A Christmas Concert

Day two of my trip in Seoul, South Korea I attended school with Elissa. Her pre-schoolers had their Christmas concert this morning and I was given Elissa's camera to document the event. Altogether there are 22 4-5 year old students in this intensive English class. Not only were the parents there videotaping every second, but most of the kids received congratulatory bouquets at the end of their performance. Below are some of my favourite pictures from the day.

Santa 

Last minute rehearsals 

Intense concentration

Betty narrating 

Elissa buried by her class

"Get me out of this!" 

Displaying the Christmas loot

The unwrapping 

A congratulatory bouquet 

Flat roads = happier cyclist

We've spent the last two days cycling from Nimh Binh to Haiphong. Signs directing us to where we want to go are still somewhat lacking, but at least the roads are flat and the skies have been sunny.

We've been trying to take a more coastal, scenic route, and therefore have been having to find our way more than one would expect on a major highway. It's not always clear exactly where to turn, but we've gotten used to asking as we go. On our ride from Nimh Binh to Ngo Dong we took two (unintentional) detours that cost us well over an hour of cycling each. Luckily both roads included stunning views and very few trucks.

At one point we came to a crossroads where the direction we thought we should be heading appeared to be blocked by construction. After asking a helpful local which way to the next town he pointed at the construction zone. Of course that's our way, of course. However, in Vietnam it would seem when things are under construction you simply drive around/through the construction zone. After getting closer we realized that this is what every other moped and truck had been doing. Simply wait until the machines have stopped for a moment and go, with the assistance of a construction worker causually waving you through.

Yesterday we had had hoped to make it across the river to our next guesthouse. However, nearing the end of our day with the sun setting we still hadn't found the ferry that we believed would take us across. We decided to stay on the south side and try again tomorrow morning, but at that point we appeared to be in the middle of farmland and no where near a village. We stopped to find out where the nearest guesthouse was and ended up following three different people back a larger town we had cycled through earlier. After checking in at the hotel where we had been left by our last guide out of the farmland we asked about the ferry. Apparently it was 300 meters from the hotel, though no sign indicated a boat crossing, and we had passed it 2 and a half hours earlier. Opps!    

Other highlights of the last two days included: accidentally putting brown salt, not brown sugar, in my Vietnamese coffee; Dana's phone in a bag being mistaken as garbage and thrown out by a helpful food vendor on the side of the road (luckily Dana noticed almost immediately); finding a lost Dutchman with a broken spoke; eating fresh baguettes dipped in condensed milk; and milage signs placed in the wrong direction - yep, that wasn't helpful.  

Wet Towels

After our long and hectic day cycling to Ba Loc we stopped at the first guesthouse we saw. It was already dark, and as far as we had heard there was only one guesthouse in Ba Loc. Dana summed it up when she exited the bathroom and declared "I can't believe we're paying to stay here!!" It was freezing outside and there was no indoor heating. Our lighting was inconsistent and the beds were rock hard (though this isn't surprising). Our washroom came with one clogged drain, no hot water and a soggy towel.  As a cherry on top when Dana noted that the only towel left in our room was wet and requested a new one we received a "new" wet towel. Lovely.... But after a long, painful day of biking nothing will keep you from sleep. And one thick comforter kept me warm.

Dana was concerned by after another two days of cycling in the hills of Vietnam we would lose all interest in cycling and miss out on possibly the best part of our Vietnam adventure - the coast, where we thought things may be a little flatter, warmer and more clearly signed. I agreed. Cycling had just gone from friendly towns and breathtaking views to a challenge I was not up to. We located a girl from a nearby store who seemed to be the only one in town who spoke some English. With the help of her father and two others she sorted out what we were looking for and had us follow her to a stop where a bus driver happened to be eating breakfast. Pure luck! Within twenty minutes we were on a bus to Nimh Binh.

