We passed by amazing scenery and climbed some pretty sweaty, long and sometimes steep hills up. But the scenery of Northern Laos was still rewarding. At one day we even met an other cyclist, Alissa from the US and we had a chat and planed on meeting up again in Luang Prabang. Later that days we had a few flat tires which isn't a problem, as we have two spare tires and patches with us. But those patches didn't want to stay on the tires and they just didn't keep the air in. We stuck patch over patch, but still no success. We were stranded on top of a small hill just a few kilometers away from the next village. But we could't get there and had to pitch the tent next to the road. Luckily we had everything we needed: an almost flat ground for the tent, water and food. Next morning we packed everything and waited next to the road to stop a car to get a lift to Luang Prabang or close to it. After two hours of waiting we finally had somebody going that way and having enough room for our bikes and panniers too. There were around 160km left and the driver definitely didn't wanted to takes his time on those bumpy and winding roads. Still, it took us around four hours until we arrived in town (thank you so much guys again for that lift). 

We spend a couple of days in Luang Prabang as we were lucky to be there right in time for the festival of the end of the rainy season. That meant lots of colourful latern in temples at night and a big procession with self-made boats from every part of the city. Most of them looked like dragons, really nice. After walking through town they had to carry them down some steep stairs to put them into the Mekong. We had the perfect spott as friends of our host Matt had organized a boat to see these boats from the water. 

Next morning we got up early to get the boat which would take us to the border of Thailand. It was an amazing two day boat trip through an area with just a few roads and some small villages along the river. Really nice and quiet. We spend the night in a hotel, where we met Matt and Chelsea a Kiwi-Aussi couple. We had a fun night in the "Happy Bar" and played some pool. Next morning we all got back on the boat, but in two different directions (enjoy Laos you two). In the evening, just before dark, we arrived in the town next to the border to Thailand and stayed in a hotel.

To get into Thailand the next morning we had to cycle to a bridge, where we had to take a bus to bring us over the bridge to be at the border into Thailand. From there to Chiang Rai it was a mostly nice and flat ride. Lots of rice fields and we even managed to get away from the big roads. In Chiang Rai we found a beautiful little Guest House where we stayed a few days. One day we cycled through town to the temples and walked to the night market. The other day we rented a scooter and went to the White Temple, which is a pretty modern one. It is not finished yet and they are hoping to be done in 2070! Afterwards we went up in the mountains and after half an hour of nice walking we arrived at the waterfall.

Now, our last 30 days in Thailand and also of our trip through Southeast Asia have begun! 

Keep cycling, 

Joni, Droni and Vroni