I apologize in advance – this is a really long post. Five countries, 11 weeks makes for a lot of photos. Also as a reminder, if you click on the first picture in each section it will enlarge so you can view each of them more fully. You have to click on videos separately for them to play.
We used gravel touring bikes for this trip. Doug set up his bike to focus the weight on the frame while I went with the more conventional pannier set up. My handlebar pack was mainly for camera gear.
After much research and planning we were ready to cycle Southeast Asia. Thailand, Laos, short side trip to China, then continued through Vietnam, and Cambodia. Five countries, 11 weeks. Our initial planning usually involves finding all of the sites and attractions that we want to see and then mapping out a route that will get us to each. Doug then used Gaia Maps to figure out the best biking routes. We learned that the higher the number of the highway the less traffic so better for biking. This way we were able to find some good alternate routes as we cycled.
Finding accommodation was relatively easy however it might not be to the standard you are used to. We had everything from the most basic to luxury. One thing you will need to get used to is that there is a belief in Asia that the harder the bed the better for your spine so it’s pretty much like sleeping on the hard ground. You will also need to adjust to the entire bathroom being wet – the shower is in the middle of the bathroom and a lot of the sinks don’t have plumbing under them. Unless you are in a large city or a tourist destination restaurants don’t really exist. You can find lots of street vendors which are usually great but sometimes after a long ride it’s just nice to sit down in an actual restaurant.
There are more beauty saloons and massage parlours then all other business combined. It is almost a must to have some form of ‘pay app’. This is especially true in China as they only take Chinese credit cards and most don’t like to deal with cash or won’t have change for you. Cambodia was also hard – they like US dollars but the ATM’s issue $100 notes which again most small vendors don’t have change for. It took us 5 banks before we found one that could exchange the $100 notes to something smaller.
Biking in traffic is a mixture of horns honking, and tight squeezes through traffic. You will need to be quite aggressive and focused if you expect to get anywhere without an accident. We quickly learned a few things to note about driving or cycling:
- Can drive in both lanes and down both shoulders in either direction, or just down the middle of the road if you feel like it.
- Can stop and do a U turn when ever you feel like it.
- Pedestrian crossings don’t mean you have the right of way even if the light says you can walk. Do NOT under any circumstance look before entering a street – don’t matter what size of vehicle you are driving – from scooter to semi, walking, biking, – just don’t look and hope that everyone slams on the brakes or swerves to miss you!
- Get the loudest, most obnoxious horn you can and honk it all the time – passing, not passing, turning, not turning, just for the hell of it and especially when you pull up right beside cyclist – just lay on it and blow their eardrums just for fun.
- Don’t use mirrors, in fact why not just take them off your scooter or car and throw them away – totally useless and unnecessary as you really don’t care what is behind you or beside you as you will go where you want when you want anyway.
- Be creative – you can carry anything on a scooter! Drag a long 30 foot pole behind you that swings across both lanes, pile stuff as high and wide as you can – from pipes to windows, huge furniture, big barrels, chickens, huge pigs, you think it you can haul it. You can also carry numerous people on a scooter – babies in one arm. one kid standing in front, another sitting in front, 2 or 3 behind and a phone in the other and still managing to drive.
- People were generally really nice and accommodating. They love colour, lights and karaoke! Everyone and everything is really loud – no such thing as an ‘inside voice’. The one exception is Cambodia which in general is a much quieter country (they even have ‘no horns’ signs).
Thailand
We arrived in Bangkok minus our bikes as our plane had to be diverted to Seoul South Korea. Gave us an extra day to explore Bangkok. If you are going to start a bike trip from Bangkok I highly recommend staying at the Old Capital Bike Inn. Jason and his staff are fantastic. Jason stored our soft sided bike bags for 3 months while we headed out on our adventure.
