December 8, 2016
Vang Vieng to Pele 2 Guest House, about 7 km south of Hinhoeup
Out of the mountains, back to the heat
I packed up and left the guest house at about 7. They have free coffee, but the water had not been heated, so I skipped it and went to the Luang Prabang Bakery and had coffee plus a nice breakfast of scrambled eggs. This is the first time I've asked for Lao coffee and gotten it black. It usually comes with sweetened condensed milk filling the bottom third or so of the cup. The black coffee was strong!
I stopped on my way out of town and picked up some bananas and a baguette. The baguettes here are more wonder bread style than country French style, but I thought I should have it with me in case I didn't find food. I didn't want a proper sandwich sitting in the sun on my back rack.
Then I really got going. I lost a lot of elevation today, but it wasn't an easy roll downhill. My Garmin shows I climbed 1500 feet. I had been told it was flat, but 1500 feet of climbing with grades up to 10% doesn't qualify as flat in my book. By lunchtime I was suffering from the heat. I stopped in Hinoeup (sometimes spelled Hineup) at a guesthouse/restaurant, and had some fried rice. I was about ready to call it quits, but the place across the street started up some really loud music, and I decided that wasn't the place for me. My map showed a guesthouse about 1 km south, and another about 7 km south. I was okay for the 7 km ride, but thought I should check the first one and if it was okay take it, in case there was a problem at the second one. There is one big hill remaining heading south, and I didn't want to ride it in the heat of afternoon.
Well, the first one was closed. Fortunately, the second one is here and operational. I was offered a room for 50,000 kip. It had a squat toilet and no hot water, and a fan. I asked if there was anything else, and was shown a nice room with a western style toilet, hot water, AC, and even a TV for 120,000. I countered with 100,000, and am now showered and relaxing in that room. It's sort of in the middle of no where, but there is a restaurant near the road that I'll check out. If it's not open, I have that baguette and some bananas. I even have some instant coffee and my immersion heater.
Pictures later, there is no Wi-Fi.
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Today's ride: 68 km (42 miles)
Total: 1,270 km (789 miles)
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