Little Adventures on Two Wheels: Luang Prabang to Viengpukha

Day 1: 112km, climb 947m, Luang Prabang - Pakmong
Day 2: 81km, climb 1693m, Pakmong - Oudomxay
Day 3: 118km, climb 1243m, Oudomxay - Luang Nam Tha
Day 4: 60km, climb 658m, Luang Nam Tha - Vieng Phuka

We could not wait to get back onto our bikes after a week of rest but found ourselves cursing soon as we were so out of shape. Chinese New Year was closing in so there was a great display of firepower in Pakmong which seemed to have quite a large chinese community or just a large bunch of gunpowder loving children. It was a bit of a dump but we slept well.

The next day to Oudomxay continued to be very demanding, hot and tiring but the scenery was nice and we were rewarded with a beautiful guesthouse in Oudomxay. In fact we liked it so much that we stayed an extra day to take full advantage of yet another branch of the Lao Red Cross massage and steam sauna. The schools of Oudomxay had english exams coming up and the town was full of youngsters in search of their ultimate english conversational practice. We were first invited to have a cup of tea by one boy so he could practice his english, then another kid acosted us in the street and tried to come home with us. From then on we pretended to be Russian.

We set off to Luang Nam Tha the next day because there where some fellow Russians in town that wanted to meet us. Around lunch time we stopped to say hello to a beautiful big box on wheels. There turned out to be a couple of friendly Bavarians inside it, asking us if they could help us or if we needed any medical supplies. We said we were fine but jokingly mentioned that we had not eaten bavarian sausages in a long time. The next thing we know was that we all parked in a big gravel field and they cooked lunch for us! Over a delicious home cooked bavarian feast they told us of the german butcher in Thailand where they had refilled their freezer compartment and about their travels that are taking them all around the world. After lunch there was even espresso with hot foamy milk to be had and it was all slightly surreal and very enjoyable. Setting off again was difficult due to the beer that naturally goes with any bavarian meal, but we still had 60km to ride. It was a nice road and mainly down hill for the last 30km so we made it into Luang Nam Tha just as it was getting dark.
We stopped there for a day and went to a little village festival which was as interesting as a village festival anywhere in the world, with food, drink, singing, playing and dancing.

The next day was a short day for once, along the beautiful road to Vieng Phouka where we stayed in a bungalow after having a swim in the river next to it. We were planning to book a trek as we heard many good things about it.