LAOS • TRAVEL

Education • Info

Total km biked: 730 kilometers

Days biked: 8 days

We only cycled a short route in Laos, but the road conditions from Vientiane to Pak Mong (just north of Luang Prabang) were great. The road conditions ranged from good to okay from Pak Mong to the split just before Boten. In this area the roads were washed out and flooded a few places, but nothing too major.

The weather was great in Laos. Cycling from Kasi to Luang Prabang, you gain some elevation, so the nights are cooler than normal. We didn't have any rain until we hit Luang Prabang. It rained our first two mornings we stayed there working on the website. The only disappointing aspect of the weather in Laos is that the end of the dry season (late March/April) is the burning time for Hmong and other mountain dwelling people in Laos. As a result the sky was always white and hazy, and we also had ash falling down as we cycled nearly every day in the north. Once we headed north from Luang Prabang, it rained often either in the late afternoon or early morning, but these showers were brief and heavy and took some of the particles out of the air.

There is plenty of food and water in Laos, although there is significantly less than in Thailand, Vietnam and on the main roads in Cambodia. In a few areas in the mountains (between Kasi and Luang Prabang), you do need to cycle for a few hours without finding much. Some cyclists we met preferred to carry a few snacks for these stretches; we didn't. You can drink the water at all restaurants in Laos; it is usually on the tables in plastic pitchers. So there is no need to buy water. We filled up our water bottles using this water, or the water from water coolers in restaurants as well. We thought food was expensive in Laos, compared with the rest of Southeast Asia. You can find noodle soup for about US$1 and up and fried vegetables/meat for about US$2 a plate. In touristy areas they usually charge extra for sticky rice.

We camped and stayed in guesthouses in Laos. Camping was great, but in the far north it usually rained overnight. If we could, we would set up our tent under a shelter in the fields used by field workers to take a break during the day. When we met farmers when we were setting up our tent, they were friendly and curious and wanted to make sure we knew it was going to probably rain in the evening.

Hotels/guesthouses were usually anywhere from 35,000 - 50,000 kip (US$4-6) for a double room (outside of Vientiane and Luang Prabang) and were clean and nice, usually with an on demand hot water shower either in the room or shared in the hallway. The signs for most guesthouses and some restaurants are usually in English and are always the same style and yellow in color.

We used the same general southeast Asia map we used in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, and it worked great for Laos, since we stayed on the main north-south route through the country.

We didn't take any alternate transportation in Laos.

The children of Laos were amazing; we think we said sabadee (hello & goodbye) about 100 times a day and loved it! There is also much less traffic in Laos than the rest of Southeast asia. The scenery from Vang Vieng to the Chinese border is beautiful with green lush mountains. It reminded us a bit of Kauai, Hawaii, minus the burned areas (which were quite numerous since we were there during prime burning season, we were told.)

Internet is limited and slow. We were able to find connections in Vientiane, Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang. The usual rate is somewhere around 6,000-8,000 kip an hour, although in Vang Vieng they charge the unreal rate of 18,000 kip/hour!

We saw ATM's in Vientiane and Luang Prabang.