Good morning Laos!
We got an early start out of Dien Bien Phu this morning – starting at 7 so we could arrive at Tam Trong pass – the Lao border – by 10am. The city was already humming as we cycled by – there was a tourist bus up on blocks on one block, and loud music emanating from the Vietnamese equivalent of diners. We rode through heavy mist as we climbed out of rice paddies – and the morning was humid but didn’t heat up too much. The climb was long – close to 17 kilometers – and the views continued to be breathtaking (but hazy – so the photos don’t do it justice.) The photo pictured is a shrine at the bottom of the climb.
The departure from Vietnam was uneventful –and the one member of our party with no visa had no trouble on the Lao side of the border. We got a new guide and driver, and switched bikes and refit our pedals. As we left the Lao immigration site, the scenery changed abruptly. The tar road gave was to clay and some gravel. The immaculate road mileage signs disappeared. The forest looked (relatively) untouched – there were not smouldering fires everywhere.
The bad news was that although we arrived at the border on time and suffered no unexpected delays, the road (the only road) was being widened and paved, and a large section of it would shut down from noon to four. We thought we’d make it to a shady area by a stream, but when the noon witching hour arrived, we were stuck in a lunar landscape with no shade and 100 yards from a giant earth moving machine chomping down the mountain to widen the road.
This being Laos, we chilled. Our new guide, Joi , and driver Mr. Ping prepared us lunch (tuna, packaged cheese, French rolls, and vegetables washed in bottled water) – and put a plastic mat down in the construction area and tied a tarp to the truck to protect us from the sun. Most of us read books – and the four hours passed more quickly than you’d think! (Joi is pronounced in between “Joey” and “Choy” – many Laotian words don’t transliterate well into English.)
At four it was too late to ride the 75 km by bike - and frankly the road was in no shape for biking. We rode in the back of the flatbed truck – the guide couldn’t bring the van because of the road. Little did we know....
The road was a genuine mess – dusty throughout (no rain here since October – the rainy season is right around the corner) – and there were 6 different areas where heavy machinery had been tearing apart the mountain and put together a temporary road just at reopening time (between 4 and 5). The road also required fording 5 streams – some of which were at least 5 inches deep. The ride was gut-wrenching – but I was happy not to be biking through the dust, dirt, and obstacles.
The villages we went through (Camoo – probably spelled wrong) were very poor –and the childen had ragged clothes and many didn’t have the ubiquitous plastic sandals. They also viewed us as a tourist attraction for themselves, and mobbed us when we stopped at another check point awaiting for the 5pm finish of one of the many construction sites.
Our first Lao dinner was great – we had sticky rice, the national dish, mixed vegetables, eggplant, fish soup, and pork for the carnivores. The restaurant had an assortment of chili pastes and other condiments – so therapeutic doses of Beer Lao were required at the table.
Tomorrow – 100 km on “undulating” roads that we’re assured have no construction going on! The hotel here has no internet, but tomorrow’s hotel will – so I’ll be queuing this up to be emailed to got posted tomorrow afternoon.
Photo: kids waving to our truck as we left their village
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