Crossing the Border into Laos
An early start this morning awoken by the alarm. We slept surprising well on the slabs no aches or pains at all.
A walk up to breakfast with a buffet spread of local rice, chicken dish, fried eggs, ham, hot dog sausages, toast and fruit. I was hoping to find some rice porridge but not today so settled for some eggs on toast with fruit. The coffee was just instant with powdered milk... Eekk.
Shortly after breakfast we were all packed into the back of an open truck along with our luggage for the short ride down to the river and the border crossing. We completed our departure formalities with Thai immigration and were then loaded onto a long boat for the short trip across the river into Laos. Today the port was not so busy, yet still many tourists, mainly backpackers as we all lined up to complete the formalities for a visa on arrival and pay our $30 USD. We also exchanged Thai Bart for Laos Kip. Ending up with 657,000 Kip for about $70 AUD.
A short walk up the road and we were boarded on another truck transport with the bike bags on the roof for the short trip to our boat for the 7 HR journey down the Mekong to Pak Beng in Laos.
The river is the life blood of so many local Thai and Laos people for food, water, growing rice and as a pathway for travel. The local transport are small long boats or speed boats with a long pipe with a rotor which propels the boat along at high speed. The passengers all sit on the floor of the boat with some wearing motor bike helmets to guard from the water splashes, which looks very strange. Given they don't wear helmets when riding motor bikes on the road it seemed completely strange they wear them on the river.
Our boat is very comfortable with what look like seats from buses set with tables on either side, with a dining area near the rear, a bar with food and drinks and a white board with prices of some items. Beer Lao 20000 Kip, coke 10000 Kip. It's a fascinating journey watching as we go by the lush green landscape on both sides of the river. In some areas every inch of the land including the very steep hillsides have been hand ploughed and are growing rice. This is the lively hood of these families as they have no job, but must grow food for themselves, and sell what they can to get some income. As a longer term investment some families have planted teak trees, which will mature in 30-40 years and they can sell to get their retirement savings. Our guide Chit tells us that he has some teak trees planted himself that he will sell later when he is close to retirement.
After about 90 minutes into our journey the boat driver slows down and must stop at a government checkpoint on the Laos side of the river. It is compulsory for him to show his boat drivers license and to pay money to use the river. The boat drivers do not like having to pay this money which they believe goes directly to the corrupt government people, but as Lao still only has one communist political party they have no say and no choice but to pay.
The government jobs in Laos are also not well paid which is why there is so much under the table exchanges of money and such payments as the boat driver must pay keep they money flowing.
At one stage along the river our guide points out the work underway to build a bridge across the river which is expected to be finished in about 2 years time. This will be a big development and increase the trade between the two countries, as well as the trade between Thailand and China. The route across the river and through Laos is heavily used for goods to and from China.
Of course there will be a negative impact on the local community in particular the barge owners who depend on the income they get from the tourists and all the trucks who they port across the river all day every day.
Lunch is cooked by the wife of the boat driver and is served on the dining table for us. Deep fried local caught fish, noodle soup with some pork mince and vegetables, vegetable stir fry, stemmed rice and omlete. We chat with our guide Chit about our tour and about the history of Lao.
We eventually arrive at Pak Beng around 3pm. A small village on the river with several guest houses spread along the river front amongst other shops and houses. We walk up to our guest house for the night and are shown to our rooms on the second floor. A small room with 2 single beds a tv, ceiling fan and a tiny bathroom very clean with wood panelling on the ceilings and walls.
Since arriving we feel much warmer here in Pak Beng it is more humid and no breeze or wind to cool us. we decide a Laos beer is in order to quench the thirst and cool us down so head to the restaurant in the guest. Laos beer is available in large bottles so we order one for 20,000 Kip! It goes down very fast and tastes great.
Our bikes are brought up from the river and we proceed to unpack and assemble them. It takes close to an hour to get all the parts together and do a short test ride to ensure all the gears and brakes are operating. Hot work as we sweat profusely! Hmm must be time for antihero Beer Laos..
I dash off for a shower before dinner is served on the outside balcony of the guest house overlooking the river. A great location again. Very picturesque.
Vegetable broth soup, chicken curry, vegetable curry, deep friend fish with lemon grass and steamed rice. Very fresh and delicious.
Our guide Chit gives us a lesson in Laos history which is very interesting including his own story of living on the land with his parents and 6 brothers and sisters. How his father spent 4 years in the re-education camp (prison camp) during the communist regeim.
