February 18, 2006
February 18, 2006
We haven’t found internet access for about a week so here’s the scoop on what we did in that time:
Vientiane: Vientiane was great! We stayed five days to sort out our visas and have a bit of a social life. We met a Canadian and fellow cycle tourist named Dave who we enjoyed happy hour beers with along the Mekong. He is also a bicycle mechanic and ended up helping me fix the freewheel on my bicycle since he happened to be carrying a chain whip. Jodi and I really enjoyed having scrambled eggs, baguettes and coffee every morning and along with the good company it felt like we had a life for a couple of days. We managed to extend our Lao visa for another 10 days and obtained a 30 day Cambodia visa since both embassies are located in Vientiane. One thing we learned is the Cambodian Embassy will process the paper work in one day if it is dropped off in the morning and picked up after 4:00pm. This is something the travel agents in Vientiane will not tell their customers in hopes of charging them extra for one day processing.
Thapabat: On February 11th we awoke early in hopes of starting before sunrise but the guesthouse was locked up tight so we spent an hour in the morning waiting for someone to let us out. We departed around 7:00am and had an easy 93km ride to Thapabat. The ride was uneventful other than it seemed we were riding around in circles when we were leaving Vientiane, also the pollution was terrible.
In Thapabat we found a great guest house located behind the drinking water factory. It was a series of turquoise painted bungalows. We met another Swiss couple who were backpacking and had stopped to check out the national park 14km away. After hearing about the park I went for a mountain bike ride into the park. It was nice with several waterfalls and many jeep tracks. The ground was a bit dusty with very fine sand which can trash a bike quickly.
Paksane: On February 12th we didn’t get our usual early start again because there isn’t very good breakfast foods that can be eaten in a guestroom, so we thought we would try the local breakfast of foe. It is a rice noodle soup in beef broth with chives and garlic. We were up early enough that many of the restaurants were not open and we had to wait for one woman to go to the morning market before she could make foe. During our wait the kids fed a mouse to a kitten by combining the two in a 50gallon trash can. While I ate my breakfast I couldn’t help but notice the cat ate the entire mouse piece by piece. Not so appetizing to watch during a meal. The ride was an easy 55km to Paksane.
About 15km outside of Paksane we encountered a French Canadian cyclist coming the other way. He had come from Vietnam where he said things were to busy and he was enjoying the quiet and relaxed world of Laos. We exchanged beta about our destinations for the day and he told us that we would have our choice of some nice guesthouses on the south end of town.
Paksane felt very much like a border town with very little happening. We went straight to the guesthouses on the southern end, one that was bungalows and the other a two story with really nice wood work. We opted for the two story because the bathroom was a little nicer. We walked to a snooker club/restaurant where we had some beers, stir fried vegetables and rice. I think the server skin taxed us for 200% since everything was twice as much as other places we had eaten. While walking to the restaurant we encountered another American cyclist just rolling into town named Justin (who we met briefly in Vientiane). He asked about guesthouses since the one recommended in LP was full and he was beginning to get concerned about accommodation. We told him about the two we found and where we were staying and told him we would maybe catch up later. We didn’t manage to see him that night but the next morning he was leaving the same time we were so we had breakfast together before departing for Pakkading.
Pakkading: We left much later than normal since we had company and we wanted to have some time to talk with Justin. We learned he just graduated from college and is traveling around SE Asia for a year before joining the "real world." His route is very similar to ours, he started in NZ, then went to Australia and on to SE Asia. He originally planned to backpack but bought a bike in Australia so he could cycle tour. He was a good guy and we enjoyed talking with him. We were really happy to learn that he was going the same direction we were and we would have the pleasure of his company for the next night.
The ride was a smoking hot 40km. The late start did us no favors but it was a short ride. Along the way we noticed several tobacco fields and tall square buildings where the tobacco is hung to dry. Many of the women sat under tarps around piles of leaves pushing them onto sticks for drying. Justin tried loading a stick and broke the stem, it appears there is a technique to it. I also saw a woman riding a bicycle with a large log over her shoulder. It seems there are more woman here than men and we see many of them and children doing hard work.
