Day 8: Vientiane to Nam Ngum Lake (80km) Breakfast at the hotel. Fill in water and be prepared for our biking day. Event Vientiane is a quiet capital city comparing to their neighboring countries but the road is still busy. So, we ride to follow a single line and watch for the traffic. We stop in a Hmong market for s short break. Lunch on route. Afternoon, we head to Nam Ngum lake, the biggest reservoir in Laos. Dinner and overnight on the edge of Nam Ngum lake.
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 here; 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 sections. That is why we have MTBs. About 15km out we went onto quiet rural roads of better quality and enjoyed the Laotian countryside. We would be heading north from now on, deeper into Laos. Seemed fairly sparsely populated and a lot more basic compared to Thailand or even Cambodia for that matter. But very interesting to see their way of life.
After 45km of flat riding we pulled into a local restaurant for fried rice with pork or beef soup lunch; both were great.
The remaining 40 odd kms were undulating and the sun was very hot. More great countryside. The last couple of kms were fairly steep but we all did it easy enough.
The overnight stop, Longngum View Resort Hotel, is on the shores of Lake Nam Ngum. Our rooms were quite rustic but aircon and comfy. The views were stunning as was the Laotian dinner of catfish soup, morning glory, chicken & veggies, beef & noodles etc.
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