Anzahl der Besucher

Bicyle tour Lao

These tracks are part of our bicycle tour that we started in Bangkok. My girlfriend and i bought two mountenbikes there to cycle around Thailand, Lao, China and maybe Poland. You can find a description of our bikes and where we bought them here.

I update OSM map so if you download the latest OSM map all the roads should be there and the places we visited.

Bicycle tour Lao day 20

Nong Khai - Vientiane

Time 12:00 – 15:00, no breaks

27 February

Distance 31,7 km

Just a short border hopping trip. I did not wanted to use the big AH12 Road and choose a small one. This road was unpaved and it was even with out Mountain-bikes difficult to ride with all our luggage. So it took a quiet a while to reach the area of Vientiane where the streets are paved again.

Bicycle tour Lao day 21

Vientiane – Thinkeo

Time 8:00 – 16:30, 3 breaks

02 March

Distance 187 km

After getting out of Vientiane the road will be less crowded and nice to cycle. We went up to the lake and asked at Fishermens lodge but the price was to high for our budget. He also rents a place to sleep on the boat and you can sleep in a tent (a tent from Fishermen). It is nicer there than in Thinkeo. From there it is also possible to rent a boat and go all the way up the lake with your bike. Instead of cycling the next track we did it may be nice to do it by boat. If there are three people together renting one boat it will be not expensive.

Bike Tour Lao day 22

Thinkeo – Vang Vieng

Time 8:00 – 14:30, 2 breaks

03 March

Distance 106,5

The closer you get to Vang Vieng the more beautiful the landscape will be. And then in Vang Vieng you will be shocked by naked Foreigner running through the streets. Nevertheless there is more than drinking and tubing and if you stay on the other side of the river you are away from the center of party. There are 2 bridges for crossing the river. Look for the small one which is free to cross. We relaxed at the blue Lagoon and with a climbing course before we started for the next hard part of our journey up the north. After Luang Prabang there are a lot of mountains to cross.

Bike Tour Lao day 23

Vang Vieng - Nam Khene

Time 8:00 – 14:30, 2 breaks

08 March

Distance 81,4 km

The Landscape is beautiful and the road is not busy. It is nice to cycle here. At the end there is a higher climb up to the mountain and on the top a clear water hot spring pool is waiting next to some bungalows to sleep. It is a perfect place to have a rest there. It is really local and no signs there so it is easy to miss. A lot of truck driver stop there to relax in the hot pool. The Hot Springs are before the town Nam Khene.

I could not find the track in my navi when I wanted to copy it. Maybe I forgot to save it therefore this is not a recorded track, I used the planning function of gpsies to replace the missing track.

Bike Tour Lao day 24

Nam Khene - Kiewkacham

Time 8:00 – 18:00, 2 breaks

09 March

Distance 75,5 km

The Distance is not very long but there are a lot of height meters to climb up. We started too late and arrived just before sunset. It was a very hard day. The scenery is nice and all the mountain villages are beautiful. Trunks are sometime annoying when the blew there black dust cloud right in to your face. The town is nothing special but there is no other guesthouse on the way to sleep.

Bike Tour Lao day 25

Kiewkacham - Lung Prabang

Time 8:00 – 15:30, 2 breaks

10 March

Distance 81,4 km

There a still a lot of height meters to cycle up but less than the day before. In the morning there is a 25 Km long downhill. It is beautiful to cycle through this mountain area but it is also a tough day especially after the hard day before.

Bike Tour Lao day 26

Nong Khiao - Pakmong

Time 9:00 – 12:00, 1 break

19 March

Distance 31,7 km

We did a one week rest in Luang Prabang. The weather was very bad. It was raining cats and dogs so we have not done anything apart from walking around in the town. It was also very cold. But anyway we had to wait for our china visa. Grace Air ticket Service in the main road was the cheapest for 57 Dollar and we received a 60 day Visa instead of 30 days the other tourist offices told us. After the six days waiting (we applied on a Friday and payed a 4 working day visa), we receiving the visa we took a boat on the Meekongriver and the Ou River up to Nong Khiao. It is a very scenery boat ride and we enjoyed it a lot. From there we did just a short trip on the next day to Pakmong. It is the last possibility before the high mountains and we did not want to do a long hard ride right after our rest days.

Bike Tour Lao day 27

Pakmong - Oudomxai

Time 7:15 – 16:00, 2 breaks

20 March 2011

Distance 129,3 km

The road is paved and it is a very nice scenery through the mounain villages. The area is often surrounded by a green forest and there is not a lot of traffic on the road. Very often the road is in a bad condition and is unpaved or the road is too much destroyed. This trip is nothing for small tires but it is very nice with a mountain-bike.

Bike Tour Lao day 28

Oudomxay - Luang Namthan

Time 7:15 – 17:00, 3 breaks

21 March 2011

Distance 82 km

Ascending 1.100 hm

There was not really a road at the beginning. It is a very bumpy dirt way and we had to drive quiet slow. The Chinese started to build a road from the direction of Luang Namthan but only the last 50 km were paved when we cycled there. We saw every stage of the road construction on the tour. We arrived quiet tired and very dusty in Lung Namtha. Sometimes there have been a lot of trucks and lorries on the road which was a little bit annoying. Maybe the traffic was more because of the road construction. The scenery is good and the road condition varies from brand new to no road at all. If you do not have a mountain-bike it may be better to take the bus.

Bike Tour Lao day 29

Luang Namthan – Muang Sing

Time 9:30 – 16:00, 5 breaks

23 March 2011

Distance 66,2 km

Ascending 783 hm

We started very late because our plan was to take the bus to Muang Sing and cycle back. We were too late for the first bus at 8:30 and the 9:30 bus was already full so we started to cycle. The area is beautiful. The road goes straight through the national reserve area. A clear water river is running next to the road and we stopped very often to have a break with our feet in the nice cold water. We also bought a lot of water melon. A lot of small lorries with water melon parked next to the street. After the hilly area the land opens in to endless rice field and banana forests. Before coming to the village we had a beer at the mountain view lodge with an amazing view. It is a very nice side trip from Luang Namthan.

Bike Tour Lao day 30

Muang Sing -Luang Namthan

Time 8:15 – 15:00, 2 breaks

24 March 2011

Distance 66,2 km

Ascending 600 hm

Same way back as we arrived the day before. We started early to escape the midday heat when we have to climb up. It is a nice ascend because it goes very slowly up and on the other side it is great rolling such a long way gently down towards Luang Namtha. In fact there is no town called Luang Namtha it is the name of the province. The most hotels, restaurants, night Market, travel agencies and so on are on the main street of a village called Phonsay.

Bike Tour Lao day 31

Luang Namthan - Mengla

Time 8:30 – 17:00, 2 breaks

26 March 2011

Distance 118 km

We expected the procedure at the border to be quiet strict but it was not at all. There was only one officer there to check the visa and to make the stamp in the passport. Since there have been not a lot of people we do not have to queue. Then we passed the border without any checking of the luggage. The old road next to the highway is very nice. It is longer than the highway and it is much more hilly but there is no traffic and we passed a lot off small villages.