We retire for the night at 9.30 with our ceiling fan blowing full speed on our slab beds thinking of our first ride day tomorrow of 80kms.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Friday, June 10, 2011
Off with Grasshopper
Off with Grasshopper...
Another slow morning to wake and wonder down to the sumptuous breakfast. Followed shortly after with a visit to the fitness center for some exercise so we can continue this decadent lifestyle of food, oh and so we can sustain the coming 600 or so KMs in Laos.
Our pick up at the hotel was almost an hour late. We found out afterwards they got lost looking for the Le Meridien hotel! We met our 2 cycling companions. Chris from Sydney, and Sandy from the UK both traveling alone. We also met our Lao guide Chit. We then had a 2 hour journey north to Chiang Kong in the air-conditioned mini van. The township is right on the border of Thailand and Laos on the mighty majestic Mekong River. With a single road through the centre of the village all traffic to and from Laos crosses the river by one of the many barges, even huge trucks cross.
We check into our rustic guest house and are pleasantly surprised at the quality of the room and the great view of the river from our balcony! One that deserves a beer and nibbles as we watch the passing boats along the river, and the bikes and locals wondering along the river. So peaceful.
We ventured out to get some late lunch. Settling on a small cafe who made to order noodle soup, fried rice, pad Thai... All of which was very tasty and cost $5 for all 3 dishes and drinks. We wondered up the road and found a store that sold the local Thai beer Chiang so stocked up for happy hour. Surprisingly how many coffees shops were in the village all with real coffee machines and local grown Thai beans!
It felt a little more humid in Chiang Kong and the sun was shining so it took no time for the body to start sweating. Oh memories of my years in Singapore!
We retired to our room and took in the view from the balcony and enjoyed the sounds of the cicadas as they wound up for dusk. A very pleasant place to start our adventure and enjoy a beer and chips prior to dinner.
Just as we were walking to dinner in the guest house dining room the heavens opened up and a rain storm passed over for about 30 or so minutes. Very heavy rain, wind, thunder and lightening cooled the temperature and created a very nice breeze as we enjoyed dinner. We had 2 choices if Tom yum soup. One farang version (no chilli) and the hot spicy version which was reasonably mild. We enjoyed green curry chicken, chilli, cashew chicken and fresh stir fry vegetables with steamed rice. It was quite a spread just for the 5 of us all washed down with Singha beer, another local Thai beer.
An early night was in order as we were heading out by 8am the next morning.
Moans and groans were heard from both of us as we lay on our mattresses, which felt more like slab of concrete compared to our den of luxury from the previous 2 nights! Fortunately the pillows were soft and added a good balance.. Oh so not a seasoned traveller!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Another slow morning to wake and wonder down to the sumptuous breakfast. Followed shortly after with a visit to the fitness center for some exercise so we can continue this decadent lifestyle of food, oh and so we can sustain the coming 600 or so KMs in Laos.
Our pick up at the hotel was almost an hour late. We found out afterwards they got lost looking for the Le Meridien hotel! We met our 2 cycling companions. Chris from Sydney, and Sandy from the UK both traveling alone. We also met our Lao guide Chit. We then had a 2 hour journey north to Chiang Kong in the air-conditioned mini van. The township is right on the border of Thailand and Laos on the mighty majestic Mekong River. With a single road through the centre of the village all traffic to and from Laos crosses the river by one of the many barges, even huge trucks cross.
We check into our rustic guest house and are pleasantly surprised at the quality of the room and the great view of the river from our balcony! One that deserves a beer and nibbles as we watch the passing boats along the river, and the bikes and locals wondering along the river. So peaceful.
We ventured out to get some late lunch. Settling on a small cafe who made to order noodle soup, fried rice, pad Thai... All of which was very tasty and cost $5 for all 3 dishes and drinks. We wondered up the road and found a store that sold the local Thai beer Chiang so stocked up for happy hour. Surprisingly how many coffees shops were in the village all with real coffee machines and local grown Thai beans!
It felt a little more humid in Chiang Kong and the sun was shining so it took no time for the body to start sweating. Oh memories of my years in Singapore!
We retired to our room and took in the view from the balcony and enjoyed the sounds of the cicadas as they wound up for dusk. A very pleasant place to start our adventure and enjoy a beer and chips prior to dinner.
