Hello Again Laos

After our reunion with the Mekong river and Stung Treng town, we headed north on the same road as we did in 2015, the AH11 - there is only one way to travel to the Cambodia-Lao border. This border is known to be very corrupt; it was already the case back in 2015, and we were "warned" by several people along the way that it is not a good place. Unfortunately, there is no other option. There used to be another border crossing, it seems, where you could go via boat, but as far as we could figure out this is no longer an option for foreigners.

Getting ready to leave the Savet Guest House in the morning, after having a baguette for breakfast

This AH11 is probably even more sparsely populated than our journey along the RN64, and poorer. You could see it from the way people live. We also noticed at some point; there were still a lot of "hellos" by children, but a few time it became "hello money"... That doesn't happen very often when travelling in this region. As a different experience, we also had an old man on a motorbike overtaking us - very slowly - and asking, in good French: "Où allez-vous?". We answer "Au Laos". And he goes "Bon voyage". Not long before this, I had said that perhaps the older Cambodians speak French rather than English. Well, there you go!

Dusty gravel road, for most of the way. Luckily there was hardly any traffic, so not too dusty while cycling

Two young monks still on their morning round; we saw them back much later, while we were talking a break, probably 5-10km further!

This road was mostly unsealed; or at least, it has been a sealed road at some point, but most of the hard surface is gone, and it's mostly gravel now. Luckily the gravel is in OK condition, it was still comfortable riding - maybe using a bit more energy though. About 10km before the border we stopped for lunch. This was a little bustling border town, which definitely wasn't there 9 years ago. Fascinating... But in a way, this was probably also the first and only time I felt not entirely safe. Not that anything happened, not at all, sometimes you just get that feeling. It's often the case at border towns.

Not only lunch, but also an ice cold young coconut, very refreshing!

And there it is, the Cambodian border. After only 7 days of travel in Cambodia, we are already leaving the country. It was a real pleasure again, though!

We then arrived at the border, and things went surprisingly smooth. At the Cambodian side, nothing to say. They stamped our passport, and off we went. All friendly and correct. At the Lao side, we were surprised to see around 10 other tourists waiting for their passport with visa. We filled the forms, gave our ID pictures, and paid the 40 USD Visa On Arrival fee. The other tourists had clearly been waiting some time already, so we bought a drink and an ice cream, ready to wait some time too - and cool down meanwhile. But... after a few minutes, we were called to the collection booth and had our passports back, with visa! (and there, we had to pay an additional "stamp fee" of 2USD per person - not the end of the world, but not correct). No idea why they handled us first, before all the others, maybe it was just a case of "last in, first out". In any case, after just a few minutes, we were ready to go and roll into Laos!

Nomansland between Cambodia and Laos. No vehicles go through here - except bicycles.

See you on the other side! Hello Laos!

Riding in Laos again, with dry paddy fields in the background.

Once we were in Laos, things were somehow different. The country is so super relaxed, it feels immediately really peaceful. The first few kms there was hardly anything anyway, but the few people we met were super friendly, and the children even more enthusiastic. Laos immediately gives a much cleaner and more orderly impression. Cambodia is really quite dirty, there is garbage everywhere (plastic!!!), and even the shops and restaurants look messy. In Laos that is no longer the case, even the small, very local restaurants look attractive. Funny how you notice these things when arriving in a new country, and how it can suddenly be so different.

We found a small local road for the last few kms of riding, nice for a change.

And very "adventurous"

Well, I couldn't take pictures on the worst parts, it was pretty muddy at times.

Please share the road.

Which brings me to where we are now. Because, after we arrived in Laos, we only cycled another 20km or so (well, it brought the day's distance to about 80km anyway!), then took a little boat across the Mekong to one of the "4000 Islands": Don Det. It is a group of islands, some quite big, in the middle of the Mekong, and they're a travellers heaven. Super peaceful and beautiful, simple life in huts along the riverside, hammocks, cold drinks, good food. We came to stay 1 day, but enjoyed the place so we made it 2 full days. We just cycle around a little, visit this, visit that, enjoy a good coffee (oh yes, they have great coffee here, grown at the Bolaven plateau where we'll be going in a few days), go for a little swim in the river, enjoy our meals, read, write. No muy complicado.

Boat transfer on the Mekong to Don Det.

There is a nice, quite new (it seems) cycling/walking lane on the island, great for getting around very comfortably.

We didn't go across...

Let's call this one "ingenuity"?

This way to paradise

Well, maybe rather this way to paradise! Time for an ice coffee!

We withdrew some cash, and were shocked to see the exchange rate for Lao Kip (yep, that's how the currency is called). It used to be for the longest time 1 USD to 10.000 LAK roughly. Now, it has become 1 USD to 20.000 LAK! Their currency has devaluated by a factor 2 in only about 1 year time! Must be a challenge for many people to deal with that... On top of that, the maximum amount we can withdraw at one time from an ATM is... 2,5 million LAK. That sounds a lot and yes, it makes us millionaires, but it is only 125 USD. Life is cheap here however. The guest house we stay at (a very basic one though) costs 7,5 USD per night. A simple meal costs a few USD per person.