We got a transfer from Bangkok to Ayutthaya where we started biking on Oct 24th. Day one did not go quite as planned. Really nice ride. However, years ago I got heat exhaustion quite bad and now my body just doesn’t have the ability to temperature regulate very well. So at +36 with high humidity and about 80 ks in my body responded with major cramping and 4 or 5 bouts of vomiting. Hard way to end the first day. Rehydrated all night and day 2 was much better. Another 90 k day. People are very friendly and wave and yell hello as we bike by. Our senses were kicked into high gear. The number and variety of birds is incredible. The smells of ginger, lime leaves and lemongrass has your stomach grumbling the whole way. The vendors just set up on the side of the highway and sometimes these go on for 10 or more ks. Saw an Asian Water Monitor (very large lizard – about 1.5 metres) crossing the road.
As we head north the scenery starts to get more lush and more hilly. Those nice long relatively flat sections have now been replaced with a fair amount of climbing. Roadkill consists of a variety of snake and frog species, oh and one fish! Not sure where that came from? If I stopped to photograph all of the temples we would never get anywhere. The vehicles on the road are a mixture with motorcycles and scooters being predominant. There are however, some “mad max” style which I will try to get a picture of.
Doug did an excellent job mapping our route in Gaia using secondary roads but as you will see that doesn’t always work out due to the recent flooding in the area. There were also times when we just weren’t paying close enough attention and missed some turns requiring a bit of backtracking.
Once in Chiang Mai we took a break from biking. Rented a car and did a bit of sightseeing on the Mai Hong Son Loop known for its 1864 curves along skinny mountain roads. Really nice break even with the rain off and on. Got to visit some sights like the Pai Canyon trail, the Kho Ku So Bamboo Bridge and the Mok Fa Waterfall.
Back on the bikes we made it part way to Chiang Rai where we stopped for the night, had dinner and were invited to launch a lantern for the Lantern Festival happening. Pretty cool – I’ve attached a few pics from the restaurant and a video of the lantern being launched.
Chiang Rai was a wonderful couple of days – we rented a motorbike and visited one of my highlights of the trip – the Wat Rong Khun (White Temple). The White Temple (Wat Rong Khun) in Thailand was built by artist Chalermchai Kositpipat as a contemporary Buddhist offering to Lord Buddha, symbolizing purity, wisdom, and the path to enlightenment, while also servicing as a critique of modern materialism through its unique blend of traditional art and surreal, modern elements. It’s a continuous project meant to represent the impermanence of life and spiritual growth, distinct from older temples.
Around the grounds of the White Temple.
We also managed to visit the Choui Fong Tea Plantation which is owned by a family and absolutely stunning. Who knew green tea ice cream could taste so good!
And our final stop was the Wat Rong Suea Ten or (Blue Temple).
Laos
After crossing the border into Laos we caught what is referred to as “a slow boat” on the Mekong River to take us into Laos and to Luang Prabang. We stopped at a couple of small villages along the way and visited the Pak Ouv Caves. We saw both pink and black water buffalo and even an elephant along the shoreline. We met some fabulous people on the boat, and ended up doing a bit of sightseeing with them in Luang Prabang as well.
Laos is quite different than Thailand in a lot of ways. The terrain here starts to get more rugged; it seems a bit more aggressive as far as traffic goes; there is quite a bit of Chinese influence with people, language, culture, and communication control; and most places take cash only so you really have to plan out your budget to ensure you have enough cash for the smaller villages.
Slow Boat on the Mekong
Once in Luang Prabang we visited the Kuang Si Waterfall which was stunning in it’s many pools as you continued up and up to the big waterfall at the end. From there we took the Chinese/Laos high speed train to Vang Vieng for the day and night. We rented an electric scooter and visited the Nam Xay Viewpoint – straight up, challenging climb but the views of the Karst Mountains were worth it! These iconic mountains are what I’ve always envisioned when thinking of Southeast Asia. Characterized by dramatic, jagged peaks rising from lush greenery, creating otherworldly and breathtaking landscapes that define much of northern Laos and northern Vietnam. We cooled off in one of the 6 Blue Lagoons and then toured the Angel Cave system which was stunning.
Back to Luang Prabang by train where we visited some markets and hiked up Phousi Hill for Sunset.
