| Come
with us on an incredible and unique cycling adventure in southeast
Asia! You'll ride through three countries: rural southern China,
northern Vietnam and over the newly-opened border into Laos!
Bicycling through this amazing
region allows you to see things in ways that are impossible
with any other type of travel. Your cycling days will be nicely
balanced with strolls through night markets, hiking, a river
cruise or two, evening performances or other activities, and
sharing snacks and experiences on the bus between rides.
Here's just a fraction of what
you will experience:
- Stop to photograph small roadside shrines
- Venture down dirt paths to a remote village
- Encounter children walking or riding to
school
- Watch farmers working their fields with
water buffalo
- See villagers threshing rice and drying
fruit
This will be an extraordinary
tour and one you're not likely to forget.
Click
here for our 2016 Tour Itinerary
CHINA
Hong Kong is our arrival city,
and from our hotel you can walk along the famous Victoria Harbor
walkway to see the city lights at night. I'd recommend coming
a day or two early to tour the city and shop in the street markets.
Our adventure begins with the
train to mainland China where we meet our local guides. Grand
China Bike Tours has been our host in China for 15 years, and
they will show us some incredible sights and deliver up delicious
Cantonese meals. We'll eat our way through China, and the cuisine
will be a memorable part of your tour.
This southern route is my favorite
part of China for cycling because we observe so much rural life.
We'll pedal through green rolling farmland, bamboo forests and
along scenic rivers. This time of year farmers will be harvesting
rice alongside the road, drying fruit and loading their carts
with crops for market. You'll see it all.
We stop at night in cities with
very comfortable hotels: Guangzhou, Zhaoqing, Wuzhou, Yangzhou
and Guilin. From our hotel you can stroll through town or visit
night markets that sell anything you can think of - jewelry,
antiques, clothing, spices, produce, fresh meat (extremely fresh).
We'll also stay in Lipu, a small village surrounded by limestone
karsts, and our last night in China is in Pingxiang on the border
with Vietnam. The distance we travel each day may be as much
as 300 km, but part of this is by motor coach. Our crew has
selected the best 40-80 kilometers along the route for cycling,
and you can ride as much or as little of this as you like.
VIETNAM
At the Pingxiang Friendship
Pass we cross the border into Vietnam and meet our Vietnamese
crew. We've ridden in Vietnam before, but this will be a new
route and full of incredible discoveries! First will be a hiking
(and eating!) trip to beautiful Sapa in the mountains just over
the border. We then take the train to Hanoi, where you'll tour
the sights of this tree-shaded city. You'll see how the French
presence influenced architecture, from the elegant colonial
buildings in the cities to the tall, narrow homes of the small
villages.
We then cycle through Mai Chau,
with its lush scenery and bamboo stilt homes. Vieng Xai is next
on our itinerary. Located in a fertile valley surrounded by
limestone karsts, Vieng Xai is best known for the many caves
that sheltered 20,000 people during the Vietnam War. Vieng Thong
and Nhong Khiaw are two towns, one large and one small, both
lie in picturesque river valleys with gorgeous backdrops of
imposing limestone mountains. From this area you'll take a day
trip to Mung Ngoi, a sleepy and remote river town that was on
the route of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Here, too, many people lived
in caves to escape the bombing during the war.
LAOS
Now that the Nam Meo border
has opened, we'll ride into Laos via the overland route! We'll
cycle over the Laotian Alps through small hilltribe villages
and visit two of Laos' most remarkable national parks. We ride
to Nhong Khiaw, a charming and rustic town on the banks of the
Ou River, surrounded by limestone mountains. We finish our tour
in the World Heritage site of Luang Prabang on the Mekong River
where you'll enjoy this remarkable city's temples, stupas and
rich, old-world culture. There's so much to see here that you
can arrange to stay a day or two extra before making your connection
in Bangkok for the trip home.
$3,880 for 18 days
Based on double occupancy; single supplement $TBA
Included in your tour fees:
- Supported & guided tour with vehicles/drivers
- Local English-speaking guides, interpreters
- Local tour guide and Imagine Tours' staff on call 24 hours/day
- All sightseeing entrance fees and transfer services as
detailed in itinerary
- Hotel accommodations (3-star and above)
- Daily breakfast and lunch; all but 4 dinners when city
touring
- Vietnam visa on arrival
- Bicycle rental
- In-country transportation (trains)
- Drinking water
- Nominal gratuities to local guides - you can supplement
for excellent service
Click
here for 2016 Tour Itinerary |
