Miles for Meals

Cycling Laos - Vietnam Charity

We are cycling more than a 1000 miles through Laos and Vietnam to raise money to help starving people in Bangkok. Here's what your money could do:

275 baht to provide 5 children with milk for a day

570 baht to feed a homeless person for a month

944 baht for a survivour package to feed and support a family of 4 for a month

Last summer, at a time when COVID was ripping through Thailand once again taking a huge toll on the poorest communities in Bangkok, we decided to give our time to help the amazingly relentless charity, the Bangkok Community Help Foundation. We worked with BCHF to prepare thousands of hot meals that were sent out daily and to pack care packages for the Khlong Toey community and migrant worker camps. This summer, we plan to cycle over 1000 miles of rugged terrain across northern Laos to Hanoi in northern Vietnam. We are doing this mostly because we want to, but also to raise money and awareness for this amazing charity.

If you feel you can help, we would appreciate any donation. All will make a difference (although bigger ones make a bigger difference!). Follow our trip on Instagram @mwalimu_beer and @dinie_iyliana

You can look up on their website to learn more about their charity:
https://bangkokcommunityhelp.com/

Day Eight of Cycling

Travelled from Pak Mong to Nong Khiaw. Up until Luang Prabang, we were had been using some pretty detailed descriptions of the routes we took. After LP, that doesn’t seem to exist, so we weren’t sure what to expect. We were pleasantly surprised to find a gorgeous route that undulated gently and followed the Nan Ou river. We also met the lovely Lan, a pre-COVID tour guide who now owns Nan Ou Coffee and Kayak where we stopped for a drink and earns ourselves a knowledge ally. He has cycled much of Laos with his tour groups and has already been a great help. Nong Khiaw is another gorgeous town. 

Distance : 30KM

Started Cycling : 10:30AM

Ended Cycling : 12:45PM

Day Seven of Cycling

Sorry for not updating for long. It was hard trying to find a stable connection as we were mostly in the village. Anyway, cycled from Luang Prabang to Pak Mong. It was a quite relaxing cycle compared to the previous. The roads were flatter and it goes without saying by now how stunning were the views. It just gets better each time. 

Distance : 112KM

Started cycling : 6:00AM

Ended cycling : 5:30PM 

Day Six of cycling

This was the most difficult part of our journey by far. It was really hard work! There were so many steep uphills that it took us almost 5 hours to complete 16 KM to reach to the top of the mountain, switching between walking and cycling. We were so exhausted by the time we arrived as we did not expect it to be so hilly! The relief of every downhill was mixed with the dread of knowing there would be a long, long up at the end of it.

Distance : 75 KM

Started cycling : 6am

End cycling : 6pm

Day Five of cycling

After a break in Vang Vieng to spend time with our visiting brother, we headed north towards Luang Prabang. It was raining in the morning so we were drenched for the first few hours but it was nice and cool. Few uphills but the view were breath taking! We had planned to stop in Kasi, but we reached there before noon and decided to push ourselves further. We stayed in guesthouse Kasi Hot Springs Resort which was supposed to be nice but unfortunately, due to the rainy season, the water was very muddy.

Distance : 84 KM

Started cycling : 6am

End cycling : 4pm

Day Four

Yeay! We finally made it to Vang Vieng! We set out early, cycling 50km, before reaching Vang Vieng before 11am. The journey was nice and cooling with a few uphill and downhill but the views were breath taking and the local kids were so friendly! We stopped to get some fruit along the way. Cheap, sweet and worth every Kip! Now we plan to take a break for a couple of days in Vang Vieng before continuing our journey to Luang Prabang. Check out our Facebook: Kylie Beer and Dinie Iyliana for more photos! 

Day Three

Our first full day cycling and it was a long one! Got out nice and early at 6:15am and enjoyed the cooler weather... till about half nine when it was already 36 degrees! Our plan was to make it all the way to Vang Vieng (127KM) but we got lost on the way! We risked continuing our journey to the nearest guesthouse not knowing if it was going to be open (luckily it was!). When we finally stopped for the evening at 6pm, we found there were NO restaurants andy barely any shops. We made do with a meal of pot noodles and crisps from a nearby minimart. couple of hilly roads along the way nevertheless 87km done today and boy can we feel it!

#Milesformeals #Bangkokcommunityhelp #laos #cycling #cycletouring #slowtravel #bikepacking #villagelife #farangonabike

Day Two

Had a slow start today as we need to send our bike for express service. Took 5 hours to do that. In the mean time we went to get our SIM cards so we have internet along the way. Was supposed to do 65-70 KM today but unfortunately we only did 34 KM as it is already late evening. The roads are quite patchy today too but it was so nice to cycle through the villagers. The locals are very friendly. Gonna have an early start tomorrow morning at 6am and try as much as we can to reach Vang Vieng which is 88KM away. 

Day One (Arrived into Laos)

Travelled to Nong Khai from Thailand by train and cycled our way to Vientiane. Quite a trip because we had a tyre puncture but we are all prepared! 

Our first day in numbers: 

Up at 5:30
Arrived at 6:30
Hours waiting for bikes to arrive: 2
Time to border: 4 mins
Time AT the border while the border agents decided what to do with two independent cycle tourists: 2.5 hours
Distance traveled in Laos before first puncture: 300 metres
Distance cycled to Vientiane: 20km
Time waiting for bikes to be serviced: 2 hours
Number of bikes serviced: 0
Money raised so far: Nada. Time to get the word out!