Kasi to Vang Vieng by bike

December 7, 2016

Sabaidee, Sabaidee all morning long

The water was off in the guest house this morning. There is a large bucket in the bathroom, that is usually filled with water. Mine was empty when I arrived, and I didn't bother filling it. With running water it isn't needed, and I didn't know the water would be off. So my apologies to the guest house for leaving an unflushed toilet.

The only breakfast that I found was the same as dinner last night, noodle soup.

Laos has a lot of bread and baking due to the French occupation, but that doesn't seem to have made it away from the cities. The soup was only marginally satisfying, and when I spotted some bananas for sale about 5 km down the road, I snatched them up. They sustained me for the rest of the ride today.

The kids in Laos are everywhere, and when they spot a foreigner on a bicycle, they run out shouting "Sabadee, sabadee", "hello, hello". The youngest wave at you. A little bit older, and they try to hand slap as you go by. And the teenagers, well, they're teenagers and they ignore you. The kids seem to bike to school and back. I passed one school as they were letting out at lunchtime, and a young girl decided to race me. With raised fists we charged ahead, neck in neck, until she turned off at what I presume was her home.

When I got to Vang Vieng, I went looking for a guest house. I had been told that it was easy to find a cheap one with a view out over the river. That turned out not to be the case, as I asked at a few that were quite pricey, and then a couple that were cheaper but full. I switched to the other side of the street, and found one with a sign that just said Guest house", but turned out to be quite nice. I got an AC room with hot water for 100,000 kip. It was new, or at least newly set up as a guest house, and the towels were soft and the bed comfortable. They had free coffee in the lobby, but I ended up not taking advantage of it. They have Wi-Fi, but it's from a cellular hotspot, so it doesn't have much bandwidth. That may be common through Laos, and one of the reasons I'm having trouble finding good Wi-Fi.

After showering and cooling off for a bit, I walked around, got some cash from an ATM, and had a fruit smoothie. I actually ended up with 2 fruit smoothies, one at the beginning of my walk and one at the end. At dinnertime, I wasn't very hungry but felt I needed something beyond fruit smoothies. I went to a veggie restaurant that had been recommended, but didn't eat there because the Rasta bar next door was too loud. I found another restaurant and had a tofu curry, that really was not very good. Oh, well.

Breakfast while watching the kids go off to school, all by bicycle. This was about 7:45 in the morning, and the parade went on for about 15 minutes.

An interesting patchwork of rice and corn and (I think) beans, in a stunning landscape.

I have to wonder whether each of the orange sellers are independent business women.

My guest house in Vang Vieng. It's new, and doesn't even have the name outside. They told me it's the Souk Savat Guest House. I'm paying 100,000 kip for one night, and it's the nicest place I've stayed in a while. Although I fixed the toilet in my room myself.

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Today's ride: 59 km (37 miles)
Total: 1,202 km (746 miles)

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