Danny does Laos and Cambodia

The only choice for breakfast was noodle soup. I decide that I would rather buy some custard cakes and find something more substantial for lunch. A head wind slows us down to about 15 km/h all morning. Much less than the 20—25 km/h we did yesterday. I pass some goats crossing the highway and later some geese waddling over the road.

We make it to Paksan for lunch but the only thing on offer is noodle soup. I go to buy some sliced bread leaving Ken to have the soup. Jam on bread makes an okay lunch. We find a restaurant at 4:00 PM which serves greasy omelets and fried rice. The latter appearing more like steamed rice than fried but is still good. However apparently not good enough for the beggar, who had wondered over. I offer him some but I guess he just wants money.

We only have an hour or so of daylight left but decide to press on, probably due to the lack of guesthouses in town. We do find a guesthouse half an hour later but neither Ken nor myself feel desperate enough to share a double bed. We push on.

It got dark. It got very dark. Pretty stars though. Even Vientiane has a pleasant night sky. A good change to the Taipei nightline. We stop and put on our lights. One of those Laos style tractors catch up with us and we first tag along behind and later go in front, using its light to guide our way. This works for a while until we slow down on a hill and it overtakes us.

Laos tractors.

We do find a guesthouse. There aren’t any signs for it and we aren’t even sure which town we’re in. Again they only have rooms with a double bed so we decide to spring for two rooms. It works out to about US $3 each. Ken goes for a wash (no actual shower attachment) and I go for a beer (priorities). I find some kind of place and see a fire going. I ask what is cooking (in English and bad sign language) and am soon enjoying a plate of barbequed beef. At last. No more noodle soup!

To Thakhek: Strong coffee and rat on a sticks

Sunday January 22, 2006, 113 km (70 miles) – Total so far: 337 km (209 miles)

Another big day. 113 km. It starts out hot but cools right down around 4:00 pm. Cucumbers and bread buns for breakfast, not to mention the strongest coffee I have ever had in my life. It is thick like mud. I’m not up for trying the rat-on-a-sticks we see roasting though.

Some very strong coffee.

A pleasant, though hot, enough morning sees us getting lunch at a small town around noon. I order an omelet and Ken some noodle soup. It was made clear that we only wanted one of each dish and yet I am still given my own bowl of noodle soup. I still get my greasy omelet too. Apparently everyone, without exception, orders noodle soup around here.

The next hour sees a distinct lack of places to buy water. We are able to get pepsi no problems but not water. At last we manage to find some shops selling water so stock up, (lest there aren’t any more). Perhaps half an hour later I stretch down to get a drink (I have a small bottle hanging next to my front tire) when the bottle gets caught in the spokes. A loud bang, some crunching, and rapid deceleration sees me standing beside the road drenched wet with a crunched water bottle. The bike still seems to work okay though. No broken spokes.