Pakkading was a fun town. As we were arriving the children were getting out of school for lunch and we were greeted by "hellos" and "sabadees". Some of the children would run up to the road and give us five as we passed. The town had a nice guesthouse that wasn’t signed in English but we found it anyway. The town also had some nice restaurants and a really pretty river running into the Mekong on the south end.
We spent some time with Justin comparing stories. It is nice having someone else to talk with. Jodi and I were beginning to run out of new material with each other so Justin is providing a great diversion.
Our lunch was interesting since none of us has a very good understanding of the language. We thought we were getting rice and vegetables but ended up with two very large deep fried catfish, a plate of stir fried pork, foe and when I asked for an extra empty plate for Jodi they thought I was asking for more catfish, so two more plates of catfish arrived on the table. It was a feast that only cost us $8USD total.
That night we met up with Justin again to have a nice happy hour of beer and peanuts. Neither one of us was hungry after the big lunch feast.
Nam Thone: Another short ride of just 52km, I could really get used to these short rides. Justin said something about riding up highway 8 to see some cave that LP raved about so we might not see him in the next town. Jodi and I cruised, good thing because it was smoking hot. The ride was pretty with a really nice water crossing via bridge at the south end of Pakkading.
At the junction between highway 13 and 8 we stopped for lunch and waited for Justin, we never asked for his email address and we wanted some way to keep in touch. As we were ordering Justin rode up and we had lunch together. I managed to order foe with no broth and meat, it was a nice change because not having broth made it much cooler to eat in the heat.
After lunch Justin started up highway 8 but decided against it since it was so hot and the signs indicated that it was another 70km to his planned stop. Meanwhile Jodi and I were checking out the guesthouse situation and were not happy to find the only guesthouse in town had squat toilets and no lavatory. We both reminisced about the room in Ranot, Thailand and how the bathroom there didn’t have a lav, but we were unaware how much these rooms and the one in Ranot had in common.
While checking in the person running the place appeared to be a large woman. She had a feminine haircut, a purse slung over her shoulder, and cleavage but when she spoke I learned things were amiss. She was a he.
Justin and I had some beers at the guesthouse. It appeared the place hosted events because it had a large hall, with a dance floor, couches and the most serious sound system that either one of us had seen for awhile. We sat outside in the shade drinking beer, while he/she taught us some Lao. It also seemed he/she was flirting a bit with Justin. We also wondered if the place we were staying was a brothel.
That night Jodi and I went to bed early (7pm) and were awakened around 9:00pm by the sound of bass and drum music coming from the events center. It sounded like a rave and we lay there half awake wondering what the hell was happening and if this was the "no tell motel" that Phillip and Ursala had warned us about.. We must have been tired because we slept through most of it and when we were leaving the next morning Justin told us a few details of what had been going on. Apparently the place was a "no tell motel" where young Lao go to get laid. Justin said cars would pull up, a couple would rent a room go inside and leave a short time earlier. He also said the disco hall was mostly empty with only a few kids and adults. We all wondered why they played the music at such high volume for so few people.
While it was still dark, Justin opted to get some more sleep while Jodi and I decided to get an early start for Thakek.
Thakek: The ride was 101km, much longer than our previous three rides. The ride was undulating and we struggled emotionally along the way. The first 50km were easy, we cruised at a very brisk 24km per hour but when we stopped for breakfast the wind was taken from our sails. The next 25km were hard, we both had become accustomed to the short rides and with the heat we were not having much fun. We then broke out the mini disc player and listened to some music and that helped get us going again. The final 25km were not easy but our mood improved the closer we rode to our destination.
In Thakek we went straight to the guesthouse that LP said wasn’t good. It was by mistake but we found it very acceptable. It had air conditioning, a hot shower and an in room refrigerator. The only problem was the plastic coating over the mattress that felt as if we were sleeping on a slip and slide. I did not think the place deserved the bad rap.
