In Chiang Rai, in northern Thailand, we buy two new bicycles, and leave for Laos the next day. After 8 hours and 130 kilometres in our legs we reach the Mekong, which forms the border to Laos here. In the last few years the relations between Thailand and Laos have improved considerably and instead of shootings over the Mekong, which were usual for years, there is now a lively trade...

It is time to return and after arriving in Luang Prabang, we sell our bikes and take the bus to Vientiane. The road leads through an area inhabited by the Hmongs, a rebellious mountain tribe that has been waging a tough war against government troops for decades to claim the privilege of growing opium.