LAOS - country of wooden huts

April 19, 2023. We arrive in our eighteenth country: Laos. New country. New faces. New language. We arrived by the northernmost border with Vietnam, where we have just spent a month. At this time of the year, the sky is white. The mountains of northern Laos are covered by a mysterious mist. First pedal stroke. Impure air enters our lungs. Here, only a few days ago, the whole forest was burning. Like every year. We are lucky, the slash-and-burn season is almost over. Laotian lands are “prepared” for new plantations.

"Sabadiiii" - the first word we heard from the Laotians when we approach the village. It's the friendliest "hello" we've heard since the beginning of the trip. Everything also seems quieter here. Fewer motorcycles. Not a single horn sound. Life seems to be in slow motion. The Laotians are constantly smiling at us.

Temperatures are breaking records when we arrived in Laos. Felt 43 degrees. We adapted the rhythm of our days accordingly and the alarm clock rings very often at 4am. From 11am, the air burnt our lips and our hands on the handlebars. We found that accommodation there was very affordable - €6 for two - which had saved many of our afternoons in Laos.

A little surprise awaits us on the third day of the trip. In the town of Muang Khua we found a small boat that could take us to the other side of a huge mountain, to Muang Ngoy. It's 40 degrees and we've had our mountain quota in Vietnam. Without hesitation, we embarked with our bikes on the local boat. We stoped along the way to pick up Laotians in the isolated villages, in the middle of the jungle and connected only by the river.

5 hours and a passage of dam later, we disembarked in a small paradise. An isolated fishing village, located by the river on an unexpected valley floor between two mountains. No road comes here, the whole village is turned towards the river, its link with the rest of the world.

We discovered the sumptuous tastes of Laotian cuisine, whose star ingredients are curry, coconut, bamboo shoot and papaya. A contrast with Vietnam, which is always welcome.

After a few days soaking up the rural atmosphere, it was time to leave this little paradise. Program for a few days: low gears in the mountains and waking up before dawn so as not to suffer too much. We ended up reaching the old Laotian capital: Luang Prabang. Today the religious capital of the country with several dozen temples. We felt the former presence of the French from the colonialist period. Small cobbled streets, a few brick houses, pastries and names on the panels doubled in French. A bit of a “home away from home” feel. Nostalgia awakens after more than a year of travel. We did not expect it!

We arrived there on Roxy's birthday so we took the opportunity to recharge the batteries with a nice little accommodation and a traditional massage for 4€ per hour!

We continued our journey, still heading south. Laos is undoubtedly the land of bivouacs with these wooden huts. Small raised houses, often in the middle of the fields and providing shelter in case of rain or for the hottest hours. In our case: an excellent place to pitch the tent almost every night. We witnessed astonishing scenes of life, in particular the link between the Laotians and their buffaloes, beasts weighing several hundred kilos rolling in the pools of mud. The sunsets over the mountains were also breathtaking.

Speaking of mountains, we crossed our last pass before a long time, arriving on Vian Vieng. This was the ultimate motivation, pushing the bikes knowing that each meter was surely the last. Because yes, after this northern Laos, there won't be much elevation left before… Malaysia or Indonesia!

We also spent a few days in Vian Vieng which was too touristy for us. The only advantage from our point of view was the affordable accommodation and the food variety. Because yes, we no longer found the good little curries on the side of the road, only rice. The surroundings were still magnificent, we took advantage of it with some hikes.

In front of us, the plains, the Mekong, and the main road that we tried to avoid as much as possible. We decided not to go to Vientiane, the capital, which had no real interest for us and which would be a detour for us. So we took a shortcut through the fields. The first flat kilometers since many months, we were delighted. But there was a catch. It was hot, too hot. The afternoons were unbearable and the sun beat down very hard. One afternoon, when we were melting on the chairs of a small restaurant along the road, I looked at the map and came across a suggestion of accommodation 8km in our direction. The first photos took my breath away. Unfortunately, I knew in advance that it would not be in our budget. I looked at the comments out of curiosity “No way!!!” - I shouted and I shared with Roxy the news. One of the comments indicated that it was possible to use the swimming pool only for a few dollars. In less than 5 minutes we were on the bikes and pedaling at a high pace.

