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Nong Khiaw and Elephants!

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Nong Khiaw is a 4+ hour drive on bad roads so we took a boat halfway. Not in the flatlands any more! One day we visited a village museum where people lived in caves to survive the US bombing.  The hikes still have signs warning you to stay on the trail due to unexploded ordinance. The boat ride seating tweaked my back (recovered quickly) so while Noel went downriver to villages and waterfalls I went uphill for views and some new birds in the forest. On the drive back to Luang Prabang our driver organized a group to move a pickup that had created a roadblock. Next up - Elephant Conservation Center and it may be our favorite of the trip.  Another rough drive, but it's a peaceful place with: The ECC gets rescued elephants and works to rewild and breed them.  Tourist visits c...
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Chilling out in Laos

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After the bike tour we were ready for a slower pace.  We flew to Vientiane and back into the land of temples. We settled in to Luang Prabang as our base for activities and good food.  Today we went to a rice farming experience. and yesterday we did a day ride across the Mekong.  We were invited to refreshments at a village party, but couldn't figure out what the occasion was. Evenings start with a sunset drink above the river... followed by dinner. Sausage was very tasty, didn't try the frog.  So far Cambodia is winning on taste with Laos and Vietnam trailing.  The main street is heavy-duty tourism by day and night. Tomorrow we take a van and boat to Nong Khiaw for a few days of hiking and smaller Lao village exploration before heading south to an el...
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Goodbye Vietnam

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More bananas to dodge as we rode through the Delta. Jackfruit  Lotus  Pomelo (like grapefruit) on the way to market.  One of a few ferries. Our group and guide Toan enjoying a sugarcane juice with kumquat.  We stopped every 15-25km for a beverage and snack or lunch.  We're down a rider after a solo crash and sore shoulder. Dragonfruit ready for the market.  Lots of fruit grown! Last 20km into Ho Chi Minh City were by van - riding would not have been enjoyable. HCMC is busy, loud and economically active so if it weren't for the many reminders it would be easy to forget that this is a one-party state. Our tour company was Social Cycles and I definitely recommend them.  They organized 4 visits with local NGOs, including Mekong Plus (which makes bamboo bikes and helmets!), for us to learn about efforts to improve the lives of Cambodians and Vietnames...
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The Mekong Delta

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Entering one of 5 remaining Communist countries did not go smoothly.  Our new guide, Toan, slipped the border police $30 to get us through after 2 hours and it's gone better since. We rode 108km to Can Tho along the network of waterways criss-crossing this region at 3' above sea level.   I had to duck under a bunch of bananas at one point! Uncle Ho greeted us... and we now walk around with millions in our pockets. [Insert obligatory food pix here] Today we had a morning tour of rice noodle "factory"/souvenir shop, floating produce market (for real), And cacao farm specializing in tourist visits. Our initial impressions of Vietnam are that it's much more prosperous than Cambodia.  The towns/cities are more vibrant, there's much better infrastructure and much less trash, an...
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