From Luang Prabang we headed north by bus with our bikes tied precariously on top. Got most of the way there before the bus broke down and they had to bring a new one to finish the journey. They tried to insist we ride our bikes the rest of the way as they didn’t want to put them on the bus. It was mid-afternoon, hot, we had no water left and we had paid double just to have the bikes so we weren’t too keen on that idea. Finally arrived at our destination in Nong Khiaw where we were taking a boat the next day on the Nam Ou River to Muang Khua. We visited the Pha Toc cave which was used for shelter by soldiers during the second Indochina war. The boat was a process as the first could only go as far as a dam. We then unloaded everything onto a Tuk Tuk to take us around the dam and loaded on to a second boat to continue the journey. Both boats were packed beyond capacity. Small villages with not much for food or anything else.
Nong Khiaw, the Pha Toc Cave and the Nam Ou River
Once in Muang Khua we had to wait an extra day as I still hadn’t received my visa for Vietnam – I applied for both back in September and paid for them but then heard nothing. Tried contacting several times with no luck so then had to reapply and then had to pay another $100 for a company to expedite. Not a great process. Once we got the visas we headed out in the rain for the Vietnam border and Dien Bien Phu. Raining hard by time we got to the top of a very long steep climb to the Laos border which was under construction and incredibly muddy. Made it past that and onto the Vietnam border. Terrain continues to be more rugged with a lot of climbing, cooler temperatures and rain. Camera stayed packed away with all of the rain.
Vietnam
After all of the rain getting from Laos into Vietnam, we cleaned and dried everything out in Dien Bien and headed north to a very small village called Muong Cha. Super steep climbs. Turned out it was a foreigner restricted area and no one would rent us a room or feed us without the necessary paperwork granting us access. We finally found a gentleman to help and we got a room for the night and ate snacks.
The next few days we continued north through mountains and agricultural landscapes with steep climbs, chilly weather, rough roads; some closed to motor vehicles. We then descended into a valley and the city of Lai Chau.
Lai Chau
We spent the evening enjoying the scenes around Lai Chau
From Lai Chau we tackled our last climb – 30 ks, steep – 10 – 13% grades up to the highest pass (O Quy Ho) in Vietnam just before our most northern destination in Sa Pa.
We spent a day of sightseeing in Sa Pa – the nightlife around Sa Pa and Cat Cat Village which is marketed as “authentic” and is the farthest thing from it – big disappointment, nothing but a tourist trap.
We hired a transfer to Hanoi as the only way there was via a major freeway. Hanoi is a pretty crazy city. It blew us away how much they were decorating for Christmas. We spent some time sightseeing as we were in a big tourist area. Nice lake and good walking.
Did a “You’re so Vain” photo shoot. Asian women are “obsessed” with getting their picture taken – a cultural trend driven by the use of social media to prove a fulfilling life. We started seeing this trend in Sa Pa but didn’t think to document until we got to Hanoi. Doug got in on the action!
We couldn’t be in Hanoi and not do a boat tour on the famous Ha Long Bay. We lucked out with the weather. Pretty popular and crowded place for sure. Along the way you stop to visit Hang Song Sut Cave and Ti Top Island which you can then climb to get great views of the bay.
China
We flew to Kunming China from Hanoi for a bit of a side trip. Really enjoyed the small amount of countryside we have seen. We had planned on seeing 2 very different regions – the Yuanyang Hani Rice Terraces and the Zhangye Rainbow Mountains. Unfortunately the government shut down the Zhangye area on December 1st so that part of our trip was cancelled.
The Yuanyang Hani Rice Terraces however, were everything I had hoped for. Absolutely spectacular – we saw many fields including Duoyishu, Bada, and Laohuzui (Tiger Mouth). The Hani people have been cultivating terraced rice paddies for over 1300 years in the Honghe Perfecture of Southern Yunman. This complex system is not just about farming; it’s an integrated sustainable agro-ecosystem that relies on 4 essential components.
- Forest – that act as a natural reservoir to catch rainfall and maintain a stable water supply throughout the year.
- An intricate system – of channels and ditches, developed and maintained by the Hani, diverts water from the forests down to the terraces below.