Once in Nimh Binh we spent the afternoon getting ourselves sorted. One of our chores was to clean off our bikes. After two days of cycling through muddy wet roads they were disgusting. We lucked upon a spot where, for 1USD, they were scrubbed clean by a lovely lady who was fully equipped with a pressure hose, buckets and rain boots. A dollar well spent. Unfortunately neither of us thought to take "before" photos of the bikes.

Crossing the Border

Xam Neua to Na Meo - 81km

We located a hotel at 2 in the morning and managed to sneak in some sleep before our border crossing. This road involved fewer ascents and descents, while still providing beautiful scenery.

We crossed into Vietnam around 3:30pm and didn't think we'd have time to make it to the next town with a guesthouse before dark so spent a night in the lovely border town of Na Meo. If you ever have to cross this border try not to get stuck staying in this border town. The next town with a known guesthouse was supposedly 58km away, based on our map. In Na Meo we met an American couple heading in the opposite direction. No longer needing their detailed map of Vietnam they offered it to us. On their map it indicated that our next town was in fact 80km away.

After an incredibly tough ride to Ba Loc we made it to our guesthouse just after dark. The ride itself shouldn't have been so hard, it wasn't overly hilly. However, unlike Laos, Vietnam doesn't provide signage or mileage and we spent most of our time trying to confirm that we were actually on the right road. Where there were signs the distance was inconsistent. For example at one point we were 42 km from a town, then 20 minutes later 18km away, and then 10 minutes after then 20km from the exact same town. It was impossible and frustrating. A long day is fine, but not knowing where exactly you are or how it could have possibly taken so long to get there was mentally draining. We began to doubt whether either map was had accurately measured the distance.To make matters worse the roads were horrific. Instead of the patches of dirt we had come across in Laos, these roads were missing random chunks which were then filled in with not gravel, but massive rocks. This meant that both bicycles, cars and motorcycles were trying to pass over the same smooth(ish) part of concrete left. In addition it was a one lane highway and vehicles traveled in both directions, pulling over to let oncoming traffic pass. They also LOVE using their horns here. This was possibly the worst day of biking I've had so far.

Nong Khiaw and the mythical bus

From Luang Prabang we took a boat ride up the Nam Ou River to Nong Khiaw. The morning started out less than ideal. We were told my our travel agent to get to the pier by 8am, so we arrived at 7:45. After asking three different people we confirmed that we should be at the right dock and our boat would be along soon. Now, when I say confirmed, I mean that I tried my best to show which boat we wanted and they waved, nodded and otherwise indicated that that yes, we were in the right spot and had to be patient. By 8:30 we were getting more and more nervous about the arrival of our boat when we were joined by two American cyclists (a father and son duo) also headed to Nong Khiaw. They were less convinced that we were all in the right place and located someone with better English who directed us to another pier. Luckily the travel agent told us to be there an entire hour early; we must not have looked very capable. The boat actually left at 9am, leaving us ample time to get to the next pier and check in.

Surprise number two came after boarding the boat and discovering our trip was a whole day trip. It was somehow lost in translation how long our trip would be. Dana and I were under the impression it would be five hours, apparently we would get in at 5pm. Big difference, especially since we hadn't packed lunch or snacks. This was completely my fault. Dana had suggested buying extra food in case we were hungry. I hated the idea of hauling more stuff along and thought we would be fine with breakfast rolls and one pack of crackers between us. Dan and Bert, the Americans, saved the day by sharing theirs snacks and stories with us to distract from the growing hunger. To make things more interesting within an hour of our boat departing from Luang Prabang we had stopped along shore to fix the engine. Our captain had to get into the water to take off the propeller, and instead of getting his pants wet he simply took them off. When I saw our captain strip down to briefs and walk to the back of the boat I stated "Well our captain is in his underwear. I don't much about boats but I don't think this is a good sign." This of course caused Dana to burst into giggles everytime she saw our captain for the rest of day. I'm sure the Dan and Bert thought we were a mature travel pair. The repairs set us back a bit and we didn't arrive into Nong Khiaw until 7pm, absolutely starving! 

