Cambodia left in the dust, welcome to Lao!

Yes I finally made it to Lao (I will spell Laos as Lao, not to piss off any French people but this is how the local people write Lao). After a fascinating border crossing from Cambodia into Lao on a boat, this was due to the fact that the road from Strung Treng to the border is supposed to be quite treacherous and some say dangerous. The border consists of a shack or some may call it Cambodia's immigration post where you have to climb out of the boat and up a steep river bank where you get your exit stamp. The funny thing is that you can bargain how much the exit stamp will cost, we got it down from $3USD to $1USD. The official did not object much. Then you hop on the boat cross the Mekong again and proceed to Lao immigration where you pay $1USD for the entry stamp (no bargaining).

So far I'm having a great time in Lao, well most of it is cycling and the roads are good. The people seem to leave you alone but are very curious and shy. You tend to strike a conversation most times (I've been working on my Lao, it is somewhat similar to Thai and it is a lot easier to pick up than Khmer). And of course you have Beer Lao, cheap and it has to be the best beer I have tasted so far in SEA. The food is similar to Thai, but not exactly Thai food; accommodations are cheap as well. If it wasn't for drinking beer you could get by on about $7USD a day but with beer consumption the budget goes up and up and up.
Yesterday I met a 51 year old Swiss cyclist, Joseph. It was such a nice experience to see a devoted cyclist making another solo journey in SEA. Joseph has been on 9 major trips including Asia, Africa and Europe. His next destination will be Central America. I wish Joseph all the best on his travels. We sat around eating dinner and as all cyclists pondering maps and different elevations. He's heading North-South and I'm going in the opposite direction so we had a lot to talk about.

There appears to be quite a few cyclists in Laos. I met 4 already, Cambodia had it's share as well. It appears that cycling in SEA has really taken off and it is very nice to see people around 40-50 years old getting into the sport-travel aspect of touring.
To recap Cambodia:
Poitpet - Sisaphon: 54km
Sisaphon - Siem Reap: 106km
Siem Reap - Stoung: 98km
Stoung - Kh. Thmar: 86km
Kh. Thmar - Phnom Phen: 130km
Phnom Phen - Kampong Cham: 106 km
Kampong Cham - Chlong: 98km
Chlong - Kracheh: 33km
Total: 711km

------------------------------------------
Best day on the road: 130 km Kh. Thmar - Phnom Phen, good riding formation between the four of us.
Best Moutain Ride: NONE
Toughest Day: Kampong Cham - Chlong ... Can you say eat my dust?
Rain Days: 0
Punctures: 0 (yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Dog bites: 0 Dog chases: a couple
Number of navigational screw ups: 0
Number of 'Hellos': too many to count
Ratio of party days to cycling days: very very bad, my Mom would not be proud...
Funniest day: when Tim broke a plastic chair and had to pay $3USD for it, then claiming the chair was his, he placed it on the bike of his bike which caused the bike to topple over, ha ha!
Saddest day: Saying goodbye to Allan, hang in there Allan!
Overall cycling satisfaction rate scale: 8 out of 10!