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...

Cycle Tour Day 9, 106km, average 23.5km/h. Brekky on the deck overlooking the lovely lake (man made for hydro) was a great start for the day. A large group of Israelis on tour made for a busy time in the dining area. Rode away about 8am back into the countryside. The whole day was undulating (read dang hilly) and the heat made it fairly tough. We had lunch at a restaurant on a lake about the 78km mark and it was most welcome as we were all hungry by then. Fish so...

Cycle Tour Day 8, 85km, average 24.5km/h. Another good brekky and then onto the bus to clear the city traffic. Seems like the cars and scooters rule; bicycles are left to foreigners in the main, to the extent that the roads are just about gridlocked. About an hour out (20km) we de-bused and after fixing a few problems with the bikes away we rode on the Vientiane - Luang Prabang "highway" which initially had short pot-holed sealed sections between pot-holed dirt s...

Cycle Tour Day 7, 0km, average 0km/h. We all looked forward to this rest day, not that the riding has been particularly hard, it's just nice to get off the bike for a day, have a wander and catch up with some washing. Still awoke at sparrows and was at brekky by 6:30 am. Phil and I were the only ones there from our tour, all the others enjoyed a sleep in. A nice mix of Asian & European food was on offer. The coffee was stroooong!!!! A wander along the Mekong ...