Laos

Riding around Vang Vieng

Kids in a village where we stopped for a drink

After four good days of riding we reached Luang Prabang in north central Laos. From the point of view of a biker there are few things that are immediately apparent in Laos that make biking here superior to Thailand.

Cars. Not a lot of them (I heard only like 300,000 private cars in the whole country). Roads. While we were cycling the main and only north-south "highway" through Laos, there was little traffic and we got to ride through a lot of Hmong villages which line the road in the mountains, letting us see village life at 20km an hour. Food. It's not some Asian delicacy only recreatable back home by Emril but in fact it's a reminder of Laos' colonial history: baguette sandwiches! Around a dollar will get you a huge baguette filled with veggies and some type of french cheese. I might have to fill one pannier full of them and ration them out for once I cross into China.