We have cycled to Ponsavan from Luang Prabang, see previous blog. From Ponsavan we only did a short ride as we wanted to stop at Muang Khoun to see the Thats and Wats.  A That is the Lao name for a very tall, columnar structure that usually houses ashes.  In this case legend has it they are Buddhas ashes. They also may contain manuscripts and a jewellery tree in the centre.  These ones have holes in where they were raided by bandits.

Reaching Muang Khoun we  cycled round the back of town to visit That Foun.  It was really high and impressive.  There was another on the next ridge so we peddled across but stopped on route to see what we thought were archaeologists were doing.  Quick retreat,  they were bomb disposal and hadn’t finished searching that area yet.  They said the next That was fine so we gingerly went there cycling on well driven areas.  Again an imposing structure but when we looked over the edge of the bank there were four more bomb disposal people scanning the ground with metal detectors, digging little holes and putting around markers, lots of markers.  We decided we were too close for comfort so retreated quickly to the road and around to a golden That we could see in the distance.

The next That was called Thatloungmouangphuan!!! Try saying that without your teeth in.  It was stunning and still occupied by monks.  We were able to go inside the buildings and see the golden Buddhas and wall paintings.  Back into town for some noodle soup, then a quick visit to another That and Temple that are under restoration and covered in wonky wooden scaffolding.

At each site we were the only people there.  That is the way I like to site see!

After leaving Muang Khoun all the traffic turned off leaving us with a nice quiet road with good tarmac and wonderfully no lorries.  There was just an occasional very quiet motorbike and the odd pick up.

We had been expecting to be climbing from the off but the road rose almost imperceptibly up the valley of paddy fields lined on either side by high hills.

The villages were quiet too, a real mixture of very old wooden houses on stilts and nice looking brick built modern houses with very expensive looking Ford 4×4 pick-ups with tinted windows.

 It only got steep in the last 10 km, and then it was seriously steep.  We roared down to Muang Moc and the Guesthouse cum restaurant cum butchers.  The room was OK with squat toilet and shower, but when I turned on the shower hundreds on ants poured from the tap area.  Once washed away all was fine.

We have been cold all day at this altitude but this evening we are wearing gillets and puffer jackets, probably about 14 C.

It was so cold in the evening that my hands were frozen when we got in from the party which carried on for several more hours with everyone getting very merry and giggly drinking their homemade hooch.  We put our gillets on before we set off in the early morning.  We ate breakfast from our food bag as we thought none of them would be up to making breakfast, but our hostess was up and about chopping up a pig for a customer.

I was a little worried about our route from here as they had all looked dubious when we said which way we were going  but they didn’t say what was wrong.  I thought they just weren’t used to people cycling any distance.   But we hadn’t got very far when we discovered what they were worried about.  All tarmac disappeared and the road plunged down steeply for 30 kms losing 1971 m in the process.  The surface was very sketchy with loose rocks,  gravel, fine skiddy deep silt and ruts.  It took us 3 hours of heavy breaking to bump and slide our way down.   But it was so beautiful.   The forest for the first half looked unmolested with great views and we didn’t see a sole for an hour and a half.

Half way down we passed an isolated farm and evidence of clearing.  Then a few more houses and eventually we met a 4 wheel drive coming up.  We really enjoyed the ride which we hadn’t been expecting.

 The other consequence of going from 1500 m to 208 m in 3 hours was a dramatic change in temperature.   From 14 C to a sweltering 34 C.  Once down we hit tarmac and rolled gently downhill.  Another worrying thing about this route and the reason our last guest house said they never get any tourists there is that we had to go through 30 km of Xaisomboun Province which the UK Foreign Office tells you not to go to, although the last trouble there was in 2010.  We hoped we would be OK in the middle of the day and made sure we didn’t spend the night there.

Eventually we arrived at Muang Huong which doesn’t really have much going for it.  We booked into the only guest house in town, which had air-con and thankfully an upright toilet!

We spent two days cycling on a busy, hot road near the Mekong river which was not that exciting, so we thought it was time for another little adventure.   We had heard of the Thakhek loop and the longest navigable underground river in Asia.  As it happened the hotel we were staying in was at the junction we needed to take to start it.

So at 0545 am we set off up the road in the dark.  We weren’t really carrying enough food for a real adventure but hoped we could pick some up on the way. It was great to be heading into the hills, or karst limestone mountains as they are around here, and steep too!  It wasn’t long before it was 38 C and we were crawling up a long steep climb in bottom gear.  However we were still going faster than the lorry behind us!

