It’s time to hit the road again. I stayed in Italy longer than expected almost five months enjoying the normality and peace that only home can give you. Unlike my previous trips, always done solo, this time I won’t be leaving alone but with my dad, one of the few people I truly consider a perfect travel partner for an adventure like this. There will be many challenges: heat, thirst, hunger, fatigue… and when you’re exhausted, everyone gets a bit irritable. We’ll need to find a balance between each other’s way of traveling. But being in two helps: it cuts costs, gives you company in places where meeting new people is hard, and lets you split responsibilities, making everything easier. We’ll see how long we last together, ahah! But reaching Europe side by side would already be a big achievement. On 25/02/2026 we left Italy, flying to Bangkok with my dad’s bike in the hold. From there we took a bus to Chiang Mai, where my bike had been waiting for me all this time, safely kept by Brian (who, if he ever reads this, I thank once again). Once both bikes were ready, we were finally set to start pedaling. The first day was extremely tough for me: after more than five months without cycling, no dieting, no training, I was completely out of shape. And to make it worse, we went from the Italian winter straight into the full-on Southeast Asian summer the heat absolutely destroyed us. After two days and about 180 km, we reached Chiang Rai. I had already been there, but I really wanted to show my dad the famous White Temple, an otherworldly place. From there we cycled another 110 km to Laos, where we took a slow boat to Luang Prabang. I tried to find a new tire because mine is finished and I keep getting punctures, but no luck. The next morning we witnessed the Tak Bat ceremony: at dawn, monks walk silently through the streets receiving food from the faithful. If you are poor, you can stand among the people offering food the monks will share a portion with you. It’s a ritual act of almsgiving that allows monks to live and gives merit to the faithful. Unfortunately, in Luang Prabang it has become a tourist attraction, and the profound meaning of the ceremony has faded.

A lot of food is wasted, even though people go hungry. But while cycling through the remote parts of Laos, I saw the authentic Tak Bat: nothing is wasted there, and people truly believe in the spiritual value of the ritual. Leaving Luang Prabang, we headed into the Laotian mountains. Those were adventurous days: terrible road conditions, steep climbs, suffocating heat, and absolute nothingness just a few tiny, very poor villages where there was nothing to buy because people live completely self-sufficient lives, mostly with livestock and bamboo harvests. Despite the poverty, the villages were full of smiling children who shouted “Sabaidee!” whenever they saw us. One child would spot us, call others, and suddenly there were dozens. Those smiles are the most beautiful thing I saw in Laos, and I doubt I’ll ever forget them. One day, desperate for water, we asked a village for help. They handed us a motor-oil container filled with water (probably with a bit of motor-oil aroma 😅), but to avoid dying of thirst we took it, filtered it, and drank it. I’m still alive, so it could have been worse, ahah! We even camped one night, and probably every kid in the village came to spy on us shy, hiding, but incredibly curious. After crossing the mountains, we finally reached civilization again: fresh water, good food, a cold beer, and at last a shower. After a restorative night, we continued our ride into Vietnam. Vietnam is much less poor than Laos: more developed, less chaotic, but still fascinating. While cycling, some kids stopped me, handed me their English textbook, and basically made me do their homework. And honestly, who could blame them so I helped them out. We didn’t stay long in Vietnam. The only city we visited was Sa Pa: very touristy, but with the fog we found, it wasn’t anything special. From there we reached Lao Cai, where I found an extremely precise and skilled mechanic. After 6000 km my bike desperately needed serious maintenance, and he brought it back to life. From Lao Cai we crossed the border, and here we are in China one of the countries where we’ll spend the most time, because it’s huge and there’s so much to see.