Vangvieng-Vientiane

Arrived Vientiane  yesterday after 2 days cycling in the heat of the sun.

                Not sure if the 2 days of R&R (D&S??) in Vangvieng did me any good…. Vangvieng is still  the same crazy party-place. Thousands of young backpackers travel  trough  on their asia adventure. You can do all kinds of stuff here,like rockclimbing,caving,kayaking and cycling. Surroundings are amazingly beautiful with lush green mountains,limestonecliffs,rivers and lakes. The most popular thing among the travelers has been the tubing. Seems to be changing now,cause 22 people died doing that only last year! Read about it here:

http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/life/24-signs-partys-over-vang-vieng-965782

 

I left for the south after 2 days and finally enjoyed the roads. At least the first 10 km. Then the surface more or less dissapeared and it was rough gravel and potholes. Did 86 km in 4,30 and my gear and myself was tested. Bumpy ride at times,but 60-70 % of the road was ok. Flat and nice,just a few climbs and all was good.

But still i go to fast. I am really trying to slow it all down,but something is still driving me to push on.  Too much intensity and too little joy. I have to focus on slowing down...

Arrived Phonhong and found myself a basic guesthouse where i stayed overnight and got up early next morning to get on to Vientiane.
Roads were good! Flat! Sun was shining! And i managed to go a little slower.
Did 69 km in 3,40 on flat roads stopping for some snack and drinks on the way. Last hour was bad,though. Heavy traffic,diesel-fumes and dust all the way combined with the fact that nobody took any kind of notice of me. Was like beeing invisible!!! Annoying,and i gave some of the drivers a lection in norwegian swear-words without getting any effect...

Well,arrived Vientiane and found a nice guesthouse riverside about in the middle of the day. Had a shower,a good lunch and a much needed massage.

Changing my plans now,and have applied for a 2 months visa to Thailand. I have travelled trough Lao and Cambodia on buses and really know what i was going for.
So going trough the Isaan province in Thailand along the Mekong and down south along the borders will probably be more interesting.

So i am crossing the border tomorrow,and going to Nong Khai to spend at least one night at the Mut Mee Guesthouse. Great place to wind down and make plans.

Next report from Isaan

Day 2:Disaster between Kiewchan and PhouKhom!

Woke up this morning after 3 hours sleep. Was raining hard all night and i was worried about the coming day in the hills. 3 weeks ago some villages were evacuated cause of heavy rainfall,and the road was closed some days cause of mudslides/landslides. Yesterday all looked fine,but i was worried about what 12 hours steady rain might do to the road. Had my porridge and a lao coffe looking out on the rain,checked the bus-route and saw there was a bus at 10.00. Had one more coffe and it stopped raining. 10 minutes later i was on the road again. Downhill for about  10 km going trough mud and gravel feeling my breakes got weaker the more mud i picked up,and in the end i was fed up with that long downhill cause i really had to break for potholes and mud in the road. Was quite happy to come to the small village at the bottom of the valley,but this was one of the places that was evacuated 3 weeks ago and people did not seem very happy. Really poor conditions in these villages,and to my suprise the kids ran along my bike not shouting the normal "sabaidee" but actaully spitting at me and when i speeded up they started throwing rocks! Never hit me,but i was absolutely suprised. Went straight  into some climps again,and saw parts of the road was more or less destoyed by rainfall. Mud and gravel,and i was slipping and sliding uphill over some parts. Absolutely hard work,and my mind started going on about the rest of the day. I knew i had to do 60 km in total to get to Phou Khom where there was  a guesthouse and i knew it was all about climbing trough lots of messed up road and going downhill braking hard. Next climb was endless! I slipped in the mud a few times and lost control. In the end i even had mud on my helmet! After a long and totally draining hour i stopped in a tiny village to fill up my waterbottles. The woman spoke some words english and i asked her how far to Phou Khom. (my speedometer is messed up...)She did not know the numbers in english but wrote 20 on her calulator. I asked "uphill all the way?" and she said "up up up" and gestured in a very convincing way i was going up. She also said the magic words "lain lain,load bad bad" meaning rain and bad road ahead. I already felt i had enough bad roads,but got back on the bike and continued,realising it just got steeper. So steep i had to push my bike uphill. (i wished i had a lower gear....)
I was absolutely getting drained by now. Guess it was cause i actually was puking a few times and lost  lots of liquids. My legs started to cramp! And then at the worst moment of the whole day while i was absolutely thinking about selling the bike and jump un a bus to a beach with palmtreees and Gin Tonics the most beautiful sight comes up the hills: A Toyota Hilux! First car going my way for a long time! 3 chinese guys on their way south! No english spoken,but before they could say Sabaidee i had all my gear on the back of the car and just pointed out the directions!

(note:it was in fact only(?) 7-8 km more uphill and then rolling hills to Phou Khon)

All smiles from the chinese guys even if i must have smelled like shit... They took me to Phou Khon,i had one look at that gloomy looking tiny village  in the rain and fog and jumped a songtaew (local transport) to Kasi 40 km ahead. Going downhill from Phou Khon i saw too much bad road to do anything else than catch a new songtaew from Kasi. I will regret it forever! Flat road trough amazing scenery in sunshine and misty mountains and there i was with all my messed up thoughts suffering trough 50 km of potholes and shitty road on a bumpy truck full of vegetables.....

