Post-cycle Tour Day 2. Slept well despite the solid bed and pillow, must be getting used to the Lao design. Fried eggs, fruit, baguette and Lao coffee (very black & strong) for brekky. The dogs on the chairs and around our legs while eating was a bit disconcerting, when you consider what they might be carrying. However they were real friendly and just about the healthiest looking dogs we'd seen on this trip. At 9am we walked into the city and visited the Pala...

Post-Cycle Tour Day 1. Leisurely brekky followed by a pack up and move all our stuff into Michael & Kate's room. Seven of us moved to another motel just around the corner as The Dream was booked out post-tour, but we could not do that till after lunch. In the meantime Michael then took Bob, Kerry, Kerrie, Kate, Phil and I on a walking tour (from his Lonely Planet book) of the city. Wow, what a gem of a place. The lay-back, (hippie-like) quirky decor of some o...

Cycle Tour Day 12 (last day), 65km. Luang Prabang is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its old French architecture and numerous Buddhist Temples. A choice of Asian & English brekky on the deck overlooking the pool and gardens kicked off a great day. Leisurely start at 9am to ride away through the city to the Kuangsi Waterfalls & National Park. Real interesting ride past some very grand houses and the into the hilly rural areas. Why are waterfalls on...

Cycle Tour Day 11, 40km, average 23km/h. Both the bed and pillow were like boards, but I slept well nevertheless. The pitter patter of rain on the roof all night was an indicator that we would not be riding first up in the morning. The first 20km was a steep downhill and it would have been far too dangerous with the ever present rain, thin layer of dirt/mud on the road and trucks, buses, stray cows/dogs/goats etc. So after fried eggs and toast we hopped on the bu...

Cycle Tour Day 10, 60km, average 20km/h. Slept well despite a rather rock-hard bed. Bacon, eggs, warm french bread and extra strong coffee was the fuel for this morning's ride. Vang Vieng was abuzz with bikes, kayaks, buggies and people as we rode away. Certainly an adventurers' Mecca. We continued our onward and upwards ride into the mountains for 60km, one 10km section had a number of 10-14 percenters. It was the most interesting morning yet, very basic housing...