Why More is Less and Less is More from a bikers perspective.

We’re living in a world where everything always needs te be more. We need more and want more, we are working more and more efficient so that we can earn even more. Companies clearly want to make a profit every year, but every year they must be more profitable than the previous years. We want more and more possessions, more money, more of everything … more … more … more …
Cycling through Laos gave us a different insight. Loas is starting to become a decent backpacker’s paradise but Laos is still one of the poorest countries in the world with an annual income of $ 3,100 (2013) per capita. Is generally believed that more than a quarter of the population lives at or below subsistence level. To cycle through it, it is really a great country with great scenery and great people. The roads are not always good, but more about that later …

It was a hot day, like every day in Laos. We were cycling along the only good asphalt road from north to south Laos. Because we were thirsty we stopped at a little shop on the side of the road. It didn’t really look like a shop, though. It looked more like a garage without a garagedoor. At the spot where normally the door would have been was a low glass case with merchandise offered. The merchandise consisted of a bowl with green vegetables and one can of Coca-Cola.<br>The owner of this very scantily stocked shop looked at us from his hammock which was hung positioned diagonally through the entire store. With the motto; Less is More, he replied to our request. We requested to buy the Coca-Cola, but he would rather lay in his hammock. He turned around and lounged on. There was nothing more we could do but to cycle on, without the can of Coca-Cola…

In mid Laos is a highway from west to east Laos. At least the map entitles a highway that connects Thailand with Vietnam. The road, however, consists of no more than a wide dirt road that is heavily used by trucks and traders between the two countries. There is always work to be done somewhere on the busy road. Rain, sand and heavy traffic do go hard together. We were on our way towards Vietnam when we came upon a long line of trucks and buses. Everything was stuck, really stuck! We on the other hand had only two wheels and were small. So we could easily pass the long line of waiting vehicles. Leading the long line it became clear to us what had caused all this misery. The “highway” looked like a huge building site with water and plenty of red mud. With in the middle of it some heavy trucks stuck deep in the sucking mud. The trucks tried to pull each other out of the mud. Without even any results. We watched the misery for a moment and felt sorry for all truck drivers and bus passengers who were still waiting in line for all this to be dissolved. For them in this case; more was less. We cycle merrily across a quiet road from there to Vietnam.

“Highway in Hell”

A few weeks later we walked through a large place in Vietnam like “normal tourists”, without our bikes or cycling gear. Suddenly, we were approached by a couple of English folks, the guy asked us if we were traveling by bike. We looked at each other in amazement, how could he know we came up cycling here? We answered in the affirmative. He laughed “a few weeks ago” he told us “we were in the bus from Thailand to Vietnam when we entered a long line, the line got stuck and we could not go forward or backward, the cause appeared to be a major road construction. He continued: “I looked bored from the window of our overheated bus and was wondering how long we would standing up there when suddenly two long white guys arrived, cycling along and in no time they were gone again. We stayed behind and ended up there for three f*****g days!!!”