Just as we were walking to dinner in the guest house dining room the heavens opened up and a rain storm passed over for about 30 or so minutes. Very heavy rain, wind, thunder and lightening cooled the temperature and created a very nice breeze as we enjoyed dinner. We had 2 choices if Tom yum soup. One farang version (no chilli) and the hot spicy version which was reasonably mild. We enjoyed green curry chicken, chilli, cashew chicken and fresh stir fry vegetables with steamed rice. It was quite a spread just for the 5 of us all washed down with Singha beer, another local Thai beer.
An early night was in order as we were heading out by 8am the next morning.
Moans and groans were heard from both of us as we lay on our mattresses, which felt more like slab of concrete compared to our den of luxury from the previous 2 nights! Fortunately the pillows were soft and added a good balance.. Oh so not a seasoned traveller!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Chiang Rai
Change Rai experience
A slow awakening after a peaceful nights sleep. Time for breakfast. A delicious buffet spread with all choices you can imagine and real coffee!
We were also offered 'eye openers' in shot glasses. Exotic flavors of fruit such as honey dew, passionfruit with a hint of chilli! A really lovely value add.
The staff in the restaurant were all great, very friendly and attentive. The food and beverage manager, who was French, spoke to us several times to ensure we were enjoying the food and to ask for any inputs or improvements.
After breakfast we decided to take part in the group activity run by the fitness center manager, Kong, Thai kick boxing.. Lucky for us it was a private class just for 2. We headed out amongst the hotel gardens, donned our boxing gloves and Kong proceeded to teach us the basics of Thai kick boxing. We were very keen students and I think we did pretty well. Certainly built up quite a sweat and would be a huge threat now to anyone who decided to rob or mug us! We could hit them with an A or B punch, or a C kick, or a D push kick! If all else fails.. We can run backwards and defend ourselves with a 1 or 2 defensive moves, then run fast. Kong was hopeful that we mastered thai boxing perhaps a little better than we did and proceeded to give as the tutorial in his Thai english for a further 20 minutes.. Bless him.
After a quick cooling shower and change we grabbed a quick bite if lunch before our City Tour if Chiang Rai. Unfortunately it was raining (seems to follow me on holiday now!) our local guide Charlie was a 30 year old local guy who grew up about 2-3 hours out of Chiang Rai. His English was excellent and his passion for his country was very special. He also knew of Australia and our cities but had not yet visited.
We started with a visit to the Hill Tribe Museum and watched a short video on the different hill tribes through Thailand Including their traditional dress, interesting customs and provinces they inhabited. We then viewed some of the artifacts and photos along with handicraft work made by local villagers .
We were then greeted by 3 tri-shaw riders for a ride to the market area. The drivers or riders were happy very tiny Thai old men with huge smiles. It felt strange having them ride us around but it was a good way to see the city, despite the rain. The local market was huge. Stalls and alleyways all over selling all kinds of goods including seafood, clothing, you name it they sold it. Including live eels, tortoises, and frogs...
We then stopped at the buddhist temple Wat Phra Kaew with the largest emerald Buddha in Thailand. The emerald buddha is said to have been discovered in 1434.
After a short drive we arrived at a hall of master work of Chalermchai Kositpipat whose painting blew us away. So colorful with much detail. The first section of the gallery was of Buddhist style paintings of Buddha and his many faces and Ganesh god of many things. Mystical, fanciful, spiritual and so striking they took out breath away. The artist then moved to integrate his painting to the real world but very contemporary with paintings showing George Bush mounted on a rocket alongside his nemesis Osama. The rocket was floating in space with the world revolving at the bottom and the twin towers burning in the background. my favorite was Global Warming showing the earth at the bottom, with things floating in space.. Such as a coke can, McDonalds hamburger, Nike shoes floating and other itme of our materialistic world. The earth also showed flood, fire, rains and gases.
It was a great painting with a huge message done in a very contemporary way. I would have loved to buy that painting to remind myself the impact we humans are having on the earth by the choices we make.
the artist has invested heavily in building a huge white and mirrored temple which looks totally surreal. It's hard to describe and we didn't find out much about the inspiration and meaning for this temple other than a place to hold is artwork on the inside walls, floors and ceilings.
A short drive back to the hotel and bud fair well to Charlie we headed for happy hour at the bar.. Sipping a Chocolatini and a frozen margarita..
Then another 90 minute spa experience and pamper! Bliss...
Dinner again sampling more if the delicious Thai dishes. Starting with a glass of Verve! As you do..
I had the sweetcorn, basil and truffle oil soup, followed by stir fried prawns with cashews and mushrooms, ending with sticky rice and mango..a Thai favorite. Carole had the rocket salad again with fried tofu in a curry sauce, finishing with chocolate fondant and banana ice-cream...
