To Nong Kaiu

We rode today from Udom Xai, and before breakfast  Nick and I climbed the stairs to a new Buddha statue (still in scaffolding) and both a stupa and a watt.  On the way down, there were novices coming up.  We saw some of them with covered bowls receiving small denominations of kip and sticky rice from a woman on the street below.

 

When we got on the bikes – it was an endurance marathon.   We did 105 km total – but the morning was virtually all uphill.  90+ degree heat set in by 10 in the morning –and we (that would be me) trudged up each hill hoping that around the bend the hill wouldn’t continue – usually to be disappointed.   The flowers and birdsongs were great – and I recorded a brief clip that I’ll put on YouTube when I have enough bandwidth to upload the 11 seconds.

 

Lunch was great – a spread of sticky rice, fried fish, mixed vegetables, fermented greens (not my favorite), chili relish and chicken and pork and a bit of squirrel for the carnivores.   We concluded with watermelon – which is in season here – and for sale at every village, as well as absolutely perfect mangos.   I love the fruit here.  We were watched by a pack of dogs at the empty market at the top of the mountain we climbed (it’s not market day there) – as well as a few chickens and a sow with udders dragging on the ground.    The sow scored fruit peels and the dogs got some leftover meat – pandemonium reigned.

 

Gravity was with us for the afternoon ride – although the sun followed too, and there is little canopy here.   We passed through village after village with schoolchildren running up  to say “sabbaty” and hoping to slap our hands – as if we were finishing the Tour de France.  We’re at a resort along the Nom Ou River – staying in huts with stilts and a grand balcony overlooking the river itself.  The place is really spectacular – and this time I know the canopy is really a mosquito net – not just for decoration.

 

Tomorrow is the last day of riding – a few more km but far fewer hills –and then we’ll be in Luang Prabang, the end of the cycling journey.