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Day 6 Luang Prabang to Kiu Ka Cham (78km)
We rode up the foggy hill and past some H'maung villages. There was more of the usual reaction everywhere we went. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared. Many kids gave us high fives as we rode past. The climb wasn't as bad as we had expected, with a fairly gradual gradient and only a few steep bits. The fog cleared and it became rather hot as we took cover for lunch. We stopped at a "Sala" which is a wooden structure on the side of the road used by the villagers when out working in the hills. It was great to dig in to some fresh rolls and DIY fillings. It's amazing the amount of food 19 hungry unicyclists will demolish in one sitting. Pershaps we should open a Subway restaurant in Laos? There were many local women out on the road with bundles of grass on their backs. It is apparently broom making season. Bundles of grass are gathered, and then beaten on the side of the road to get rid of the seed, and then wrapped in into small bunches to use as brooms. We arrived at the hilltop town of Kiu Ka Cham just as it was getting dark. It was a welcome sight after one of the longest climbs of the day. It was also the most basic of our tour stops- with a few shops and two guesthouses (entirely filled with unicyclists). We had no running water tonight. Our shower consisted of water being carted up from the bottom of the hill, then boiled in big pots which we mixed with cold water and threw over ourselves with a small scoop. It was a satifying shower nonetheless. We had an assortment of rooms, some were obviously used by the local occupants themselves except when the infrequent travellers drop by. Our hosts were sleeping in the lounge tonight.
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This was the hardest day of the
tour. With 1600m of climbing and an 85km distance today, we were expecting
this to hurt! We started off with a far too early breakfast at 6am, and
were ready to head off at sunrise.
