Day 25: Soukhouma - Muang Khong / Don Khong - Frankie goes to.....Indochina

January 13, 2018

Day 25: Soukhouma - Muang Khong / Don Khong

Routing: Don´t know and want to forget about the whole day anyway

Hubris does get punished! I would have agreed with that beforehand and even after becoming the victim myself today I would still do so. I have spent so much time in preparing for this journey - except the Laos section. Why? It´s only 100something kilometers between entering the country near Pakse and leaving again into Cambodia at Veun Kham. Plus I have done that several times before. The only change was to take the western bank down to Don Khong as suggested by my friends Andrea and Bruce. I did look at their posts but got so fascinated by the photos that I did not really look into any routing details. "I will hardly be able to loose the Mekong"- I thought. But I did!

This stage was supposed to be one of the highlights of this journey and I made it one of the worst days I ever had on the bicycle. As I said above I did do no further checks as I had seen the turnoff for Champasak coming into Pakse yesterday. Only after getting into Soukhouma with internet availability at the guesthouse I realized I was far too far inland. Didn´t really bother me because when one of the guesthouse staff told me there had been another farang staying last year I knew I was in the right place. And I certainly don´t regret having come to Soukhouma.

When I made some further research about today´s route there was indeed very little information available and even the pertinent map-apps didn´t clarify my most important question: Which road to take at the crossroad in the center of town? There were realistically two options and my stomach said: Go straight (which would be a left turn coming from Champasak) but any of the local guys I asked sent me right towards Mounlapamok which corresponded with the report of a British couple who rode down here in March last year. What a mistake! Looking back at it I can only blame myself for not following my intuition in that particular situation. 30 km of dusty hell were the verdict for my wrongdoing. When I got into Mounlapamok I was almost fading as cycling with a dust mask on at 33 degrees C is definitely torture to the system. I had a decent bowl of soup and some cold drinks at the local market thinking: Life will be good again from now on as I could literally see the small road along the Mekong ahead of me. Only to find the same conditions as before. Extremely worn surface with fast moving cars and motorbikes leaving me in clouds of dust for minutes. Horror!

20 km south of Mounlapamok goes the first ferry over to Don Khong, the largest of the three islands with tourist infrastructure. There is actually no sign for that service but you will see a wide concrete road on your left which looks completely displaced in this environment. When I got down towards the boats a guy who was having his lunch dropped his chopsticks and followed me. As I was the only customer and he was so fast in interrupting his soup I was convinced I would have to pay considerably extra. I quickly calculated and decided I would be prepared to pay up to 50000 kip (5€) as I was desperate to get away from those permanent dust showers. I usually speak Thai when I negotiate prices here in Laos as they will understand that and their numbers are almost entirely equal anyway. "Ra kha tau rei?"- "Sip pan" - 10000 kip! 1 Euro for me and my bike for a one way ride - I was instantly happy again. Not because of the low demand as such but his pure honesty. He must have known he could have asked for much more!

Lovely ride over only to find another completely depleted piste for the last 15 km into Mueang Khong. I really had enough of cycling in those conditons when I came into the small town right on the river. I always had stayed in the more southern guesthouses but when the young owner of the Souksabay Guesthouse approached me in a very friendly way I decided to have a look. "How much are the rooms?" - "50000". Can´t be much I thought but was extremely delighted to be shown a nice 1st floor room with a terrace overlooking their garden. And I could give my bike a proper wash with their hoses which was one of my prioritized demands apart from wifi. Just perfect and I will stay two nights! This pathetic day on the bike is history already....

You can see it come for minutes and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it

That´s what the bike looked liked afterwards. I know it´s only an object but I hate maltreating it like that

And that´s myself. Or my sweat to be more precise. I am a bit concerned I might loose another Brooks saddle. I know from experience the drying salt does do serious damage to the leather

Mounlapamok - Imagine it´s market day and nobody else but me knows. The girls prepared an excellent soup though

Murphy´s law: When you think it´s all over.....

Don Khong Harbour. Cargo terminal on the right, passengers on the left

This shop was very much coinciding with my mood

Even the young dogs seemed to feel sorry for that dusty piece of cyclist rolling into Muang Khong

But then, all good again: Muang Khong High Street

Today's ride: 74 km (46 miles)
Total: 1,958 km (1,216 miles)

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