I started the day just west of Phin, drove on the 9E which was surprisingly an amazingly clear road. No bumps, potholes, or anything. I was able to keep a strong 85 km/hr blowing a cloud of black smoke behind me crossing the width of Laos in a matter of 2 hours. Going north on the 13 though the road turned to absolute shit with enormous Chinese trucks spewing hot red dust that caked against my sweaty skin. Through muddy tears pouring from my eyes I saw gorgeous mountains peaking at me on the horizon from the Northeast.
I decided to take an enormous detour to go through the mountains instead of the shit road. What a great decision! The mountains looked a lot like the mountains in Northern Vietnam. Round humps that protrude vertically straight out of the earth.
Once I reached the mountains the flat brown savanna ended and I was brought back into a wonderful world of rivers and humid greenery.
The people in Laos are much different than the people of Vietnam. They are much more distant here and it’s very rare to see a smile. It makes the trip feel lonely at the moment. I feel a bit intrusive just being here, as if I’m not supposed to be here. Even the kids look unhappy here, they don’t run around and play like in Vietnam.
All of the homestays/guest houses are pretty basic. They cost about $4 – $8 each, are very clean, but have ancient TVs and weak water. The motorbike has been an absolute champion so far, but had a bit of a hiccup driving up a big hill earlier. It just absolutely lost power for a bit, but I don’t know if maybe it was because the hill was much steeper than I realized. I’m now at a guesthouse called Phosy Thaland and it’s pretty nice. It’s right in the middle of a network of rivers and lakes. I’m hoping to get to Luang Prabang in the next 2 days. That will be 2 hard days of driving. Maybe I will rest there for 2 days and then on the road again! I’m eating on a bridge right now and the view over the water is amazing.