We spent two more days in Nong Khiaw. It's a beautiful little town with some nice guesthouses and restaurants along the river. We spent one morning exploring a massive cave that people had used for shelter during the Indochina war. We also had the chance to spend some more time with Dan and Bert and hear some of their cycling stories. They are covering an impressive amount of distance per day, especially considering some of the hills we've climbed, and Bert has been cycling for over 6 months now.

Our departure from Nong Khiaw was as easy as our arrival. We had arranged for a night bus from Nong Khiaw to Xam Neau (near the Vietnam border) departing the evening of our second day. It seemed somewhat unclear if the bus would be departing at 7, 7:30 or 8pm, so we got to our pickup place extra early. At 8:30pm we were informed that our bus was already full and we would have to wait until noon the next day. I suppose this is normal in Laos, and I should have been prepared for the fact that a ticket does not necessarily equal a guaranteed seat in Asia, but I wasn't overly happy to find this out so late into our planning. A bus leaving at noon would mean we arrived in Xam Neau after midnight, not the best time to search for a guesthouse. The next day, after a second goodbye to Dan and Bert, we did manage to get a place on the noon bus and spent the better part of 13 hours on a firm seat in full bus. We did learn from our river incident though and packed dinner. Of course, there was a dinner stop.

Welcome to the hills

Vang Vieng to a Hot Springs Resort - 80km
 From Vang Vieng it started out with fairly flat, but the highway was a bit of a mess. Various sections of the road were not paved at all which meant you couldn't gain much speed. After lunch we started a slow and steady climb to our overnight destination. To make up for the climbing we spent the night on top of a mountain in small cabins beside a natural hot spring with a great view. It was absolute bliss, especially considering most of our guesthouses don't include hot running water. During the evening the hot springs turned into a popular stop with truckers, and seemed to double as the community bathing area. Since our guesthouse didn't include a shower at all we had a cold bath by splashing water on ourselves from the spout and then headed to the springs. We also met a German couple who were spending the month cycling Laos.  

Hot Springs to Kiukacham - 76km
Hills, hills and more hills! I swear my next cycling tour will be in southern Saskatchewan, or maybe Holland.
Today included several climbs including one gradual and painful 20km ascent. Kiukacham turned out to be a foggy little town on top of yet another mountain. When I checked the weather forecast for cycling Laos I neglected to find out whether there is much variation between larger cities and more remote villages in the hills. There is. In the cities below we could easily survive in pants and t-shirt. In the mountains I was freezing! After yet another cold shower I put on shorts, pants, a tank top, a long sleeved top and the only sweater I had (a lucky last minute packing decision). At our guesthouse we met up with the German couple from the hotsprings and another couple from Slovenia who happened to be cycling in the opposite direction. The two couples were more experienced at touring and were decked out with great gear and warm clothing. Needless to say, I was jealous.  

Kiukacham to Luang Prabang - 80km
We've finally arrived in our final cycling destination of the week! I'm not sure if I'm more excited about the prospect of getting some laundry done or having access to bakeries. Both are fantastic! Most of today's right was a descent which meant we arrived in Luang Prabang early in the afternoon with minimal effort. We found a guesthouse on the main road alongside the night market.

We ended up spending three days in Luang Prabang relaxing, enjoying a couple of massages, grabbing a new tire for Dana's bike (her previous tire had warped), and trying not to shop. Luang Prabang has a fantastic night market and if I weren't constricted with panniers I could have easily done all of my Christmas shopping here. However, the idea of literally pulling around gifts for two weeks was less than appealing, and my space is limited. Unfortunately with the location of our guesthouse we had to walk through the market to get anywhere. A lesson in self control. We spent one of our three days cycling 30km out to a well known waterfall in a National Park. It gave us a chance to get in some physical activity and make sure Dana's new wheel actually worked.