1. start with '
   1. foo
   1. bar
   '
2. convert to markdown with pandoc
3. convert back to html

The markdown should have two bare lists. They are instead paragraph lists.

using pandoc 1.5.1.1 with ghc 6.12.3

There is no documented syntax to disambiguate separate lists. Perhaps an escaped line break?:
1. foo
2. bar
\
1. eat
2. sleep

Google Code Info:
Issue #: 246
Author: daniel.b...@gmail.com
Created On: 2010-07-03T10:50:02.000Z
Closed On: 2010-07-21T04:12:27.000Z

looking at closed issues, this is related to
Ability to have two consecutive lists
http://code.google.com/p/pandoc/issues/detail?id=77
Maybe inserting a blank comment in between consecutive lists is a better approach

Google Code Info:
Author: daniel.b...@gmail.com
Created On: 2010-07-03T11:08:41.000Z

Yes, I think that's the best way.

Google Code Info:
Author: fiddloso...@gmail.com
Created On: 2010-07-21T04:12:27.000Z