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 The Mullet...

 Nope, we just couldn't live with it........... so we went to the other side of the market for the second haircut of the morning.....

Cue the skinhead, poster boy for the Aryan Youth.

 Relaxing after a morning on the bikes..

 Finally, FINALLY, reaching tarmac again after far far too long on a dreadful dirt road. Admire, if you will, my fancy lemon yellow cycling trousers.

Meg is the bag lady on the bike, somewhere in Central Laos.

Crossing the Mekong (for the first of four crossings in a single day).

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 Three generations in front of Angkor Wat

 Bayon Temple (Angkor Thom). Wow.

 Dad and Meg taking their sightseeing seriously.

 Grandparents and grandkids

Same again....

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This was when we left the main Route 13 in S. Laos and headed off towards Vietnam border.

 Reaching 2000km YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEE

 The kids make friends in Laos..

Hanging out in the Plain of Jars

The Road That Nearly Killed Me ............. doesn't look too bad but ooh so long.....

Meg holds on tight to an orange (given to her by friendly Chinese child passing in 4wd). The old lady tried to extricate it but Meg was not having any of it.

First night out of Luang Prabang.

Hello Cambodia

Here we are in Cambodia, in a small Mekong town called Kratie. We arrived from Laos a couple of days ago, after a long hot dusty ride over the border. Met a couple of very friendly but corrupt officials who were after money for all sorts of ingenious things - exit stamp, money please; temperature check for health reasons, money please; entrance stamp, money please. Luckily we were almost completely out of funds (Mike's rather blase confidence that there would be bank facilities at the border having proven unfounded) and were thus genuinely unable to pay most of these.

Our initial impressions of Cambodia are very favourable - it is perhaps very slightly greener than southern Laos, but still parched. The people are very friendly and continue to take a great interest in the children.  The landscape through which we cycled at first was very remote with rather frightening land mine signs placed frequently along the road to deter you from heading into the bush, but the towns are lively, with great markets and more to look at than in Laos.

We are spending a few days exploring the Mekong and then heading for Phnom Penh to meet Mum and Dad. All are very excited!

The 4000 Islands

From Champasak we crossed the Mekong on a small boat and rode south to an old temple called Uo Muong. This was atmospherically situated in an large forest but truth be told, you needed a vivid imagination to get much out of it. Still, it was a beautiful ride to get there, on small tracks past quiet villages. Our intention was to continue south on the main road, stopping in some small guesthouse along the way, but it was just too hot and we were running out of steam, so we jumped on another bus and headed for the 4000 islands. This is in the far south of Laos, where the Mekong spreads wide across the plain, divided into countless smaller streams that curl around small islands, some inhabited, some not. Our destination was Don Khong, the largest of the islands, where we believed that we would be able to stock up on some Western food and there wasn't a bakery to be seen. Seizing the bull by the horns, we took a boat back across to Mekong (third of the day), rode south and then headed to Don Det, one of Laos' backpacker hubs.

As the boat pulled into the beach, sure enough there were some pink backpackers sunbathing, a bakery promising cake and lots of cheap and cheerful bungalows. Unfortunately, Mike had been having what we will delicately refer to as chafing issues during the course of the day, and decided that he wanted to stay somewhere posh. Cake - tick. Hamburgers - tick. Cold beer - tick. Internet cafe - tick. Cheap bamboo bungalow - tick. Posh hotel - nope. Round and round we went, trying everywhere that looked like it would cost more than a dollar, and none of them had a room (or didn't want us to stay there; we were pretty grimy). Eventually we got to the end of the island, it was getting dark, the chafing was getting worse, the moods were remarkably light, but the options were running out. Then, bliss, around the corner we see an old railway bridge leading to another island, one renowned for being for the more discerning traveller. We tried one hotel; full. Tried another; turned out it was a monastery. But finally, FINALLY, we found somewhere that did the trick. Blew our budget for a few days but it was worth it.

I liked the islands and cycled around with Meggles. Mike thought they were dull and wouldn't put his delicate rear anywhere near a bike seat so him and Sam were less adventurous. We celebrated Meg's birthday (three!) and ate Mekong fish.

South from Savanakhet

So, our bikes were repaired, all squeaks gone, brakes and chain oiled, new crankshaft fitted (not sure what it means, sounds painful, but apparently crucial) and we were ready to go. We decided to hop on a bus to Pakse (in the far south of Laos) to save ourselves a couple of hundred scorching and rather dull kilometres. From Pakse we searched out the new road to Champasak, eager to put our spiffy new wheels to the test. 20km of shiny tarmac later and we were full of the joys of spring. We stopped at what we thought were some minor road works for a drink and then carried on; alas, they were not just a a small section of road repairs; contrary to popular belief the road was in fact not finished, in fact not even close, in fact not even close to being close. We hauled ourselves over loose scree, rutted verges, deep sand, loose gravel and some strange fine dust that was so thick yet loose that you couldn't get any purchase, getting ever more despondant. The squeaks started up again, the crankshaft started to grind and when we finally arrived in Champasak 25km later, all the good work of our trusty mechanic was gone. AAAAAARRRRGGGGHHH!!

Anyway, we stayed in and around Champasak for a couple of nights in order to visit the beautiful Wat Phu. (You can imagine the many fun games two five year old boys (one in a 39 year old body) can have with the combination of 'Wat' and 'Phu' in a single name....time just flies by in Laos!). The site is stunning and we spent a wonderful morning clambering over the ruins and enjoying the view from the top. It is a UNESCO world heritage site and fully deserving of it, despite the fact that it is little known abroad.

The Mullet

A few days ago, we decided that Sam's hair needed a trim. You may recall that Sam previously had an 'interesting' hair cut when in Thailand.....helmet hair, without need of the helmet. Well, it was in his ears and mindful of Granny's impending visit (nothing Granny dislikes more than hair in the eyes, isn't that right mother?!) we decided it was time to try again. We found a market, found a willing hairdresser and off she went. Mike is rather protective of his son's blonde locks and looked on aghast as she chopped mercilessly with no apparent design, skill or plan. Within minutes he looked truly extraordinary. By the time she finished, he had an absolutely brilliant 1980s mullet. Now, I know he is half Australian, but there was no way my son was going around looking like some Aussie rules footballer so an hour later, we found a barber. He did a much better job but Sam now sports a shorter hair cut than ever before. It looks great but I must admit, he looks worryingly like a poster boy for the Hitler Youth. I'll post before and after pictures when we can find somewhere to do so.................