2014 - Greg's Cycle Tour Thailand and Laos: Day 12: Sun 02 Nov

Day 6: Udon Thani to Vientiane (90km) Breakfast at the hotel. Today we cycle straight from the hotel. Watch out for the traffic for the first 5 to 10km. Then we get to the quiet road through the countryside. Today cycling route is relatively flat with maximum altitude 150m high. We cycle on some of the very small roads through the countryside and the villages in the remote areas. Then we reach out to Nong Khai, the border town separated Nong Khai (Thailand) and Vientiane (Laos) by the Mekong River. Late afternoon, proceed to the border crossing point at the foot of the bridge. We get our lugguages and put of the bus as we change the support vehicle. Then stamp out at Thailand immigration and cross the 2km bridge and get the visa on arrival USD35 per person with 1 photo at Laos side. Then continue our journey to Vientiane which is 15km from the border. Dinner and overnight in Vientiane.

Cycle Tour Day 6, 81.5km, average 24.5km/h.

Fried rice, eggs, toast, ham and coffee brekky about 6:30am with about 600 Thai people on some sort of bus tour. A short (1km) bus ride took us to our bikes and we cycled away at 8:30am. There was a fair amount of traffic initially but that was soon forgotten when we entered the countryside. One never feels in danger on Thai roads as the Thai drivers are so polite and careful around cyclists.

We kept a good pace and it seemed like no time at all when we stopped at a village for mornos. Pulled in for lunch at the 55km mark at 11am. The sprinters always do the last 4km flat out, 45km/h or more; boys and girls will be b&g. The normal people just finish at a more sedate pace. A fantastic lunch, Thai again!! Another 12km was the end of the day's ride. The bikes and even supplied helmets don't cross over the border, some tax/import issue. We removed our SPD pedals and some even bring their own saddles, GPS/computers etc. We did this at a wayside/market area and were immediately an attraction for the local kids and adults. This area specialised in dried fish and lotus flowers. We also farewelled our head guide, Buoen and the three drivers, and a new crew except one, Rong, joined us on the Laos side. It was very sad to see Buoen go as he had been with us all the way in 2012. We took up a generous collection for them last night and I'm sure they would be happy with the result. We are hoping Buoen will buy himself a new bike as his current bike has 1 out of 27 gears working and a buckled back wheel due to a broken spoke/hub. However it never slowed him down, he's about 50 yrs old and super-fit. He returned to Bangkok to pick up another tour group.

We headed for Nong Khai, Thailand, the border town we crossed at. Exiting Thailand and entering Laos took about 27 checkpoints, much stamping and US$31 over an hour.

Back on another bus for the 20km trip to our first destination in Laos, the capital Vientiane. Our new guide, Mr Rang gave us a good briefing on what to expect in Laos. Sounded interesting.

The motel tonight is a gem, Chanthapanya, rosewood everywhere. Stay tuned for some photos tomorrow.