February 18, 2007
To Vang Vieng: on the backpackers circuit
We have cereal and leave the guesthouse just as it gets light. The room with the two Dutchmen seems to be awake too, but we won't see them until later today. They first have to find some breakfast...for us it's nice to have a familiar meal of cereal so early.
We cross the bridge and ride Highway 10 for about 20km until this junctions into Highway 13. It's a bit foggy this morning, the high humidity makes our clothes and bags feel wet. It's a very hilly ride, even though the LP bicycle guide described this day as "relatively flat." It must be the word "relative".... We make a large arc westward around Ang Nam Ngun but don't get to see the lake until we reach the northernmost point and then turn away from it to head to Vang Vieng.
The Dutchmen have passed us and we catch back up a couple of times. They take our picture and shoot a movie. We have one more rest stop with them, then agree to meet at their hotel tonight at 7pm. We reach Vang Vieng around 2pm, the road runs along one side of a dusty airstrip for about a mile with the town on the other side between the airstrip and the river. Only a few roads are paved, most roads and the alleys are dusty red dirt. Patrick must have hit rock because his rear tire goes flat just as we get near the first guesthouse we want to check out.
Rachel looks at a $6 room that's not very nice. At another place, Patrick follows the guy up two stairs to one of their AC rooms with balcony and view over the river and mountains, Much nicer but also $15USD. While Patrick fixes his tire, Rachel rides to check out another place. When she gets back, we decide to go for the $15 room in the Vang Vieng Orchid Guesthouse. It's nice to have some extra dough and not have to be cheap on rooms all the time, especially since we plan to stay at least two nights.
We clean up and head into town to check our email. We have an early dinner, we really wanted pizza, but find a place with a cheap roast beef potato and vegetable with a "Yorkshire" pudding thing that we didn't recognize. We are thinking of taking a tour to the "Plain of Jars" near Phonsaven but it turns out there are none offered from here. Maybe from Luang Prabang.
Vang Vieng is a "must see" stop on the backpacker's circuit and it shows. We pity the travelers that only stop in places like this...Vientiane, Hoi An and Saigon. Those places are nice, but you don't get the feel for a country like you do by bike exploring the places in between. Our favorite quote by Jimmy Buffet we think describes bicycle touring best, "Go fast enough to get there, but slow enough to see".
The "big thing" to do in V.V. are the restaurants. There are rows of them, all with similar menus and TVs showing nonstop comedy shows or movies. There are low tables and lots of pillows for chilled-out backpackers to lounge upon. We don't feel much connection with this crowd anymore. Is our age showing? We are both very tired, lay on the bed for a while reading, at 7pm we meet Ari and William for a beer and some spring rolls.
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Today's ride: 99 km (61 miles)
Total: 5,627 km (3,494 miles)
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