day 34 - Luang Prabang to Pak Mong

Wednesday, 27 November 2013

We set off from the guest house in Luang Prabang at 7am this morning after a final hearty breakfast cooked by the owner, Oui. It was such a lovely stop over thanks to Oui and her sisters' kind hospitality and definitely one of the more memorable places we've stayed. Our plan then was to head north towards Nong Khiaw which was approximately 140km from Luang Prabang. 

It was a great morning for riding; mostly overcast with sunny patches. The scenery was beautiful as we rode along side the Ou river, with limestone karsts towering up in the background. The road was in pretty good condition with only a few long climbs which weren't too steep. 

(Water buffalo grazing by the Ou River)

(Riding through one village, the mountains in the background shrouded in fluffy clouds)

(Chillis were drying in the sun outside almost every house in some villages)

We have noticed the Laos people to be more reserved than the Thais but it's definitely not the case with the children. Most of them almost jump out of their skin with excitement when they see us approach and run squealing out from their houses to wave. We got a lot of high fives from little boys and girls although the boys made sure to give us a pretty decent slap to remember them by. We passed a school at one point and many of the children playing in the school yard ran to the fence to wave and practice their English greetings. We got a lot of "good evenings", even at 2pm in the day.

(A large school with lots of bicycles waiting for their owners)

(These boys wanted to race us and did pretty well at keeping up)

We stopped for a couple of short breaks along the way and after 112km we pulled into Pak Mong for lunch. There were large dark clouds overhead and the woman whose restaurant we were sitting in started pulling down the blinds which told us it was going to be a heavy downpour. It was nearly 4pm when we had finished lunch so we decided to call it a day and head to Nong Khiaw tomorrow. There isn't much to say about Pak Mong other than that its a small service town situated on a busy intersection connecting north and south, east and west. It at least means there are a few restaurants and guest houses to choose from. We had a good dinner at a friendly family's restaurant and were reminded just how inexpensively we can live once we're out of cities and back on the road. 

(The fisherman casting his net out into the Ou River)

(Perfectly balanced on the nose of the boat)

(Looking back towards Luang Prabang after one long climb)