Willl sort out my mind and relax here in Vangveing 2 nights before going south against Vientiane.

Honest reporting! Bad planning doing this on a cyclocross with slicks in the rainy season.....

Too be continued....

Day 1: Luangprabang-Kiewchan

Great getting started! I knew my first day was going to be hard climbing,but when i woke up in the morning i felt prepared. Powered up with my high-energy-porridge and some lao-coffe and finally i was on the road. About 20 km into my day it was all climbing,and apart from a 13 downhill,it was up,up,up. Two hills 13 and 22 km without any rest really drained me slowly out of power,but i was still "in green" when i was on top of the hill where i cycled into Kiewchan. 72 km,climbing 1600 meters. For my friends who knows Oslo it was like climbing the last part of Grefsenkollen endlessly....

Lots of rain last hour,and at times it was like cycling in a shallow river. Stopped a few times buying banans and refilled water,but was so focused on this day my Ipod was never in use and i hardly took any pics. Just one goal: Kiewchan!

Did the whole thing in 6 h,30 m,wich is quite good.

Arrived Kiewchan and got a basic room in this small village (they told it was 7 families living there),a shower and a noodle soup before i enjoyed a few BeeLao. The village had absolutely nothing of interest...

The rain continued trough the night,and it rained really hard for hours!

To be continued....

 

Luang Prabang

Arrived tuesday and unpacked and assambled my bike just to find out that i was in trouble already before starting my adventure. Baggage-handlers cant read "fragile"-stickers.....

3 of the teeth on my front gearshifter/crank was bent out of position and my rear brakes was messed up. Went to one of the local bike-rentals and was guided to their mechanic. Great guy who solved the problems in 30 minutes for 2 US dollars!

So i took a testride around town and all is ok now.

A friend from Koh lanta showed up yesterday so i delayed my take-off one day. Had a night on the bars in Luang Prabang last night with some Lao Lao and Beer Lao.  (Lao Lao= rice whiskey)

So today is poolside and relaxing. bags are packed and those hills awaits me tomorrow.....

Next report from Vang Vieng monday,i hope.....


 

Pimp my ride!

Less than a week until i am off!  Done lots of hours on the bike,and really feel ready to climb the mountains between Luangprabang and Vangvieng. First leg is devided in 3 days cycling based on advises and other cyclists experiences. Though i might try to do it in two days if i can make good progress day one. But there are some hills........ One 13 km and one 22 km climb,and the 22 km is at the end of the day.....
Well i feel prepared and will see what happens. Weather can be a probem,actually. Been raining hard and last weeks roads was closed and some villages was evacuated. I see on the forcast there will be hard rain when i plan to start. Well,i will pack my goretex.....


Got my ride pimped by some happy and creative girls today. Lots of flowers,butterflies and also some small tigers are now decorating my bike! Unique art!  :-)

Next report possibly from Bangkok.

:-)

Morten

 

Chaos on 20 sq m!

2 resting days are used for checking gear,buying some new stuff,testing stuff and planning,planning,planning. Been chatting with some other cyclists from different sites (Travelfish and crazyguyonabike) Lots of experience out there,and i have already adjusted my route. Will do more kilometers trouhg the Isaan-province in Thailand before crossing back into Laos by Pakse. So my well planned first 1000 km now looks a bit different. Google earth and google maps are not 100% in Lao and Cambodia,and i am planning to do this without a GPS. Old-fashioned maps is my way.

So my 20 square meter rented apartment is now full of cycles,trailer,panniers,sleeping bags,tents,matresses,cycleparts,tools and there are maps spread out all over. My landlord was a bit suprised,but now he just wanna come with me on my adventure.

Well,cycling again tomorrow. On new tyres! Schvalbe Durano Plus seems great!

More later.

Tickets and hotels booked!

Long time since last update? Yes,i have been busy getting as much hours as possible on the bike with the full rig. Longest ride so far was a good 120 km. Learned that the seat i had chosen was not the right seat. Did get cramps in my hamstrings.... I  am now using a Selle Italian XO Genuine Gel,and it feels better.

My friends who did 2880 km from Norway to Greece this summer made my choise of tyres easy: Schwalbe Durano Plus. They did totally almost 10000 km without a flat tyre! And they did their ride on carbon full racers with real tiny race-tyres. (They also used the extra-wheel trailers).
But i will do the first 500 km to Vientiane on the original Kenda Kwicker cause there are reports from other cyclists about some gravel and rough roads.

First 1000 km is almost planned now,and i guess i will be in Vientiane within 5-7 days.(depends whats going on in Vang Vieng....) There i will make a desicion about continue in Lao or cross over to Thailand and cycle trough the Isaan-province and then cross back into Lao in Sawannaket. Reason is reports from other cyclists that describe parts of the Lao road between Vientiane and Sawannaket as boring. Isaan will never be boring,so i guess that will be my choise.

Well,more later. I am going cycling now.....