Late that afternoon I went out to run some errands. I went to the bank, the car wash to clean my bike and finally the Travelers Lodge to get some beta about "doing the loop". The bank was closed, but the car wash did a great job! I sat in the shade drinking water while they scrubbed, rinsed and dried my bike for 0.50USD. It took some time to find the Travelers Lodge but I eventually found the guesthouse run by a Lao/Dutch couple. They have a very good business that specializes in accommodating western tourists. It had internet (expensive), a restaurant and a very nice garden. I did not see the rooms but it appeared they would be nice. I went there to enquire about renting a motor scooter for checking out some caves and the interesting limestone mountains nearby. They said that it would cost me $10USD per day and I needed to arrive before 7am the day of the rental in order to ensure that they would have one for me. Outside I ran into Justin who was enjoying lunch in the garden. We discussed the ride and agreed to meet later for a beer. I then returned to the guesthouse for some down time. We spent the remainder of the afternoon hanging out in our air conditioned room catching up on the news (nice shooting Dick).
Justin arrived around 6:00pm and we walked around town looking for some dinner. We did not find much and decided on the pub next to our guesthouse. They spoke English which to our delight made ordering dinner easy.
The next day I went to the Travelers Lodge to rent a scooter. I read in the LP how the first 22km of highway 12 had some interesting sights that were worth visiting. We both wanted to be off our bikes for a day and we thought the scooter would be a good way to check out the sites and get some rest at the same time. I had my choice of scooter and picked the one that I thought was best. We did not get the early start that I wanted and set out in the heat of the day. We motored out of town and when we turned onto highway 12 we discovered that it was under construction. Unlike road construction in the USA where they have water trucks that keep the roadway moist to control dust, they do not do that here. Instead the dust flies and everyone wears something over their face to keep the dust out of their lungs. It was very unpleasant! The scenery was very dry and the mountains were made of limestone with trees and vines clinging to their sides. We tried to visit some of the sites outlined in the LP but I think the stress of the road conditions combined with the lack of development made following the directions difficult. In looking for one cave we circled for an hour looking for the right "4 wheel drive track," which we never found. We did find a different cave that we explored and had lunch at its opening. The air coming from it was very cool which was a nice change from the heat that surrounded us.
We both became tired and decided to head back. During our hunt for the cave the traffic on the dirt road increased making the ride back really unpleasant. I had a hard time seeing because my eyes were stinging so much which made navigating the divots, bumps and rocks more difficult. The entire way we motored through clouds upon clouds of dust kicked up by the speeding trucks. When we arrived at the guesthouse both Jodi and I were shocked to look at ourselves in the mirror and see how the fine red dirt coated every inch of our bodies. The dust was in our clothes, underclothes, ears, eyes and mouths, it was everywhere. We had a good laugh about it realizing this was probably the dirtiest we’ve ever been in our lives. We looked like coal miners. We scrubbed ourselves down in the shower which took several iterations and I washed out our clothes. Jodi had a white shirt on that now was completely red but I managed to get it clean. She was impressed since she thought she’d have to toss it. We both agreed that the journey on that road will be nice when the construction is finished but until then it seems like a lot of effort for weary tourists.
Later we caught up with Justin and his experience seemed similar with the added inconveniences of running out of gas and the drive chain breaking on the scooter.
Savannnakhet: We awoke at 3:45am to ride 135km to Savannakhet. We were both concerned about riding the distance in the heat making an early start necessary. We departed around 5:00am and rode 30km in the dark. The morning was a bit cooler than past mornings and as the sun rose we learned why. We had cloud cover! It rained on us from time to time which we did not mind because feeling wet to us is more pleasant than sweltering in the heat. We were lucky to get the weather conditions because it was a long ride and if it hadn’t been cool we surely would have stopped short of our planned destination.
We are currently in Savannakhet and plan on spending several days here just laying low and resting. We both need some time off our bikes before making the push for the Cambodian border.
