Ron Damon

Tell me about the Hanoi to Luang Prabang haul.

Atlas Shrugged

In 2020, just before the COVID lockdowns, I reversed the trip, finding it more practical to leave the bike box and luggage in Hanoi and then fly to Luang Prabang to kick off the journey. The experience was excellent, albeit with some logistical challenges like crossing the Laos-Vietnam border and navigating the bustling last 100 km into Hanoi after an extensive quiet rural stretch. Accommodation and food were abundant and reasonably priced. The locals were incredibly helpful, and the roads, while generally good, could get rough on secondary farm roads and scooter paths. Southeast Asia is an amazing safe place for a bicycle tour not to be missed. For more insights, you might find helpful write-ups on Crazyguyonabike.com.

Yan 

I rode through Luang Prabang in 2010.

Very hilly, roads terrible at that time but I've been told the Chinese have since repaved their roads for them. I didn't have any problems of note. Good times.

Small cog

I cycled that way about 10 years ago and it was a great ride and I do not remember the road being that bad but I had been in SE Asia for 2 months by then so had probably adjusted my expectations, as has been said pretty hilly. I remember the biggest problem at the time was finding nutritional food in rural areas but things might have changed by now.

Yan 

I entered from China which has some of the best roads in the world, so it is certainly a matter of mental adjustment.

I agree with the food issue. The serving sizes there are very small and I lost a ton of weight. Actually I was properly anorexic by the end of that summer. Good weight loss program if you need it.