The Wobblin' Sprocket

The Lao people are friendly, the destination is spectacular and uncrowded and, perhaps more than anything else, in the countryside, it’s a throwback to a different time when people primarily lived off the land…doing things they always have.  Laos has a way of leaving an impression.

For me, there is nothing that makes doing these tours more worthwhile than to read participant accounts of their journey.

In the grand scheme of things, the tours are not particularly long: 2 or 3 weeks of biking, at the most.  But that’s  long enough to see and experience plenty that leaves an impression.

Anyway, I returned home from the last Tour d’ Indochine (Vietnam and Laos) to find a couple things written by participants:

1. A  letter from Fred Carson to the Lao Ambassador in Washington DC.
2. An account of last year’s Tour d’ Indochine, written by Joan Oppel, appearing in “The Pedal Patter”, the monthly newsletter of the Potomac Pedalers Touring Club.

Below is Fred’s letter.  I’ll put Joan’s lengthier write up in a separate post.

Best,

Bob

Ok, well the headline of this was that Wolverhampton ranked at the bottom.  I am not familiar with Wolverhampton.  It sounds like that’s a good thing.  But guess who was at the top?  Luang Prabang!  The timing is good.  We will be in Luang Prabang soon and we just put another Lao tour on the schedule.

here is the article

City ranks bottom in poll of 827 worldwide « Express & Star.

“Sex, drugs and Inner tubes”?

That’s a title that is sure to grab some attention, but Vangvieng is not an accurate representation of Laos.

There are plenty of inner tubes and I imagine a lot more than that.  But Vangvieng is an outpost.  It’s like characterizing the US based on a visit to a water park.

There have been changes over the last 10 years in Laos, but I don’t think you can say that Laos has sold it’s soul either.  The people in the countryside are doing the same thing they have always been doing….harvesting rice, spinning cotton, grinding corn.  Every year I tell people hurry up and go the place is changing, but every year I go back and pretty much the same thing is going on.

We spend most of our time in the countryside.  I notice new buildings every here and there.  I notice people opening up shops.  I notice some of them when they disappear too.  We stop in guesthouses that have installed electric water heaters (instead of a cold bucket showers).   If the last is losing some soul, most people would say “go right ahead, lose it!”

I still think now is the time to go.  I’m about to put Laos on the schedule again for November.

Be glad you didn't go when this pic was taken...huge floods on Mekong!

Don’t fret over Vangvieng.   Ironically, Vangvieng is the one place that hasn’t changed.  It’s the same as it has been for a long time.  The only difference is that there is more of it.

Laos | Laos Travel.