We haven’t found internet access for about a week so here’s the scoop on what we did in that time:
Vientiane: Vientiane was great! We stayed five days to sort out our visas and have a bit of a social life. We met a Canadian and fellow cycle tourist named Dave who we enjoyed happy hour beers with along the Mekong. He is also a bicycle mechanic and ended up helping me fix the freewheel on my bicycle since he happened to be carrying a chain whip. Jodi and I really enjoyed having scrambled eggs, baguettes and coffee every morning and along with the good company it felt like we had a life for a couple of days. We managed to extend our Lao visa for another 10 days and obtained a 30 day Cambodia visa since both embassies are located in Vientiane. One thing we learned is the Cambodian Embassy will process the paper work in one day if it is dropped off in the morning and picked up after 4:00pm. This is something the travel agents in Vientiane will not tell their customers in hopes of charging them extra for one day processing.
Thapabat: On February 11th we awoke early in hopes of starting before sunrise but the guesthouse was locked up tight so we spent an hour in the morning waiting for someone to let us out. We departed around 7:00am and had an easy 93km ride to Thapabat. The ride was uneventful other than it seemed we were riding around in circles when we were leaving Vientiane, also the pollution was terrible.
In Thapabat we found a great guest house located behind the drinking water factory. It was a series of turquoise painted bungalows. We met another Swiss couple who were backpacking and had stopped to check out the national park 14km away. After hearing about the park I went for a mountain bike ride into the park. It was nice with several waterfalls and many jeep tracks. The ground was a bit dusty with very fine sand which can trash a bike quickly.
Paksane: On February 12th we didn’t get our usual early start again because there isn’t very good breakfast foods that can be eaten in a guestroom, so we thought we would try the local breakfast of foe. It is a rice noodle soup in beef broth with chives and garlic. We were up early enough that many of the restaurants were not open and we had to wait for one woman to go to the morning market before she could make foe. During our wait the kids fed a mouse to a kitten by combining the two in a 50gallon trash can. While I ate my breakfast I couldn’t help but notice the cat ate the entire mouse piece by piece. Not so appetizing to watch during a meal. The ride was an easy 55km to Paksane.
About 15km outside of Paksane we encountered a French Canadian cyclist coming the other way. He had come from Vietnam where he said things were to busy and he was enjoying the quiet and relaxed world of Laos. We exchanged beta about our destinations for the day and he told us that we would have our choice of some nice guesthouses on the south end of town.
Paksane felt very much like a border town with very little happening. We went straight to the guesthouses on the southern end, one that was bungalows and the other a two story with really nice wood work. We opted for the two story because the bathroom was a little nicer. We walked to a snooker club/restaurant where we had some beers, stir fried vegetables and rice. I think the server skin taxed us for 200% since everything was twice as much as other places we had eaten. While walking to the restaurant we encountered another American cyclist just rolling into town named Justin (who we met briefly in Vientiane). He asked about guesthouses since the one recommended in LP was full and he was beginning to get concerned about accommodation. We told him about the two we found and where we were staying and told him we would maybe catch up later. We didn’t manage to see him that night but the next morning he was leaving the same time we were so we had breakfast together before departing for Pakkading.
Pakkading: We left much later than normal since we had company and we wanted to have some time to talk with Justin. We learned he just graduated from college and is traveling around SE Asia for a year before joining the "real world." His route is very similar to ours, he started in NZ, then went to Australia and on to SE Asia. He originally planned to backpack but bought a bike in Australia so he could cycle tour. He was a good guy and we enjoyed talking with him. We were really happy to learn that he was going the same direction we were and we would have the pleasure of his company for the next night.
The ride was a smoking hot 40km. The late start did us no favors but it was a short ride. Along the way we noticed several tobacco fields and tall square buildings where the tobacco is hung to dry. Many of the women sat under tarps around piles of leaves pushing them onto sticks for drying. Justin tried loading a stick and broke the stem, it appears there is a technique to it. I also saw a woman riding a bicycle with a large log over her shoulder. It seems there are more woman here than men and we see many of them and children doing hard work.
