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A 240km flat to undulating ride
due east on Hwy 9 across Laos. The first half of this leg is mainly sealed and
in good condition, but the last half, just past Phalan, deteriorates
into an annoying mix of rough gravel and oddly spaced sealed sections.
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Ride
1 Across
mysterious Laos & Vietnam!
Leg
1:
Vientiane to Savanakhet The Ride: A 240km flat to undulating ride due east on Hwy 9 across Laos. The first half of this leg is sealed and in good condition, but the last half deteriorates badly. Highway 9 gets cut up rather badly by the trucks going back and forth to Vietnam. There are roadworks in progress (April 02). The Road: HWY 9. Good to poor, in that order. It's sealed, and beautifully smooth, for about 50 km out of Savan, and under construction up to about Phalan. After Phalan the road deteriorates into rough gravel with the odd sealed section all the way to the VN border. At the moment this road is not for racing bikes, but a tourer or hybrid would be fine. In the wet you'd definitely need a mountain bike as this road would get awfully boggy and sad. In fact, I wouldn't do it in the wet. Traffic: Constant but very thin. Local buses, samlors, motorbikes and bicycles. General: A fascinating ride. The scenery gets more interesting the further one rides towards the mountains along the Vietnamese border and the (shudder!) HoChiMinh Trail. A lot of ethnic hills-tribe people and villages along the way for you to entertain. You're right in the thick of 'mysterious Laos' by now so keep going, it's worth the effort... |