We then tottled off to our room for some beached whale watching!
Another comfy night in luxury.
And a great day two....
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
A slow awakening after a peaceful nights sleep. Time for breakfast. A delicious buffet spread with all choices you can imagine and real coffee!
We were also offered 'eye openers' in shot glasses. Exotic flavors of fruit such as honey dew, passionfruit with a hint of chilli! A really lovely value add.
The staff in the restaurant were all great, very friendly and attentive. The food and beverage manager, who was French, spoke to us several times to ensure we were enjoying the food and to ask for any inputs or improvements.
After breakfast we decided to take part in the group activity run by the fitness center manager, Kong, Thai kick boxing.. Lucky for us it was a private class just for 2. We headed out amongst the hotel gardens, donned our boxing gloves and Kong proceeded to teach us the basics of Thai kick boxing. We were very keen students and I think we did pretty well. Certainly built up quite a sweat and would be a huge threat now to anyone who decided to rob or mug us! We could hit them with an A or B punch, or a C kick, or a D push kick! If all else fails.. We can run backwards and defend ourselves with a 1 or 2 defensive moves, then run fast. Kong was hopeful that we mastered thai boxing perhaps a little better than we did and proceeded to give as the tutorial in his Thai english for a further 20 minutes.. Bless him.
After a quick cooling shower and change we grabbed a quick bite if lunch before our City Tour if Chiang Rai. Unfortunately it was raining (seems to follow me on holiday now!) our local guide Charlie was a 30 year old local guy who grew up about 2-3 hours out of Chiang Rai. His English was excellent and his passion for his country was very special. He also knew of Australia and our cities but had not yet visited.
We started with a visit to the Hill Tribe Museum and watched a short video on the different hill tribes through Thailand Including their traditional dress, interesting customs and provinces they inhabited. We then viewed some of the artifacts and photos along with handicraft work made by local villagers .
We were then greeted by 3 tri-shaw riders for a ride to the market area. The drivers or riders were happy very tiny Thai old men with huge smiles. It felt strange having them ride us around but it was a good way to see the city, despite the rain. The local market was huge. Stalls and alleyways all over selling all kinds of goods including seafood, clothing, you name it they sold it. Including live eels, tortoises, and frogs...
We then stopped at the buddhist temple Wat Phra Kaew with the largest emerald Buddha in Thailand. The emerald buddha is said to have been discovered in 1434.
After a short drive we arrived at a hall of master work of Chalermchai Kositpipat whose painting blew us away. So colorful with much detail. The first section of the gallery was of Buddhist style paintings of Buddha and his many faces and Ganesh god of many things. Mystical, fanciful, spiritual and so striking they took out breath away. The artist then moved to integrate his painting to the real world but very contemporary with paintings showing George Bush mounted on a rocket alongside his nemesis Osama. The rocket was floating in space with the world revolving at the bottom and the twin towers burning in the background. my favorite was Global Warming showing the earth at the bottom, with things floating in space.. Such as a coke can, McDonalds hamburger, Nike shoes floating and other itme of our materialistic world. The earth also showed flood, fire, rains and gases.
It was a great painting with a huge message done in a very contemporary way. I would have loved to buy that painting to remind myself the impact we humans are having on the earth by the choices we make.
the artist has invested heavily in building a huge white and mirrored temple which looks totally surreal. It's hard to describe and we didn't find out much about the inspiration and meaning for this temple other than a place to hold is artwork on the inside walls, floors and ceilings.
A short drive back to the hotel and bud fair well to Charlie we headed for happy hour at the bar.. Sipping a Chocolatini and a frozen margarita..
Then another 90 minute spa experience and pamper! Bliss...
Dinner again sampling more if the delicious Thai dishes. Starting with a glass of Verve! As you do..
I had the sweetcorn, basil and truffle oil soup, followed by stir fried prawns with cashews and mushrooms, ending with sticky rice and mango..a Thai favorite. Carole had the rocket salad again with fried tofu in a curry sauce, finishing with chocolate fondant and banana ice-cream...
We then tottled off to our room for some beached whale watching!
Another comfy night in luxury.
And a great day two....
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Travel Adventures
Landing into Chiang Rai we can see many rice fields around with their typical coverage of water. It makes it look a little like a flooded area in pockets around the airport.
