Vientiane

Hey France,

So apparently the Laotian people weren't thrilled with the whole protectorate status or French occupation thing (both times). We get that. But, we have got to hand it to you, we're loving your imperial colonial legacy; your crusty baguettes and flaky croissants are providing some much needed simple sugars. We're not upset about the espresso either.

Perhaps we will meet again in Cambodia?

At long last, the Route.

Here she is. We have until April 6th.

It should be noted that a couple chunks of this journey will be with our bikes on the top of buses / trains / boats rather than between our legs.

No purists here, we don't have that kind of time.

Thalat

Boatmen on the Ang Nam Ngum reservoir. At the other end of the reservoir is an underwater logging operation.

For Teak.

Also of note: some little punk stole our bike computer, probably while this picture was being taken.

Pho

This is everywhere, and it costs $1-2.
2 meals a day, sometimes 3. Might get old, but that remains to be seen.

Kasi to Vang Vieng

A beautiful ride, coming out of the mountains into the Nam Song river valley.

Phi Kuhn to Kasi

Incredible karst topography with some steep climbing and descending.

A beautiful ride.

Caves

A trip out to the Pak Ou caves, on the banks of the Mekong, upstream of Luang Prabang.

Dusty roads and saffron robes...

There you go Jeff, some hot biking action.

Au revoir, Rivers

Today the team lost a founding member, as Rivers began his trip west via the east.

Proprietors of Beer Lao stands are expecting a slow quarter, and enacting austerity measures.

Safe travels!

Luang Prabang street food

Delicious, although the 'fried chicken' left a little bit to be desired.

Crossing into Laos

Crossing the Mekong into northern Laos. Paid an extra buck for the bikes.

A float down the Mekong

A two day float down the Mekong to Luang Prabang, the old French Colonial capital of Laos.

This sort of public transportation would never fly in the states. A 200 foot long wooden boat, huge uncovered diesel engine blaring in the passenger cabin, rapids, huge rocks, chickens, fish, dogs, drunk Australians...and a bunch of bikes tied on the roof

Awesomeness.

Finally...

So after travels in an airplane, several taxis, a couple tuk-tuks, a minibus, an overnight train and a really awesome Toyota station wagon that we have never seen the likes of....

we have bikes that roll instead of drag. Bikes with wheels are way more convenient than a bike in a box.

Tuk-tuk action...

Probably the best / cheapest in our bike box moving experiences.

And to think we thought we needed something bigger than a go cart to move three people, several bags and two bike boxes...

Western preconceptions be dammed.

Bikes in the aiport

After all the horror stories of bikes disappearing, getting destroyed, costing a fortune to bring on an airplane, we were very pleased to find none of these scenarios applying to our experience.

Now we have bikes in SE Asia!