- Terraces – carved by hand into the steep mountain slopes – some reaching 70 degrees, these fields prevent erosion and runoff while effectively using the land for a single annual crop.
- Villages – situated between the forests and the terraces the villages feature traditional “mushroom” houses and form a key part of the social-ecological structure that sustains the entire system.
This resilient land management system was recognized in 2013 by UNESCO.
We were fortunate enough to watch some of the villagers at work – the women carry the rocks and sand needed and mix the mud while the men build the terraces. We also watched a couple of men use a bamboo pole to gather “duck weed” the red weed that grows on top of the water – they use this to feed the ducks, geese and chickens.
China officially recognizes 56 ethnic groups each with their own dialects. Within each group there are numerous variations of those dialects. We got to know a women from the Zhuang minority group. She explained that in her culture young girls learn to stitch at about 7 or 8 years old. They begin working on their wedding outfit and complete it around age 16 or 17. At this time the young boys and girls will go out in a boat and sing to each other – the song is called the Seagrass Song. If they like what they hear they will then get married. The picture below is of one such wedding outfit.
We didn’t spend much time in China but this is what we noted:
- Everything clean, maintained – flowers, shrubs, trees, etc, trimmed, well taken care of
- Highways are in great condition – lots of elevated sections that run over more rugged terrain, lots of tunnels painted with scenes
- Drivers are much better than Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam
- Cars have unbelievable technology
- At the airport we saw suitcases that turn into scooters and ones that turn into strollers for children
- Wifi very limiting – can’t get anything outside China – can’t even send emails – quite frustrating
- Need pay apps as most places only accept local credit cards
- Every piece of land not taken up with development is either farmed or covered in greenhouses.
Vietnam
After flying back to Hanoi from China, we left the big city behind and headed inland and south on the Ho Chi Minh Trail for 5 days. Everything seems to be in sections – farmland, then fruit orchards, then rock quarries of basalt and marble, forestry and lumber mills, and finally an entire 100 ks section of burial grounds with elaborate house-like tombs and communities whose industry is to make those elaborate lotus and dragon motifs, etc. Fairly easy to find places to stay but next to impossible to find restaurants. There are street vendors sometimes with excellent food, sometimes horrible, and mostly snack type stuff.
We did find one gem along the way – Tam Coc. You always hear that you must take the boat cruise from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay, however, for a real treat take a small row boat (the rower uses his or her feet instead of hands on the ors) on the Ngo Dong River which is lined with lotus flowers. Here you will pass through 3 caves, past limestone cliffs, and karst mountains. Go early when the lotus are open and no one else in on the river.
We were just going to spend the night but took an extra day to enjoy the Thung Nhan bird park, gardens and viewpoint hike.
After leaving the inland farm country of Vietnam we headed south down the coast of the South China Sea. Often misty with some rain we cycled through the area known as the DMV during the Vietnam War. Then made it up and over Hai Van Pass which was a critical defensive point with the French and American bunkers still visible at the top.
Had a bit of fun today with some locals. Doug got a flat and when we stopped we were right beside a tire repair place! The family was incredibly helpful lending us an air compressor and we joked around while fixing the flat.
We used Da Nang as a launch point to get to Ba Na Hills but wouldn’t recommend it as a destination point in your travels otherwise.
Ba Na Hills is a mountain resort at 1,487 meters and is famous for its cool climate and misty days. It is a unique blend of French colonial history and modern theme park like attractions with the most iconic landmark being the “Golden Bridge” spanning 150 metres and held up by two weathered hands. Ba Na is only accessible by a the worlds longest – 5.8 kilometre continuous cable car. We went up in the morning, spent the night in the only hotel at the top and spent the day and next morning being typical tourists.
Due to the flooding in the area we decided to fly from Da Nang to Ho Chi Minh City and then onward to Phnom Penh where we would continue biking in Cambodia.
Cambodia
The first thing we noticed entering Cambodia was the quiet. Unlike Thailand, Laos, and especially Vietnam they do not honk their horns at everything, everyone, and just because they can. In fact Cambodia has many signs saying no horns! Loved it. The people and atmosphere are much quieter than anywhere else. Very nice change.