Half an hour later we were at the reception of this luxurious hotel, on the edge of the primary forest which covered a small mountain range. We left the bikes and 1.5€ each, then a small golf cart took us deep into the forest. There, paradise on earth: a huge swimming pool under the canopy with a bar with a neat and warm design. We found our refuge for the afternoon. In the evening, we went out and sleep in a wooden hut nearby.

The way in southern Laos is via its western side, along the Mekong. The road was long and quite busy. We arrived in a few days in Thakhek from where a famous loop goes inland. It was too hot, too much elevation, we were a little unmotivated and above all, the road was still long to the southern border and we only had 10 days of visa left. Next time.

A little further south, we organized a meeting with another cyclist, who was going up Laos. We gave each other our respective routes and our positions so as not to miss each other. We had each been following the other's adventure on the networks for several months and we missed each other in Tajikistan. One late afternoon on the small rural roads along the Mekong, we ended up crossing Stu. An Englishman traveling alone with his fat-tire bicycle. Perfect for gravel roads. In no time, the presentations were made and we jumedp into the Mekong to refresh ourselves with a few beers bought before. In the evening, you guessed it, it was the Laotian hut for the bivouac. We discussed about our adventures in recent months, a bit like with Chad in the desert of Uzbekistan 7 months earlier.

We hit the road again towards the south. In three days we arrived in Pakse, the last major city in southern Laos. Roxy had been feeling bad since the day before and we decided to go to the hospital to see a doctor. In these countries where tropical diseases are legion, do not underestimate the risk and consult at the slightest fever. False alarm, we were reassure. Short day of rest to fill up on energy just before the ascent to the Bolaven plateau. This is the place where the famous Laotian coffee was grown. We couldn't wait.

The road to the plateau was gentle, you gain 1000 meters of elevation over 50km. We were surrounded by coffee plantations. We stoped at a waterfall at noon and Tommy even took a dip. In the evening, we slept on the plateau, it was cool at 1200m altitude, very nice.

But the prospect of pedaling in these mild temperatures was quickly forgotten: the next day, we descended to the other side of the plateau… by 1000m! The rainy season also invited itself to the trip (well, we were waiting for it!) The showers were frequent and powerful on the plateau. We were also concerned about the visa. We had 3 days left to cover 180km and… 5000m of elevation. It was going to be a race against time and Roxy was still a bit weak from the previous days. We pedaled up to a first climb but the figures were clear: slopes at more than 20%. It was already hot and we were exhausted. Forced hitchhiking session. But we were in a corner of Laos and not on the main road, little traffic here. Finally we were lucky and a van passes - the only one for a while - and allowed us to cross this first obstacle. We were speechless when the small vehicle struggled to climb the slope. We would had push… We continued on our bikes until the next climb. We tried a second hitch-hiking which ends up working when we were about to give up. An inhabitant of the last Laotian village, lost in the forest, took us in the back of his loaded truck. It was so heavy that we had to stop mid-climb to cool the engine. We pitched the tent… in a wooden hut, to end our stay in Laos in style. From this last hamlet of a hundred inhabitants, there remained a last climb of 12km to the Vietnamese border. We were motivated and we woke up early, but from 5 a.m. the humidity in the air exceeded the percentage of the slope. We sweated from every porosity and the t-shirts were soaked. No traffic on this small road which slalomed in the mountain in the middle of the centenary trees, climbing up to the sky. We were alone in the middle of the jungle. We only heard the sound of our bikes and wild birds.

Around noon, we finally saw a huge monument appearing, an arch several meters high which marked the arrival in Vietnam. It was a relief. A month traveling through Laos from its northernmost border to its southernmost border. A month to discover this little-known landlocked country in Southeast Asia. We loved Laos and want to come back, surely with lighter and more all-terrain bikes to discover the most isolated corners.