The plan for today was today head for Hin Heup, not too far but the day was forecast to be 41 degrees. We left at about ten past six but could have left at least half an hour earlier because it was light long before we got going. The plan is to beat the heat.

The road was undulating and winding with no long climbs at all. It was pretty rough in places but relatively quiet and the traffic was mostly very considerate. The day got warm quite quickly and when we slowed down on any of the hills we quickly lost the benefit of the breeze that crusing at 20 kays an hour brings.

Breakfast was first some bananas just out of Vang Vieng followed by some steamed buns stuffed with, among other things, a boiled egg and glass noodles which we got at Tha Heua.

We pulled into Hin Huep at 10:30 after a nice rest and "Sting" energy drink at the top of the last little hill before the town (about 5 kms out). There are a couple of guest houses on the southern side of town - we used the old bridge to get there but there is a turn off the route 13 south of the new bridge as well. The better looking one (Souksomvang) was full of a bunch of Chinese guys who hadn't checked out yet and in the confusion of our broken communication, we checked into the more down at heel one across the road (Vonemany) which was overpriced by at least 100% at 100,000 Kip and they weren't open to negociation. Unfortunately, we didn't seem to have much choice.

Heart

0

Comment

0

Link

Log in to comment or reply

Heart

0

Comment

0

Link

Log in to comment or reply

We spent the next 3 hours in the resturant at the better guest house enjoying their great WiFi, a cold beer and a good lunch which gave the Vonemany folk some time to try and clean up our room (the bathroom is still filthy). On the plus side, the Souksomvang signal is good enough for me to pick up in the room at Vonemany.

While we were at Souksomvang, the Chinese guys were also having lunch and then checked out. They must have been staying there quite a while because they posed with the staff for photographs and it was all very entertaining with lots of noise and laughter (and also very little effective communication, it seemed).

I spent the afternoon making beer can stoves and fiddling on the internet. Later we took a ride around the town, crossing both bridges. While on the new bridge watching the local kids swim in the river we were roped into some photos and selfies with some locals (although they may have been Thai). Then it was back to Souksomvang for evenings drinks and supper with a whole lot more conversation that none of us understood.

Hin Heup, despite its external appearance of being a bit of a dump, has been good for the soul.