Day 35 - South on 13: how far to Pakse? - Trial by fire: new bike, first tour, first time in Asia

November 28, 2024

Day 35 - South on 13: how far to Pakse?

After Winston got going I discovered the tourers' delight of an overnight flat tyre. It was a slow one so I took advantage of water and fixed it. After a good deal of searching I found the offending thorn that caused the flat in the rear tyre of my Thorn.

Meanwhile, Winston was up with the monks

Needing food, I stopped after 2 km and won. Not only did I get a decent plate of fried rice but also good Lao coffee. I had two, one with ice and the other hot.

Thus, it was close to ten and right when the wind was awakening that I started cycling in earnest.

Aquaculture even kilometres from the Mekong

Almost immediately, I was left wondering how far it is to Pakse.

The distance to Pakse increases as we travel towards it.

It's even hard to work out which road we're cycling.

Fortunately, things sorted themselves out and Pakse was, indeed 163 km away at that point. By day's end it would be under 70.

Between those two signs I saw a remarkable young buffalo lay claim to the highway.

It all ends with a woman with a shovel and a wheelbarrow, who knows a good buffalo turd when she sees one.

We crossed many waterways today ranging from small creeks to substantial rivers.

There's a Buddha keeping an eye on things.

The wind soon got stronger and the cloud cover thicker, taking the shine off things. That said, today's ride down the highway was most enjoyable compared to our previous day on 13. Furthermore, the skies cleared later and made for an enjoyable afternoon.

The round ball game featured heavily today. I saw many children, male and female, kicking a ball. Also, I stopped for a drink at a fine little field.

Somewhat related, promotion of the Laos University Games.

There were plenty of other activities in progress.

Many buildings caught my eye.

I'm sure that this building is a termite mounds.

There were always people lining up to be photographed, some of whom subsequently ran away!

I often manage an abstract of the inside of my handlebar bag.

Plants were another feature of the day, particularly when the sun shone.

Cows topped with mynahs graze near a lotus pond.

Encouraging healthy habits for young elephants

There's no doubt about the bicycle of the day. Any bike with a super-heavy chain and a bag of meat slung over the handlebars wins the prize.

Today we were looking for a combination of features that had eluded us on several occasions a guesthouse near a restaurant.

We found a very nice place with a rather difficult name - Keobouasay Xokpaseuth Guesthouse, but needed to cycle over 100 km to do so.

It even has genuine Boletus outdoor furniture - most rare, I'm told.

It was a short walk to town that features about 20 restaurants offering the same fare - meat on sticks. Buses stopped regularly prompting vendors to come from their shops waving such sticks.

Winston found a place to eat flat chook on a stick. I found a place that could provide vegetarian tucker and a puppy that chewed on shoelaces

The night ended with the discovery of a 5 cm long beetle.

Today's ride: 107 km (66 miles)
Total: 1,943 km (1,207 miles)

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