We had a bit of a culture shock at the top, there was a massive modern, wooden and glass view point, restaurant,  high walkway, zip wire place that was filling up with beautiful, young backpackers flowing in on motorbikes and noticing nothing but each other.  We staggered in exhausted, old and sweaty!  All the food was western, not a Fer Lao in sight.  So we ate a massive piece of banana cake each and had coffee so strong it left me shaky kneed and slightly queasy.   I’m not that good with caffeine.   The views,  however, were amazing but we gave the high walkways in the blazing sun a miss.

We roared down the hill on the far side and turned off on to the flattest, straightest 40 km I have ever cycled. We were overheating as there was very little shade, but we passed through some lovely little villages.  There was almost no traffic as the road only went to the Kong Lor Cave.  Arriving at the end village it was full of backpacker hostels and homestays, and again restaurants serving only western food. 

After some lunch we decided to try and get through the cave today as there would be a long ride out of the otherside.   We had to buy tickets for a boat each as we were taking the bikes through with us    Tickets bought we cycled through the woods to the landing area where we were issued with life jackets and flip flops as we would be wading.  We unloaded the bikes and our boat drivers took the bikes down a very steep slope, over a bridge and disappeared along a deep sandy track on the other side.  I obviously looked like I was struggling with my load and a nice Belgium man carried some of it for me, and my driver came back and took the rest.  Sometimes it is worth looking old! 

I was given a headtorch, and while Bernie turned the handlebars sideways the drivers loaded the bikes on the incredibly narrow long boats.  Me, bike and the bags on board we pushed off and headed at high speed into the dark.  It was amazing, we were in there for over an hour occasionally getting out to walk around the stalagmites and stalactites or along walkways while the drivers pulled the boats up rapids.  There were some boats in there with motorbikes on them.

Eventually we emerged into the light and we scrambled out.  Our driver had already got the measure of us and lead us firmly to what he called his bungalow to stay the night.  It turned out to be a fairly new resort of bungalows and chalets with a lovely view of the karst mountains we had just motored under.  All mod-cons except hot water. I am sure a cold shower is good for tired muscles!  A wonderful supper rounded off a perfect adventure.   But we were both exhausted, it had been a long, hot day.

Getting away from Kong Lor Cave was quite straight forward,  initially at least.  You just follow the orange mud road.  This had been recently graded and rolled so was pleasant to ride on.  We passed quite a few villages with small shops selling the usual stuff.  For the first 10 km the road was almost flat with nice views of the karst mountains on either side.  After that it did start to undulate gently.   We could see what had happened during the rainy season as the edges had not always been graded and were really deeply rutted.  I was just thinking that this route would be impassable if it were wet when the rain started.  Not too hard at first but getting steadier.  We speeded up as we wanted to get off the road before things got too bad.  Luckily the rain eased off after an hour or so just leaving the top dust layer wet, although the far side of some of the hills were very wet and slippery.

We were enjoying the ride until about 42 km when the road went up steeply and kept on going up.  They had been regrading this section of road so the surface was a bit of a mess.  But I think we would have been walking anyway as it was so steep.  It was only about 29 C because of the heavy cloud, but really humid.  We must have pushed at least 3 km with odd intervals of riding.  Even when we got to the top the road undulated heavily, so more pushing.

Thankfully there was a fairly flat bit after that but then at the last minute the road went up again.  We were really tired by now so were delighted when a truck pulled in front of us and offered a lift.  Bernie and the young driver managed to lift both bikes in but I turned out to be the problem.   The back was really high.  The driver told me to put one foot up into the back (shoulder height!!) then 1, 2, 3 with me hopping, Bernie pulling and the driver pushing I inelegantly arrived in the back.  We hung on to the sides and our bikes as he rattled up the hill before dropping us off at the top, from where we could see the new reservoir and tarmac. 

We rolled 10 km into Nakai but could not raise anyone at our chosen Guesthouse either before or after lunch, and the nearby resort was extortionate.   So, with exhausted legs  we rolled steeply down a further 29 km to Gnommalet where the hotels were either full of the dam construction workers or grim.  We ended up with moderate grim .  No hot water, squat toilet, lots of hand prints on the walls but i couldn’t go any further.

The following day, still with very tired legs, we had a fairly easy roll down to the Mekong and Thakhek were we stayed for a couple of nights to rest up.

We will be continuing south down through Laos, then heading into Cambodia from tomorrow.