You guys know me well: It didn’t take longer than a few days until the first little trip outside of the city. Last Saturday, Khanthong invited Bella and me to join his team on a bike ride. And because he knew that I’m a bit of a herb witch, our destination was Champa Garden – a sort of botanical garden for Dok Champa, the national plant of Lao (Plumeria in English, Frangipani in German).

Naturally, these trips start early in the morning because it gets too freakin’ hot at noon. Which is why our Saturday morning started at 6am with puffy, tired eyes instead of breakfast in bed. I haven’t given up my hope completely, but chances are getting smaller and smaller every year that I will ever become a morning person. Then again, I never really mind getting up early if it’s for a little adventure.

Khanthong taking a Selfie. Vientiane’s people are crazy about Selfies, but more on that another time.

I love how unprofessional we look in the middle of the team 😀 Bella even did the tour wearing her Birkenstocks!

Dok Champa – Lao’s national flower

Feeding huge fish

Inviting chill-out areas at a pond

Black&White because I was horribly read from the sun and the exercise 😀

The total distance was about 50km and mostly along well-paved roads. I have to confess  that the destination itself was not thaaaaat exciting, but we had a lot of fun messing around with Khanthong and his teammates and it was cool to see some of Vientiane’s surrounding areas. These, again, are not too exciting either. Consequently, I have already started to do research about the closest National Park.

Below, you can watch some scenes of our ride. Bella treated herself to an action camera and this was her first time cutting. Very likely, you will get to see more videos! By the way, I feel more like Jan Ullrich everyday: I finally bought lights and a helmet. Oh and one of those pants that make you look like a Teletubbie wearing nappies: D

Sunday, however, was spent mostly inside because it never stopped raining… Oh no, hang on. Actually, I did go outside. In fact, I did this absolutely SPLENDID bike ride all the way out to the airport: soaking wet, drenched in mud, fighting against the wind and the urge to just turn around – yes, I recall it vividly now. How could I forget… But it was worth it: I received 100USD as compensation for my delayed luggage. Bouuuyaaa!