April 13, 2016
Ban Keun to Vientiane and into the Pii Mai Party
The price at the resort included breakfast and we managed to persudae them to provide it as early as possible. We were the only folk staying there so it wasn't going to be too much skin off many noses so they agreed on six am.
We were on the bikes at twenty to seven on a flat nad busy road to Vientiane. It was already thirty degrees and the day was forecast to hit fourty one again so we were mentally prepared for a hot day. We didn't rush and stopped to buy cooldrinks every so often (the breakfast was a couple of fried eggs, bread and fruit with coffee/tea and fruit juice so we weren't looking for food).
We pulled into the Mixay area of Vientiane at around eleven and started looking for a guesthouse. The first place was 170K including breakfast but smelt like a wet sock. The next, the Fashai Guesthouse, was modern and clean and could give us a large windowless room (not a bad thing with the BIG Pii Mai party going on outside) for 120K including tea and coffee. And the young fellow at reception was very friendly which always makes things easier.
Friendliness doesn't always appear to be on offer in Laos - not what I was expecting.
After doing the standard daily chore of washing our clothes (we noticed afterwards that washing of clothes in the room is not allowed) we wandered down to the party area to grab some lunch.
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The Pii Mai party was going strong and getting stronger as the afternoon went on.
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Later in the afternoon we wandered around the Mixay area visiting various wats where we enjoyed the celebrants washing the various statues and getting soaked by the young folk celebrating the more secular side of Pii Mai.
Today's ride: 75 km (47 miles)
Total: 1,375 km (854 miles)
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