Phnom Penh is a great city with lots to offer. We visited the Royal Palace of Cambodia and the Monkey Temple. We then headed to Silk Island where we watched the incredible process of making silk from silkworms. The process often takes months for a single piece – they nurture the silkworms on mulberry leaves, harvest their cocoons, boil them to extract single threads and then reel multiple threads into strong yarn. Then they begin the dyeing with natural colours from flowers and finally weave it all into intricate patterns on traditional looms. Incredible to watch the process.
From here we went to the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center commonly known as the “Killing Fields”. These areas in Cambodia are where collectively more than 1.3 million people were killed and buried in mass graves by the Democratic Communist Party of Kapuchea during the Khmer Rouge rule from 1975 to 1979.
From Phnom Penh we got a lift on a Tuk Tuk to the outskirts of the city and then biked to Battambang over the next few days. We were only there overnight but did take the time to go visit the bat cave – over 6.5 million bats fly out of the caves just after sunset to head for the lake.
The Bat Caves
When we left Battambang in the morning the bombing from the Thailand-Cambodia border dispute was only 10 ks from the town. From here we took a boat through numerous channels, some barely able to fit the boat through and past many floating villages until we reached Tonle Sap Lake and the port to Siem Reap.
Siem Reap is definitely a tourist town but one that is great to spend a few days in. We headed to Angkor Wat for sunrise. Angkor was originally constructed in 1150 CE as a Hindu temple dedicated to the deity Vishu. It was later transformed into a Buddhist temple towards the end of the century. Hailed as the largest religious structure in the world, it is one of the best examples of Khmer architecture and a symbol of Cambodia. We also visited the Bayon and Ta Prohm temples.
Visiting some gardens and a wildlife refuge
Angkor Wat and 2 other temples
We took in the Phare Cambodian Circus which is a stunning performance with music, art, dance, acrobatics, and storytelling, Really enjoyed the entire evening. Also really enjoyed a much less advertised Vimean Sokha Museum which should not be missed. Incredible museum of old bicycles, motorbikes, clocks watches, cameras, money, music and instruments. Ly Pengheng began collecting pieces from around the world 26 years ago and he and his daughter have a very magical place.
Vimean Sokha Museum
Our final visit in Siem Reap was to the Apopo – a non-profit organization.
Bart Weetjens from Belgium knew that rats had an incredible sense of smell and were very trainable with food. Once he determined their uses he settled on African giant pouched rats for their longer life spans.Cambodia is one of the most landmine affected countries in the world. From 2016-2024 the total area cleared 41,949,478, total items found 6194, direct beneficiary individual 57,233, indirect beneficiary individual 168, 380. Clearing fields of land mines and bombs isn’t just about saving lives, it also offers substantial economic growth. It releases valuable land for production stimulating agricultural growth, enabling infrastructure development and fosters long-term economic stability.
These same rats are being used to detect TB in many countries. They can go through 100 samples in 20 minutes versus a lab technician who would take 4 days. Biggest global killer from an infectious disease after COVID – 10.8 million new global cases of tuberculosis per year and around 1.3 million people died in 2023. Improving clinic detection by 40%.
Search and Rescue – Efforts are impeded by the technologies available to support their efforts.These tools are limited in their ability to 1) penetrate the debris, 2) navigate within this complex environment, and 3) strategically search for survivors. Because of their compact size, agility, and exceptional sense of smell, HeroRATs could uniquely overcome these challenges. To do so they need to be equipped with technology to map their location, remotely signal when they’ve found a survivor, and provide real-time communication with the victim.
Thailand
We flew back to Bangkok as the land borders were closed. This gave us a few extra days so we decided to visit one of the closest islands – Koh Chang. Had a great last 4 days on the Island where we also celebrated Doug’s birthday along with New Years Eve.
For Doug’s birthday we spent the day snorkeling around 3 different islands. Then a whole bunch of people joined us for dinner, fireworks and a lightshow – all just to celebrate Doug’s birthday – maybe a few were there for the New Years celebrations but who knows.
