Freewheeling Friends
Activity: Samlaan Cycling Tours
Location: Oudomxay, northern Laos
Tip: The best season for cycling in Laos is mid-October to mid-February
Low-impact cycling tours in northern Laos provide cultural insights. The operator uses some of the income to build schools and provide clean water to villages.
The experience: Born and raised in Laos, Ken Phetxayphone has always loved to ride bikes. His small, friendly team from Oudomxay will take you by mountain bikes through the back roads, forests and villages of northern Laos on tours ranging from half a day to 15 days. He caters for all levels of fitness and biking experience and can provide a support vehicle for groups of mixed abilities allowing you the freedom to cycle for as long as you like in a day. Many of the tours combine biking with boat trips along scenic rivers and short treks to natural attractions along the way. You will stay overnight in the villages of the many ethnic groups in northern Laos and have the chance to experience their way of life and culture. Ken is very flexible and will help travellers to design their own tours according to their special interests or desire for adventure.
He offers multiple-country tours into the ‘golden triangle’ spanning Laos, northern Thailand and southern China. Whether you turn up by yourself, as a couple, or as larger group, he will always be there to welcome you with a smile.
How it helps: Samlaan Cycling Tours is a locally owned and managed business bringing income to the small towns and villages throughout northern Laos. Ken only employs local people and has a policy of spreading the benefits from his tours to small, locally-owned restaurants, guesthouses and villages he encounters along the way. In the spirit of ecotourism, the guides are specially trained to minimise the cultural and environmental impacts of their tours. They will teach you about the way of life and behavioural etiquette of the various ethnic groups you will visit. The guides have a strict policy of packing out all rubbish and reducing plastic waste.
Out of a keen desire to help disadvantaged rural Lao children, Ken established a charity in 2004 to raise money from cyclists to Laos to build schools and provide clean water to villages in the north. So far it has funded the construction of three schools and the provision of clean water to one village, with plans for more. Any donations you make will go directly to helping some of the many children that you will meet along the way during your cycling adventure with Ken and his team in Oudomxay.
Visitor comment: Ken was an excellent ambassador for the country. He was extremely knowledgeable, helpful, friendly, and spoke perfect English, as well as all the Lao dialects (David Mocatta, UK)
Location and booking information
The Samlaan Cycling Tours office is located opposite the first petrol station encountered about 1 km from the bus station heading into Oudomxay town in Ban Cheang village.Oudomxay is within a day’s bus / taxi ride of both Luang Namtha (to the north) and Luang Prabang (to the south) and can be easily reached overland from northern Thailand and southern China. There are also three flights a week to Oudomxay from Vientiane.
Bookings can be made by contacting Ken (Houmphanh Phetxayphone) at his office on:
Tel: (+856) [0] 30 513 0184
Mob: (+856) [0] 20 5609790
E-mail: info@samlaancycling.com or kenphet@yahoo.com
For further information see: www.samlaancycling.com
Map: Marker indicates Oudomxay, not Samlaam Cycling tour …
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