Day L1: Finding My Feet on the Ground

July 5, 2023

The Malinamphu Hotel was nothing short of brilliant. The staff were super helpful and let me put the bike right in the room, so this was the best for safety. After a quick walk around the town last night to grab a celebratory Beer Lao at the bar, I fell asleep. Morning was quite nice as they provided a scrumptious buffet breakfast.

After doing some initial catchup work I took a break and walked around the town a little more. The atmosphere was pretty chill, and yet there was a lot of constructiong going on. Hilton would be opening a Double Tree here soon enough, and it seemed like some investment had picked up. Even so it's too risky to consider after my failed attempts in Thailand.

Next I was about to attempt the most dreadful thing: the accounting, and trying to catch up over the last few days whirlwind. But it was made more pleasant by doing this in front of the swimming pool.

What surprised me the most was that I was able to keep the entire pre-trip very close to the $1000 budget. This included many things: the practice hotel in Shanghai, train tickets to Shenzhen, two nights hotel in Shekou, three F45 classes, transport to/from Hong Kong and Macau, hotel in Macau, upgrading the bike in HK, a casino budget, hotel in Guangzhou, as well as all kinds of various transport, food, and drinks at the bar. What really helped was around $50 in unplanned casino winnings as I actually walked out of Macau ahead. Still the fact I managed all that within such a budget was a cause for celebration!

Things would only get much cheaper from this point of the trip onwards, and I also got confirmation that a massive windfall would soon be coming from my insurance payout. Plus the fact that I would attempt to sell my condo in Thailand later this month had me giddy with excitement. Whether or not it happens we'll just have to see.

I'm what you call a 'motivated seller' in financial terms, because the condo turned out to be a dud investment along with the insurance. Truth be told, this is just the beginning. Wait until you see what I do in my next journal.

Now that digital payments are out of the picture, the accounting needs to get a lot more organized, and this includes keeping detailed notes whenever a transaction happens. There was enough practice doing so in Hong Kong but still it's a massive headache and will need to get used to paper money and coins again.

Next, I set off to bike out to a remote bank. I figured the best place to find such a bank was along the road to the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge. Sure enough about 10km into the route I spied the perfect place for what I wanted and then went in to exchange cash.

It felt like I walked off with a windfall here, almost 9 million kip and a cash exchange rate that was even better than the posted rate!!

This was the best way to do it. Withdrawing the US cash in Hong Kong earlier saved on ATM fees and bank charges on both ends. At this rate I won't even have to touch an ATM in Laos. That is also good for safety as I've heard they sometimes eat your cards.

Speaking of safety, a remote bank was also a good idea with a large cash exchange like this. There would be less of a chance of being targeted in tourist areas. Several locals saw the high volume transaction and smiled at me. There was no rush, so I made double and triple sure I had everything packed securely before leaving. The bike makes everything possible!!

While there, I also tried to exchange some old Vietnam money but they wouldn't take it. There's no point hanging onto it. I also managed to trade in some old crappy bills for good ones, and now the stash of Kip is looking crisper.

Once I was back on the bike exploring around and searching for food, I then realized the vibes here were so chill. All the beautiful memories of cycling in Thailand and Laos were coming back in a flood. And with that, so were the effects of healing in the air. I could already feel the physical reactions on the back of my neck start to dissipate and it was not even 24 hours in the country.

I don't mean to suddenly abandon the precautions and common sense I've built into the trip, but so much of what people say is hyped up bullshit. Travel in Laos and Thailand is not as dangerous as what you hear despite it being after covid.

As soon as I walked in, the entire family smiled with that classic Laos smile and served up some delicious food

Earlier there was some chicken on a barbecue stick by the roadside

Found this along the way. One of the key landmarks of Vientiane

Next up, a search for a shop to buy air freshener and shoe cleaner. These were a bit of a challenge to find, so I had to improvise a bit. I ended up finding anti-persperant spray and will use that to freshen up the shoes. The air freshener I'll do a test run tonight in the hotel because I can already smell bad odors in the room and am not liking it.

The shop also sold what I was looking for to rev up the alcohol distribution system. This is going to come in mighty handy for Vang Vieng down the road.

Finally, it was a search for a bicycle shop. This was the biggest challenge of them all because so many of them on Google Maps didn't exist anymore. They had likely closed over covid, and the few that were still around didn't want to service my bike. Finally I got lucky at a place called 7-Day Bikes and started chatting to the service guy.

Since Hong Kong had done the bulk of the upgrades already, there wasn't much to ask from the shop here except some minor tune-ups and repairs from the plane ride over. He adjusted a few things and oiled the chain, then we got chatting about bike tours.

His view was that there weren't many people doing bike tours after covid, and those who were chose short tours like the one I'm doing. The people doing 6 month tours or longer were sadly on the decline. He did say that backpackers were back in full swing which is good news for Vang Vieng. On that note he also said it is perfect timing right now as the rainy season is just beginning and the water levels are not too high.

He helped me plan a better route than the one I've always done before up Route 13. The route he suggested was Route 10 to Thalat, stay the night there, and finish to Vang Vieng the next day. This goes through the mountains and is a lot more interesting than the flat road.

That settles the route then.

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Andrea BrownHot tip for smelly hotel rooms. That's usually from the bathroom floor drains because they often don't have an under-floor trap to keep the sewer gas out. We throw something, a plate, a flip-flop, something over that drain when the shower is not being used.

Thank you for being in Laos, we needed a SE Asia journal to follow! Vientiane has changed a lot in the 21 years since I was first there but it still has that vibe, doesn't it?
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