Pakkading was a fun town. As we were arriving the children were getting out of school for lunch and we were greeted by "hellos" and "sabadees". Some of the children would run up to the road and give us five as we passed. The town had a nice guesthouse that wasn’t signed in English but we found it anyway. The town also had some nice restaurants and a really pretty river running into the Mekong on the south end.
We spent some time with Justin comparing stories. It is nice having someone else to talk with. Jodi and I were beginning to run out of new material with each other so Justin is providing a great diversion.
Our lunch was interesting since none of us has a very good understanding of the language. We thought we were getting rice and vegetables but ended up with two very large deep fried catfish, a plate of stir fried pork, foe and when I asked for an extra empty plate for Jodi they thought I was asking for more catfish, so two more plates of catfish arrived on the table. It was a feast that only cost us $8USD total.
That night we met up with Justin again to have a nice happy hour of beer and peanuts. Neither one of us was hungry after the big lunch feast.
Nam Thone: Another short ride of just 52km, I could really get used to these short rides. Justin said something about riding up highway 8 to see some cave that LP raved about so we might not see him in the next town. Jodi and I cruised, good thing because it was smoking hot. The ride was pretty with a really nice water crossing via bridge at the south end of Pakkading.
At the junction between highway 13 and 8 we stopped for lunch and waited for Justin, we never asked for his email address and we wanted some way to keep in touch. As we were ordering Justin rode up and we had lunch together. I managed to order foe with no broth and meat, it was a nice change because not having broth made it much cooler to eat in the heat.
After lunch Justin started up highway 8 but decided against it since it was so hot and the signs indicated that it was another 70km to his planned stop. Meanwhile Jodi and I were checking out the guesthouse situation and were not happy to find the only guesthouse in town had squat toilets and no lavatory. We both reminisced about the room in Ranot, Thailand and how the bathroom there didn’t have a lav, but we were unaware how much these rooms and the one in Ranot had in common.
While checking in the person running the place appeared to be a large woman. She had a feminine haircut, a purse slung over her shoulder, and cleavage but when she spoke I learned things were amiss. She was a he.
Justin and I had some beers at the guesthouse. It appeared the place hosted events because it had a large hall, with a dance floor, couches and the most serious sound system that either one of us had seen for awhile. We sat outside in the shade drinking beer, while he/she taught us some Lao. It also seemed he/she was flirting a bit with Justin. We also wondered if the place we were staying was a brothel.
That night Jodi and I went to bed early (7pm) and were awakened around 9:00pm by the sound of bass and drum music coming from the events center. It sounded like a rave and we lay there half awake wondering what the hell was happening and if this was the "no tell motel" that Phillip and Ursala had warned us about.. We must have been tired because we slept through most of it and when we were leaving the next morning Justin told us a few details of what had been going on. Apparently the place was a "no tell motel" where young Lao go to get laid. Justin said cars would pull up, a couple would rent a room go inside and leave a short time earlier. He also said the disco hall was mostly empty with only a few kids and adults. We all wondered why they played the music at such high volume for so few people.
While it was still dark, Justin opted to get some more sleep while Jodi and I decided to get an early start for Thakek.
Thakek: The ride was 101km, much longer than our previous three rides. The ride was undulating and we struggled emotionally along the way. The first 50km were easy, we cruised at a very brisk 24km per hour but when we stopped for breakfast the wind was taken from our sails. The next 25km were hard, we both had become accustomed to the short rides and with the heat we were not having much fun. We then broke out the mini disc player and listened to some music and that helped get us going again. The final 25km were not easy but our mood improved the closer we rode to our destination.
In Thakek we went straight to the guesthouse that LP said wasn’t good. It was by mistake but we found it very acceptable. It had air conditioning, a hot shower and an in room refrigerator. The only problem was the plastic coating over the mattress that felt as if we were sleeping on a slip and slide. I did not think the place deserved the bad rap.