The weather isn't quite as humid as Bangkok as we are further north in Thailand. Our bikes and luggage are the amongst the first bags off so we load up and roll out of the airport to be greeted by the Le Meridien transportation that I had pre-arranged. Traveling with bike travel bags x 2 requires some preplanning.
A quick 10 minute drive to the hotel through the slow paced outer part of Chiang Rai sets us into a very relaxed mode, which didn't change for our entire stay. The arrival foyer of the hotel is beautiful and very very high ceilings looking out across the Mekong River and the vast gardens of the hotel grounds. Wow!
During check in we are offered a room upgrade to a deluxe room including buffet breakfast,which we agreed to. For $180 per night we lived it up in sheer luxury with a huge room, a double bed each and a bathroom fit for a queen! With a view of the pool and the river.
As we had not had lunch we headed to the restaurant for a late lunch. The menu had so many choices all sounding delicious. Most dishes were Thai inspired with a fusion of French influence. Carole settled for 3 entree dishes, salmon with green mango salad and curry, hawker style satay sticks and a rocket, poached pear, walnut and Brie salad. I ordered the tandoori rubbed snapper with cucumber and mint salad. The food was absolutely delicious. Beautiful presentation and wonderful blends of flavors. We ate at that restaurant a few more times before we left!
We then decided on a massage at the hotel spa. Amazing. The whole experience of walking into the spa via a pathway with lily ponds on either side, sipping fruit tea and being led to the treatment room which was more like a house with a luxurious shower, change room, toilet, the massage room, and separate room with 2 daybeds! Of course the gentle music of pipes and rainforest sounds playing in the background. For a couple this would be a very romantic experience. We had our own choice of massage style and pressure then proceeded to be pampered after a foot bath for the next 90 minutes. Oohhh. It was just magical. All the stress, tension and worries were all soaked away in the whole experience. We were then treated to a soothing cup of warm tea back out in the spa entrance whilst we listened to the mating sounds of the little brown frogs in the lily ponds as they filled their chests with breath and croaked their calls in hope of attracting a horny female! I've recording a minute of this soothing sound of the frogs..
Dinner was back in the main restaurant to sample more from the Thai dishes.
We started with a glass of bubbles to celebrate a great day and the beginning of our adventure. Carole ordered 2 entrees. Sweetcorn, Italian basil soup with truffle oil, followed by a Tofu, enoki mushroom and herb both soup. I had the green curry with pork belly and crispy rice balls. It was all delicious...All so well balanced with the flavours, textures and presentation.
We then retired for the evening in the luxury of our deluxe room with soft comfy beds and feather down pillows! A bit of light reading before drifting off to sleep Pprrrrrr! Day one was over....
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
The weather isn't quite as humid as Bangkok as we are further north in Thailand. Our bikes and luggage are the amongst the first bags off so we load up and roll out of the airport to be greeted by the Le Meridien transportation that I had pre-arranged. Traveling with bike travel bags x 2 requires some preplanning.
A quick 10 minute drive to the hotel through the slow paced outer part of Chiang Rai sets us into a very relaxed mode, which didn't change for our entire stay. The arrival foyer of the hotel is beautiful and very very high ceilings looking out across the Mekong River and the vast gardens of the hotel grounds. Wow!
During check in we are offered a room upgrade to a deluxe room including buffet breakfast,which we agreed to. For $180 per night we lived it up in sheer luxury with a huge room, a double bed each and a bathroom fit for a queen! With a view of the pool and the river.
As we had not had lunch we headed to the restaurant for a late lunch. The menu had so many choices all sounding delicious. Most dishes were Thai inspired with a fusion of French influence. Carole settled for 3 entree dishes, salmon with green mango salad and curry, hawker style satay sticks and a rocket, poached pear, walnut and Brie salad. I ordered the tandoori rubbed snapper with cucumber and mint salad. The food was absolutely delicious. Beautiful presentation and wonderful blends of flavors. We ate at that restaurant a few more times before we left!
We then decided on a massage at the hotel spa. Amazing. The whole experience of walking into the spa via a pathway with lily ponds on either side, sipping fruit tea and being led to the treatment room which was more like a house with a luxurious shower, change room, toilet, the massage room, and separate room with 2 daybeds! Of course the gentle music of pipes and rainforest sounds playing in the background. For a couple this would be a very romantic experience. We had our own choice of massage style and pressure then proceeded to be pampered after a foot bath for the next 90 minutes. Oohhh. It was just magical. All the stress, tension and worries were all soaked away in the whole experience. We were then treated to a soothing cup of warm tea back out in the spa entrance whilst we listened to the mating sounds of the little brown frogs in the lily ponds as they filled their chests with breath and croaked their calls in hope of attracting a horny female! I've recording a minute of this soothing sound of the frogs..
