Travel mates and food

Before I always said my trip would depend mostly on people I would meet and these four weeks in Laos have just been that.
In Vietnam and Cambodia I followed my own plan and although I met great people there as well I preferred to follow my own route than to change and go with them (especially in Cambodia when I headed Eastwards by myself but the time I had there proved me right to do so).

In Laos I did not really have any plan and the people I met were in line with Laos: Relaxed and flexible. Our favourite activity (next to the bikes) was to get a bungalow with a nice view and a hammock, swim in the Mekong or the Nam Ou and have a good lunch/diner.
Actually outside Ventiane and Luang Prabang the food has been quite a challenge. It seems that the locals prefer the intestine and that kind of things than the meat we are used to. They also like lizards, and all sorts of nice rodents and fertilised eggs (I have never been so happy to be allergic to eggs, that was my best excuse not to taste).

Overall I had quite some dodgy meals (see my last day) and this is the least good food i had since I started the trip. But funny enough if Laos is the place where bread is not as good as Cambodia and especially Vietnam (best food so far) the bakeries in Luang Prabang and Ventiane are really good good: I remember the chocolate cake of LP as well as the pain of chocolat and chausson aux pommes from Ventiane, DELICIOUS. One side story, I saw also Scandinavian and Australian bakeries and I have to say that if they are not as bad as I assumed they would be, they are really not as good as ours (I know, I am so French sometimes :-).
Two more specialties of Laos are the Lao Beer than you cannot miss with its big yellow signs and the Lao Lao, the local "whisky" which is a pretty certain way to get a hangover.


I've noticed that if you cross a border with a group of people you keep following them in the country. You usually end up bumping into them by chance and I was lucky. Overall I did not spend a day by myself in Laos. I's like to introduce them to you:
Sergi y Rebeca (left hand pic) are not only among the most laid back persons I've ever met, they helped me to learn my first basics of Spanish; I still have a bit more than 6 months to learn the rest before practicing in South America. I already had jokes on my accent since it seems the French are usually unable to do the Spanish r (rouler les r),
Thanks to Max & Geraldine (pic in middle) I know could go by myself in some remote places (Tha Kaek or Udomxai) and still bump into them and really have a great time (see last day in Laos),
With Catherine and Hariet we traded bug fighting against chicken protection and had really nice time in quiet Nong Khiaw,
The Dutchies of the Cambodia-Laos border crossing team advised me to go to the amazing waterfall near Luang Prabang and girls I cannot thnak you enough for that that was sooooo nice,
Thanks to Emma and Philip (right hand pic, in the bus) I had these two intense motorbike days to the pure saphir lake and the Kong Lo cave through the magnificent karts limestone of Central Laos.

Thanks to you all, if I enjoyed Laos so much I owe it a lot to you and I hope our travel/life paths will cross again.