg, $5 or LAK 50,000 or Thai Baht 200. (May 05 rates)

The good thing about having price lists and fares spelt out in Laos, is that if you’re going to be overcharged for a service, every foreigner will be overcharged equally. I feel almost better already.

Hong’s Place an old French Lao house that moonlights as a Rasta Pub/Bar out in the suburbs. We rode there to try their khao thom or minced pork and rice porridge breakfast and were not disappointed.

It's going to be al oooong day

How far can the road take us? Well, heading south on Route 13 to the Lao capital at Vientiane is roughly 400 kms of which some 300 kms are mountainous. Heading north, through less steeper terrain will lead to China, about 300 kms away. We headed north, still on Route 13 which after 100 kms links up with the old Route 1 at Pak Mong, a small crossroads village.

After the last three days of sweltering heat, guess what, it rained for two hours on the dawn of our departure. No complaints here, so thank heaven our ride was cool and cloudy till about 11 am or after 70 kms on Rte 13. At this point the road which was rolling alongside a very scenic Nam Ou river veered westwards and started to climb gently for the next 20 kms, flattening out 10 kms before Pak Mong.

On the road in Laos, you’ll be greeted by children of all ages, from the hillsides and down by the rivers and streams. My quick guess is this boy has found that he’s getting a larger catch and more protein by using a mask. My apologies Paul for having to stop…again.

We came across some ‘eco park’ along Rte 13 for those not keen on Kenya. Lots of fake life sized animals. My 5 year old nephew still thinks I went to Africa.

The oven like conditions was a good excuse for lunch. Unfortunately, the menu did not match the size and splendour of this riverside restaurant. The kitchen was closed and all they could muster up was some instant noodles from their dusty shelves. Even tossing some eggs into the pot seemed too major an accomplishment. To quote Paul, “I’m feeling slimmer by the minute” and that was good.

We were ready to pack it in after reaching Pak Mong. Somehow sleeping at a truck stop (unless one is a trucker) didnt seem that appealing, so we decided to push on to Nong Khiaw where the scenery was better and sleeping choices were a bit better than grim. Thankfully the 33 kms were slightly downhill, there was a slight tailwind and we made this ‘I’ll go for it, if you go for it’ deal that always works and 90 minutes later Nong Khiaw was in sight.

This quiet back road is actually Rte 1 and has many thatched roofed homes and villages similar to those in the far flung provinces closer to China. Given it’s proximity to Luang Prabang, they wont stay the same for long.

On the 1975 China built bridge at Nong Khiaw

Paul headed straight to the Phayboun GH while I found some last ounces of energy to take a few rapid fire pictures of myself on the 1975 Chinese sponsored concrete bridge across the Nam Ou. Time check was 5.17 pm. 2007 update : A new swanky (for Laos) place, the Nong Khiaw Riverside Resort has six chalets with luxurious teak? rooms and balconies that open out over the Nam Ou. $15 a night. They should be perched high up on the jungle clad limestone hill ‘behind my helmet’

After one of the best cold water baths ever, we took a stroll around ‘town’ a very loose term, to check things out, dinner being on the top of the list. This one bridge village is surrounded by vertical limestone mountains on both river banks and has become one of the must sees in Laos. One hour up river on a slow boat brings you to Muang Ngoi, another one street village with about a dozen or more guest houses backed up against towering limestone hills.

I suppose there’s some some great trekking, caving and swimming spots up river, but the general consensus among some of the backpackers who’ve ‘done’ Muang Ngoi can be summed in one word. ‘Rats’ or maybe field mice. Lots of them, especially at night, in the rafters, rooms and backpacks .

Our last surprise of today was this guy on a hybrid with an improvised bike packing system. While I suppose everything works for him, the weird part (another loose term) was the he was setting off at sunset into 200 kms of mountain roads of Rte 1 towards Vieng Thong in the east. Seeing us and anyone that stopped to say hello, he just glared angrily and started muttering, to his bike or some imaginary friend. At one point he shouted at his map and bike, saying he did not want to ‘walk up’ any more ‘f***ing steep roads’ or shiver at night in a ‘crap room’ When a female tourist or two stopped by he waited for his grand finale, took of his long pants, mooned everyone, it was a skinny moon, and proceeded to wear a very loose pair of cycling tights. Cycle touring can be addictive, but I think fellow was on another high or a severe case of solo bike touring burnout.

Homeless guy on a bike

Luang Prabang: Ancient France on the middle Mekong

A UNESCO World heritage site since 1995, Luang Prabang’s 33 temples, some crumbling and some restored French influenced architecture seems to be the darling of the backpacking crowd. It’s location along the banks of the Mekhong river and smaller Nam Khan on the other side of a peninsula that houses the old city adds to its physical allure. Most sights can be easily seen on foot or rented bicycle. Good food is cheap and plentiful with French loaves and baguettes to be found at almost every street corner eatery. There’s even northern Indian, but not much better than those in Singapore or Malaysia.

The muddy Mekong

We also stumbled upon some very nice upmarket boutique hotels in and around town with rooms up to $200 or more. These must be for the retired from backpacking crowd. It’s easy to spend a week or more in Luang Prabang, sipping coffee at all hours, having late lunches and even longer dinners after a stroll along the night markets while trying to fit in $4 massages and trips to the Kuang Si waterfalls or the up river trip to the Pak Ou limestone caves.

With our own transport we managed to ride about 50 kms in and around the town seeing all the tourist sights before quitting after lunch each day to seek refuge in our air conditioned room. Did I say it was hot?

Ours was the simple but sufficient Rama Hotel in the suburbs or just a 10 minute walk from most of the action downtown. The low season rate was $15 a night in a nice wood paneled room with the usual cable TV, hot shower and all important air conditioning that wouldnt ‘ice up’ after running for 72 hours. Our bikes slept in the restaurant downstairs together with some of the hotel employees motorcycles.

My cycling buddy Paul and I decided to give cycling in Thailand a break and see what laid further north of the Thai border and Mekong river. That led us to Luang Prabang and north Laos. We spent 3 days in Luang Prabang, soaking in the sights and soaking in our sweat in 38 C plus daytime temperatures in the hot and humid season of May. It was slightly ‘cooler’ at night, but still about 33 C outdoors.

After a 2 hour stopover at Chiang Mai in north Thailand, we boarded a Lao Airlines flight to Luang Prabang. One whole hour on a heavily vibrating French made ATR 70 seater twin turbo prop with engines from Pratt and Whitney, Canada and after market propellers from Hamilton Sunstrand from the US. That’s what it says on the website. The fare of US$66 got us great low altitude views of Thailand’s and Laos’ mountains and rivers, tiny villages on ridge top roads disappearing into the hazy distance and a little blue box, the contents of which I think resembled…..a hamburger?

Down town Luang Prabang