Dinner was back in the main restaurant to sample more from the Thai dishes.
We started with a glass of bubbles to celebrate a great day and the beginning of our adventure. Carole ordered 2 entrees. Sweetcorn, Italian basil soup with truffle oil, followed by a Tofu, enoki mushroom and herb both soup. I had the green curry with pork belly and crispy rice balls. It was all delicious...All so well balanced with the flavours, textures and presentation.
We then retired for the evening in the luxury of our deluxe room with soft comfy beds and feather down pillows! A bit of light reading before drifting off to sleep Pprrrrrr! Day one was over....
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Thailand and Laos
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Coffee in a far away land
Today I am in Chiang Rai in North Thailand in the warmth of Asia at the Le Meridan resort. I am here witha dear friend Carole and we are taking a few days to warm up and chill out before our bike riding adventure in Laos.
Reflecting back on May And my focus on cooking I learnt some great new recipes and skills such as pastry making, chocolate souffle, filleting fish and several techniques to serve fish as well as trying a few more difficult dishes from some of my favorite cookbooks. A great way to spend my time and be able to focus lots of time doing something I enjoy.
I also visited the Good Food and Wine show in Melbourne and did a celebrity chef session with Gary and George from Masterchef fame! Those guys have really it made!
So for the next 3 weeks we will be immersing in the local Laos culture and cuisine whilst pedaling our bikes across more than 600kms of beautiful, mountainous countryside. Perhaps it will be good to sweat off some of that good food in May as well.
Meanwhile we are doing a few of my favorite things here in Thailand... Massage, eating Thai food and Meeting the beautiful, friendly Thai people.....
Narelle
Written by Narelle Beurle. To read more - go to: http://firstpour.blogspot.com/
Reflecting back on May And my focus on cooking I learnt some great new recipes and skills such as pastry making, chocolate souffle, filleting fish and several techniques to serve fish as well as trying a few more difficult dishes from some of my favorite cookbooks. A great way to spend my time and be able to focus lots of time doing something I enjoy.
I also visited the Good Food and Wine show in Melbourne and did a celebrity chef session with Gary and George from Masterchef fame! Those guys have really it made!
So for the next 3 weeks we will be immersing in the local Laos culture and cuisine whilst pedaling our bikes across more than 600kms of beautiful, mountainous countryside. Perhaps it will be good to sweat off some of that good food in May as well.
Meanwhile we are doing a few of my favorite things here in Thailand... Massage, eating Thai food and Meeting the beautiful, friendly Thai people.....
Narelle
Written by Narelle Beurle. To read more - go to: http://firstpour.blogspot.com/
Friday, May 27, 2011
Getting ready for an adventure
Today was about finding a hearty hot soup for lunch, to combat the cold and my hunger after a session at the gym. I ventured in my car across to Camberwell where there are some good cafes and ended up at Georges slurping their fantastic home made minestrone soup with a crusty fresh sourdough bread roll , yes with butter. That's why I go to the gym!
My other reason for coming this way was to try and pick up some waterproof maps from the Victorian Mountain Bike centre in Kew of the Wombat Forest up near Woodend, where Aaron my Son lives. For those not Melbournian's, Woodend is about an hour from the city.
On Saturday mother and son are heading out on a mountain biking adventure! I have no doubts this experience will 'test my metal' trying to keep up with Aaron. Whilst I have the better bike with dual suspension, disc brakes in a glistening white frame (soon to be black no doubt), my real off road experience and skills is little. My courage and confidence to go full out will definitely be low, at least to start with anyway. The guys at the bike shop tell me its a very good 20KM loop single track ride with a few minor technical bits but that I should be fine. Reviews on the internet and videos on Utube say the second time round is more fun as you know the track so you can let your hair down!
Most of my time for the past week has been spent getting ready for a 13 day bike adventure with my dear friend Carole. We are off to Thailand and Laos with Grasshopper Adventures for an amazing experience riding through very remote places in Northern Laos including mountain ranges!! yes that is plural!
This time no need to carry our own gear as it is an organized trip with a support van to carry our gear and us should we need it! We are taking our bikes which hopefully won't turn out to be something we regret!
I have done a few bike rides over the years and really enjoy it as a way to see parts of the world, meet the locals and see how they live. This I think will be the toughest ride judging by the reviews and comments, but I'm up for the challenge.