Late that afternoon I went out to run some errands. I went to the bank, the car wash to clean my bike and finally the Travelers Lodge to get some beta about "doing the loop". The bank was closed, but the car wash did a great job! I sat in the shade drinking water while they scrubbed, rinsed and dried my bike for 0.50USD. It took some time to find the Travelers Lodge but I eventually found the guesthouse run by a Lao/Dutch couple. They have a very good business that specializes in accommodating western tourists. It had internet (expensive), a restaurant and a very nice garden. I did not see the rooms but it appeared they would be nice. I went there to enquire about renting a motor scooter for checking out some caves and the interesting limestone mountains nearby. They said that it would cost me $10USD per day and I needed to arrive before 7am the day of the rental in order to ensure that they would have one for me. Outside I ran into Justin who was enjoying lunch in the garden. We discussed the ride and agreed to meet later for a beer. I then returned to the guesthouse for some down time. We spent the remainder of the afternoon hanging out in our air conditioned room catching up on the news (nice shooting Dick).
Justin arrived around 6:00pm and we walked around town looking for some dinner. We did not find much and decided on the pub next to our guesthouse. They spoke English which to our delight made ordering dinner easy.
The next day I went to the Travelers Lodge to rent a scooter. I read in the LP how the first 22km of highway 12 had some interesting sights that were worth visiting. We both wanted to be off our bikes for a day and we thought the scooter would be a good way to check out the sites and get some rest at the same time. I had my choice of scooter and picked the one that I thought was best. We did not get the early start that I wanted and set out in the heat of the day. We motored out of town and when we turned onto highway 12 we discovered that it was under construction. Unlike road construction in the USA where they have water trucks that keep the roadway moist to control dust, they do not do that here. Instead the dust flies and everyone wears something over their face to keep the dust out of their lungs. It was very unpleasant! The scenery was very dry and the mountains were made of limestone with trees and vines clinging to their sides. We tried to visit some of the sites outlined in the LP but I think the stress of the road conditions combined with the lack of development made following the directions difficult. In looking for one cave we circled for an hour looking for the right "4 wheel drive track," which we never found. We did find a different cave that we explored and had lunch at its opening. The air coming from it was very cool which was a nice change from the heat that surrounded us.
We both became tired and decided to head back. During our hunt for the cave the traffic on the dirt road increased making the ride back really unpleasant. I had a hard time seeing because my eyes were stinging so much which made navigating the divots, bumps and rocks more difficult. The entire way we motored through clouds upon clouds of dust kicked up by the speeding trucks. When we arrived at the guesthouse both Jodi and I were shocked to look at ourselves in the mirror and see how the fine red dirt coated every inch of our bodies. The dust was in our clothes, underclothes, ears, eyes and mouths, it was everywhere. We had a good laugh about it realizing this was probably the dirtiest we’ve ever been in our lives. We looked like coal miners. We scrubbed ourselves down in the shower which took several iterations and I washed out our clothes. Jodi had a white shirt on that now was completely red but I managed to get it clean. She was impressed since she thought she’d have to toss it. We both agreed that the journey on that road will be nice when the construction is finished but until then it seems like a lot of effort for weary tourists.
Later we caught up with Justin and his experience seemed similar with the added inconveniences of running out of gas and the drive chain breaking on the scooter.
Savannnakhet: We awoke at 3:45am to ride 135km to Savannakhet. We were both concerned about riding the distance in the heat making an early start necessary. We departed around 5:00am and rode 30km in the dark. The morning was a bit cooler than past mornings and as the sun rose we learned why. We had cloud cover! It rained on us from time to time which we did not mind because feeling wet to us is more pleasant than sweltering in the heat. We were lucky to get the weather conditions because it was a long ride and if it hadn’t been cool we surely would have stopped short of our planned destination.
We are currently in Savannakhet and plan on spending several days here just laying low and resting. We both need some time off our bikes before making the push for the Cambodian border.
posted by Kirk & Jodi Roberts at 6:24 PM
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