Day 28 - Towards Vientiane: through or around? - Trial by fire: new bike, first tour, first time in Asia

November 22, 2024

Day 28 - Towards Vientiane: through or around?

We're conscious that time is tight, so bypassing Vientiane and saving 40 km is tempting. What we don't know is the state of the roads. That's our big decision today.

We left our fan rooms and plummeted down the short hill and straight into an intersection- behaviour we must stop before getting home.

We immediately had sweeping views of the massive Nam Ngum Reservoir that we will circle today.

Lao standoff: water buffaloes v.Toyota pick-up.

We stopped at a roadside café for breakfast and were entertained by water buffaloes once again.

The view from behind the restaurant. I have no idea what goes on in the enclosures but I suspect that it has something to do with fish.

Along the road I was surprised to see this long, slim snake in the road, and even more surprised to have time to get a photo. The head was disproportionately large, and diamond-shaped .

It might not have been alive much longer

We passed a few entries to the Lao-China Expressway. There seemed few cars on it. I wonder what the average citizen of Laos would prefer given the choice between this freeway and a sealed road through their village?

This is outrageous. We dont put feed 24,000 volts through stakes on your farms so what right do you have to grow vines up our power poles?

The junction of roads 10 and 13, in the middle of Phonhong, was the point where we had to decide whether to go through Vientiane or bypass it. One advantage of going there is that we could stay at the Laos Youth Inn and possibly have a night in Room 207 (see story in blog). Two advantages of bypassing the capital are that we gain 40 km and perhaps avoid bed bugs.

We decided on the latter, turned onto road 10 and immediately got an afternoon snack.

Ian ate most of the salad to test the resilience of his guts!

We made an excellent choice. The first 15 km of road out of Phonhong were excellent, perhaps due to the number of government buildings and those of NGOs.

We then crossed the substantial Nam Ngum River, which feedscthecreservoir of the same name, and ran parallel to it for 10 km to our destination, Ban Keun. The late light was glorious.

The view from the bridge spanning the Nam Ngum River.

A touring cyclist captures a view of the town.

Winston had found us a salubrious abode for the night, complete with dogs and large pigeons in cages- separated, fortunately. The place offered some other weird features.

The best hotels have strategically placed toilet paper dispensers

We went for a short stroll after dinner. It's warmer now that we're lower and a little further south. A temple dog was unhappy about our intrusion and that's when we noticed this monastery gate.

Impressive metalwork on a monastery gate.

So, that's two good days heading south. Hopefully, we can maintain the progress, a lot of which will depend on the quality of the road.

Today's ride: 89 km (55 miles)
Total: 1,238 km (769 miles)

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