Where is your next adventure or holiday?
Narelle
Written by Narelle Beurle. To read more - go to: http://firstpour.blogspot.com/
My other reason for coming this way was to try and pick up some waterproof maps from the Victorian Mountain Bike centre in Kew of the Wombat Forest up near Woodend, where Aaron my Son lives. For those not Melbournian's, Woodend is about an hour from the city.
On Saturday mother and son are heading out on a mountain biking adventure! I have no doubts this experience will 'test my metal' trying to keep up with Aaron. Whilst I have the better bike with dual suspension, disc brakes in a glistening white frame (soon to be black no doubt), my real off road experience and skills is little. My courage and confidence to go full out will definitely be low, at least to start with anyway. The guys at the bike shop tell me its a very good 20KM loop single track ride with a few minor technical bits but that I should be fine. Reviews on the internet and videos on Utube say the second time round is more fun as you know the track so you can let your hair down!
Most of my time for the past week has been spent getting ready for a 13 day bike adventure with my dear friend Carole. We are off to Thailand and Laos with Grasshopper Adventures for an amazing experience riding through very remote places in Northern Laos including mountain ranges!! yes that is plural!
This time no need to carry our own gear as it is an organized trip with a support van to carry our gear and us should we need it! We are taking our bikes which hopefully won't turn out to be something we regret!
I have done a few bike rides over the years and really enjoy it as a way to see parts of the world, meet the locals and see how they live. This I think will be the toughest ride judging by the reviews and comments, but I'm up for the challenge.
Where is your next adventure or holiday?
Narelle
Written by Narelle Beurle. To read more - go to: http://firstpour.blogspot.com/
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Damn Hot
Damn Hot.. First Day Ride
After a restless nights sleep due to the heat and an early morning wake up from the cicardas we packed up and headed down for breakfast. A very simple one today. Fresh white bread with butter, jam and a banana. We were also offered fried or scrambled eggs. The coffee! Eekk. Drank it anyway due to my addiction.
We left the guest house about 8.30 and rode through Pak Beng township for a few kms, small rustic houses made from wood and straw and the first experience of the children. Sabadii (hello). The families live surprisingly close to the road including their chickens, ducks, dogs, pigs, piglets, goats. At times we were riding around the animals as they wondered across the road. The rule is if you kill the chicken you have to pay!
The countryside is very lush and green as we are now in the rainy season, although it did not rain today. Along side the road is landscape was either growing rice or corn, the main staple food of Laos. A major portion of the corn is exported to Thailand for cornflour. In Laos they mainly grow and eat sticky rice as it does not need as much water to grow, which means it is suitable to grown on the steep slopes of the hillside.
Our guide Chit is covered head to toe in lycra gear. He says the Lao people prefer white skin and not dark so he has chosen to cover up with black leg warmers and skin colored arm warmers. To us he looks so uncomfortable and hot but to him it's important to avoid the sun.
We stop after 20kms for a break all feeling the heat. The road surface is pretty good after we remember to ride on the right hand side. Our 20 km has been undulating with some short hills but the sun is very hot and their is not much shade along the side of the road.
We continue on stopping once for a drink at the top of a reasonable hill. After completing 54km we reach our lunch stop, feeling extremely hot from the sun and heat. The restaurant is very rustic with an open area will plastic tables and chairs fortunately under cover and with a fan blowing at high speed. We order up ice cold cans of coke, ahhhh! They also double as a cooling aid for the face and neck. After almost an hour our lunch of fried rice is served which is very tasty with a bowl of broth soup.
Carole and I elect to jump in the van and not ride, Chris and Sandy decide to ride on a bit further. Once the air con in the van cooled us down, we both had a lovely snooze for 45 mins or so as the van followed the riders close behind. After a further 13kms the others decided to join us in the van.
We all then proceeded onto our stop for the night which was a further 50 or so km down the road Oudomxal. This ride took us about 90 minutes as we travelled at low sped due to the many pot holes and the many many villages we past through along the way.
We arrived and checked into our hotel, which was reasonable. Bigger room than last night, and an air conditioner! They also had wi-fi access.
After a refreshing shower we headed out in search of Beerlao. The local brew and some chips to quench our thirst and review the day as we watched the locals go about their lives andpassing traffic.
A short walk up a series of steps led us to a huge buddist statue at the top of the hill which had a great view over the surrounding area, just as sunset was taking place. Beautiful.
