Our stay in Luang Prabang will last 1 entire week. No problem, it's really nice here. Yes touristy, but yes nice. Our second China visa application yesterday went much better than the first one, and it seems we have submitted all we need to get our visa. In fact, the little hiccup with the first attempt has helped us in the end: they said we will get a 60-day visa, something they normally don't grant from the Laos consulate (normally you get just 30 days), which is great for our planning. It's been a combination of us being honest and also asking for their assistance, and a travel agent helping us out with some hocus pocus. Normally we'll have our passports with visa back this coming Wednesday, ready to continue cycling.
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| An "action picture" with Bas and us |
So what do you when you're a week "stuck" in Luang Prabang? To start with, we've been enjoying little things: fresh baguettes, a bottle of wine, an enormous and delicious avocado, and all this on our cozy little terrace at the guesthouse. The climate at this time of the year is wonderful - warm but not hot dry days, cool nights and mornings. Perfect to enjoy sitting outside, strolling around, etc. We've also replenished some of our supplies: a new gas canister (not easy to find in this part of the world!) to make sure we can continue our morning coffees, some boxes of la cache qui rit - ideal for the bread meals (often for breakfast), Nutella, muesli and some other stuff.
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| The Mekong riverside in Luang Prabang |
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| On the ferry |
We've also been reading about the road ahead. We'll have about 2 more weeks to go in Laos once we leave LP, so we're going to build in an additional loop rather than just riding straight to the Chinese border. And then there is China, time to start reading about the how what and where. We've also decided to go visit our kids in Australia in April, and we'll be flying from South Korea. With that, much of our itinerary is becoming more final now. 5-6 weeks China, than into Korea - which we want to do by ferry from Qingdao to Incheon, a side-trip to Australia, then back and across Korea, ferry from Busan to Fukuoka, and end with 1,5 to 2 months Japan. Nothing is final, but it becomes more likely.
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| Scenery on the Chomphet loop, accompanied by a beautiful blue sky |
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| Steep sections, but so much easier without the bags! |
Today we have cycled the "Chomphet loop", a loop of around 30km at the other side of the Mekong river. We crossed the river by ferry, and off you go. It's all unsealed and often bumpy road on that side of the river, in the beginning still quite good and wide, after a while becoming a small and bumpy ride. It was a very beautiful cycling tour however, hilly and bumpy but very feasible (although I would not do this on a bad bike and a good cycling condition helps for the steep hills). Even though we have already seen a lot of rural Laos, this was different. What we saw so far, were small villages lined along one of the major Lao roads; remote and rural but connected. The villages today were probably more remote, very small, not centred around the road, and people will see very little visitors or traffic. Again, so beautiful, and also intriguing that this is so close to Luang Prabang with all the tourists, luxury, infrastructure etc - a strong contrast.
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| Fording the river near a village |
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| Encounter with a "handsome friend"; this is a long-nosed whip snake, harmless for people, beautiful, probably around 1,5m long. I've seen one of these in Malaysia before as well, in Bukit Kiara! |
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| Lao rural scenery in the dry season |
Meanwhile, our "companion" Bas has left LP. He had his Vietnamese visa yesterday already, and left today. We have another 3 days to go in LP however, and that won't be a problem at all. There are still a few other bike trips we can do, and we have not even properly visited LP itself yet. And then after that, further north!
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| A small rural wat under construction |
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| Yes, I cycle too! |