(written by Nancy) Well we think we are in Phoung Savan but we're not really sure.  We wanted to make the 240k from Savannakhet to Pakse in two days and we were told by one of the touring cyclists we met last week that there several guesthouses at the half way point.  We couldn't find much in the … Continue reading Winds make it a slog to Phoung Savan (120/10539 ks)

(written by Dave) We were out of the hotel pretty early this morning.  In fact we unintentionally timed our departure to coincide with the morning monk walk to collect alms (called a tak bat).  They were out in force this morning with several groups containing as many as ten monks.  You can tell that this … Continue reading Monks give us a good vibe on a long day to Savannahket (132/10,419 ks)

(written by Dave) We have virtually nothing to report from today! We found baguettes at brekkie, went to the tourist information office, did some laundry, cleaned the bikes and washed the water bottles. Other than that, we tried to relax and rest. We did watch a bit of the locals playing petanque (Loas version of the French … Continue reading Nothing to report from Tha Khaek

(written by Dave) First a word about dinner last night and the rat on a stick.  It turns out that small creatures on a stick must have been a speciality of Nam Thong.  There are probably a dozen restaurants lining the main street, which is really just highway 13.  We had trouble finding one that … Continue reading Dusty trails to Tha Khaek (105/10,287 ks)

(written by Dave) Today was our day for meeting fellow bicycle travellers. Around 11:00 when we pulled into our first possible destination, we were hailed to a cafe where we met Hans and Lieneke, a couple from Holland spending 6 weeks in SE Asia. We shared a meal with them and talked about routes. We … Continue reading Meeting more tourists into Nam Thong (95/10,182 ks)

(written by Nancy) With the aid of our sleeping bag liners we made it through the night.  The ant population remained steady overnight but they seemed to mind their own business.  Dave put his hand on the sink and it almost came off the wall so we did not linger this morning after a quick … Continue reading Easing into Laos – Thabok to Paksan (55/10,087k)

(written by Nancy) We were up early and had brekkie in the room - our fresh croissants were not as crispy this morning having sat overnight but they were still tasty and better than 7-11 banana cake any day. We left the hotel at 7:20 with no clouds in the sky and the temperature already … Continue reading Sabaidee! – Vientiane to Thabok (95/10,032 ks)

(Written by Dave) First up let me report to all email subscribers that we did post yesterday but our web hosting “new email on post” service was down.  So, no one received a notice of the post.  If you want to read yesterday's post, you can get to it by clicking on the link “Tourist … Continue reading Last day in Vientiane

(Written by Dave) Today's goal was to cover the Lonely Planet Vientiane bicycle tour route.  We made it about half way through before we fell to the heat and called it a day.  They said that it would take 4 hours but we were either too slow or we took too many photos.  Admittedly, we … Continue reading Tourists in Vientiane

(written by Nancy) We finally dragged ourselves away from the Mut Mee Guesthouse in Nong Khai this morning and made our way into our 5th country on this trip – Laos! We left early to try to avoid the rush at the border but first stopped at a German bakery in Nong Khai for a quick pastry to see … Continue reading Crossing over the Mekong into Laos (28/9937k)