Whilst taking photos of the view we spotted some young monks taking photos of each other with their mobile photos. It seemed strange to see them using the technology given the life they chose to live. I offered to take a photo of the 3 together, which they accepted but the monk indicated he could not hand me the phone, but had to put it on the ground and I could pick it up then take a photo. Monks cannot touch women or stand too close to them, little did I know this at the time!
Dinner was in a local restaurant down the road. When we arrived our meal was all laid out in a private room with air conditioning. a delicious meal of chicken curry, vegetables, soup with pork mince and vegetables and they had made us 2 plates of chips! Our western junk food. All washed down of course with more BeerLao!
We retired back to our room for some blogging, email checking and sleep.
The bed was hard again and thus time the pillow was huge and also rock hard! Made for some interesting sleeping positions! Oh I wish I didn't love my latex pillows so much.
Written by Narelle Beurle. To read more - go to: http://firstpour.blogspot.com/
After a restless nights sleep due to the heat and an early morning wake up from the cicardas we packed up and headed down for breakfast. A very simple one today. Fresh white bread with butter, jam and a banana. We were also offered fried or scrambled eggs. The coffee! Eekk. Drank it anyway due to my addiction.
We left the guest house about 8.30 and rode through Pak Beng township for a few kms, small rustic houses made from wood and straw and the first experience of the children. Sabadii (hello). The families live surprisingly close to the road including their chickens, ducks, dogs, pigs, piglets, goats. At times we were riding around the animals as they wondered across the road. The rule is if you kill the chicken you have to pay!
The countryside is very lush and green as we are now in the rainy season, although it did not rain today. Along side the road is landscape was either growing rice or corn, the main staple food of Laos. A major portion of the corn is exported to Thailand for cornflour. In Laos they mainly grow and eat sticky rice as it does not need as much water to grow, which means it is suitable to grown on the steep slopes of the hillside.
Our guide Chit is covered head to toe in lycra gear. He says the Lao people prefer white skin and not dark so he has chosen to cover up with black leg warmers and skin colored arm warmers. To us he looks so uncomfortable and hot but to him it's important to avoid the sun.
We stop after 20kms for a break all feeling the heat. The road surface is pretty good after we remember to ride on the right hand side. Our 20 km has been undulating with some short hills but the sun is very hot and their is not much shade along the side of the road.
We continue on stopping once for a drink at the top of a reasonable hill. After completing 54km we reach our lunch stop, feeling extremely hot from the sun and heat. The restaurant is very rustic with an open area will plastic tables and chairs fortunately under cover and with a fan blowing at high speed. We order up ice cold cans of coke, ahhhh! They also double as a cooling aid for the face and neck. After almost an hour our lunch of fried rice is served which is very tasty with a bowl of broth soup.
Carole and I elect to jump in the van and not ride, Chris and Sandy decide to ride on a bit further. Once the air con in the van cooled us down, we both had a lovely snooze for 45 mins or so as the van followed the riders close behind. After a further 13kms the others decided to join us in the van.
We all then proceeded onto our stop for the night which was a further 50 or so km down the road Oudomxal. This ride took us about 90 minutes as we travelled at low sped due to the many pot holes and the many many villages we past through along the way.
We arrived and checked into our hotel, which was reasonable. Bigger room than last night, and an air conditioner! They also had wi-fi access.
After a refreshing shower we headed out in search of Beerlao. The local brew and some chips to quench our thirst and review the day as we watched the locals go about their lives andpassing traffic.
A short walk up a series of steps led us to a huge buddist statue at the top of the hill which had a great view over the surrounding area, just as sunset was taking place. Beautiful.
Whilst taking photos of the view we spotted some young monks taking photos of each other with their mobile photos. It seemed strange to see them using the technology given the life they chose to live. I offered to take a photo of the 3 together, which they accepted but the monk indicated he could not hand me the phone, but had to put it on the ground and I could pick it up then take a photo. Monks cannot touch women or stand too close to them, little did I know this at the time!
Dinner was in a local restaurant down the road. When we arrived our meal was all laid out in a private room with air conditioning. a delicious meal of chicken curry, vegetables, soup with pork mince and vegetables and they had made us 2 plates of chips! Our western junk food. All washed down of course with more BeerLao!
We retired back to our room for some blogging, email checking and sleep.
The bed was hard again and thus time the pillow was huge and also rock hard! Made for some interesting sleeping positions! Oh I wish I didn't love my latex pillows so much.
Written by Narelle Beurle. To read more - go to: http://firstpour.blogspot.com/
Location:Laos
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