Don Khong – Bolaven Plateau – Savannakhet

17th April 2014     515km     24’C – 37’C

After a decent nights sleep, I packed the bike and headed out from Pon’s Guesthouse. Although after riding twenty metres, I realised the steering was heavy, and looked down to find the front tyre was only half inflated.  I rode slowly until I saw a compressor outside a hut.  In SE Asia, and especially Laos & Cambodia, you can always find a tyre repair hut within 1-2km, which is good given the number of motorcycles and the state of the roads.  I pumped the tyre back up, and headed down to the ferry, thinking it was probably a slow leak from some sand in the valve.

At the shore I considered waiting for the proper car ferry, but after five minutes, decided on the canoe option again.  Although this time there were only 2 canoes strapped together!   I rode the bike on and got a few photos before we crossed.  The boatman called out to a big guy nearby, and told him to stand in one corner of the “vessel” to balance out the weight of the bike.  Unfortunately, the big guy didn’t really understand his job, and moved about on the platform a bit, making us all nervous.   On the other side, the ramp was laid down for me to ride off.  But before doing so, the boatman “pirate” tried on the usual tactic of ripping me off.  He asked for 20,000 kip, to which I told him, “No chance, I can take the big car ferry for 5000 kip!”   I gave him 5000, and he smiled. As usual, tried to milk it.   Presumably the real price should actually be about 1000 kip.

Back on the other side of the Mekong, I rode up to the Bolaven Plateau, where is was cool and mountainous.  24’C, riding through villages and coffee plantations.  Stopping briefly by the waterfall before continuing the very enjoyable ride.  Quiet roads, not much traffic and a very day day to be riding in Laos. I stopped for a drink at a shack, and a lady-boy in complete make-up appeared from the timber hut to provide ice.  I got a bit of a shock, in the middle of a tiny village and here is a guy who looks like he could have stepped out of a club in Bangkok in full drag.

I was feeling a bit tired, so stopped for a short nap by the side of the road.   When I got up, I noticed that the tyre was flat again.  It was roasting hot now as I’d come down from the plateau, so I topped it up again at a motorcycle shop and planned to fix it properly that evening at the hotel.

As I passed through every little village, the Lao New Year celebrations were still in full swing, with people dancing Lao-style in the streets.  I was constantly splashed by kids with water pistols, hoses and buckets of icy water as I passed through.  I even was splashed from the back of a moving truck, where the kids had drums of water in the back of the truck and had become very proficient with their aim even at 100km/h they still managed to hit me as I overtook them.

I stopped again in the afternoon at a small roadside stall, and bought a bunch of bananas, of which I ate two and shared the rest with the kids.  They loved it. Everyone had a second one and the bunch was cleaned up.  An old lady tried to seel me a bunch of cucumbers also, but everyone laughed, and joked about something about what can a farang do with cucumbers on a motorcycle!
At some point, the old lady re-appeared with a cloth bag, and dumped out a lizard that had obviously been donked on the head when they caught it.  They had tied it’s legs in a knot, so it couldn’t run away, but would now just move in circles.  They indicated that it was for eating later, although I couldn’t help feeling a bit sorry for the lizard, still alive and tied up.

By the time I rolled into the quiet town of Savannahkeht, it was after 5pm and I was knackered.  I found a cheap hotel, showered and had a walk around town before some dinner at a hole-in-the-wall place that used the tables in the park as their restaurant.  I met a nice group of Lao friends, sharing the table at dinner.  They tied a good luck band on my wrist.

It was a long day and the tyre was still not repaired.  I decided to leave it and wake up early to resolve that problem in the morning.  Hoping that somehow it might ‘fix’ itself overnight and still be inflated in the morning.