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

Having just returned from Laos, it was obvious that all water levels are low.  The Nam Song we kayak on was low;  Lake Nam Ngum, which is a big body of water, was low and the Nam Lik outside of Vangvieng was unboatable.

Now there are reports that the might Mekong, is at 20 year lows, and apparently no longer navigable.

Although tourist inconvenience is the the least of the problems  caused by low water conditions, anyone looking to travel between Chaing Khong, Pak Beng and Luang Prabang should be consulting the internet and reports of whether boats are making it.  At a minimum, be prepared to spend an overnight on a beach somewhere in case the boat gets grounded or can’t make it.

It was only a year ago that the Mekong was over its banks.   Currently there are massive works in Vientiane to build a containing breakwater.   Things can change fast on the river.

There are always reports that China’s mgmt of the river upstream is to blame, but it seems the current condition is simply lack of rain.  It rained only once (overnight in Muong Khua) on our recent two weeks in Laos.

Boat services suspended as level of Mekong plunges.

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.