The Wobbling Sprocket

Nedene and Philip rode the 105k to Lake Na Ngum along with Daolit.  The rest of us took the boat driven by Mr Moon.  We stopped at an island for a swim on the way.  The ride takes a little more than 2 hours and we arrived shortly after noon. 

Nedene, Philip and Daolit arrived about 4:30pm.

The timing or our arrival was good because the resort just opened their brand new swimming pool that very day.  Philip and Nedene took full advantage.

We had a little party that night on the floating restaurant on the lake.  I have no pics since my camera battery went dead, but we had a good time.  I gave some little presents to Mr and Ms Cyfong and their 5 year old son who has been with us the whole way.

The Resort we stay at is perched on the side of hill overlooking the Lake and the mtns behind.  We had great weather….a nice sunset and a little bit of lightning show.  During dinner a big wind came in and blew the boat about that just resulted in some original dance moves.   If you ever get to the little part of the world be sure to visit "Nee" and the dancing waitresses at the floating restaurant.

This is 5 year old Xay. He was with us the whole way. We gave him some books from Big Borther Mouse.

We all had this view of Lake Na Ngum from our rooms.

Our swim spot.....

Brian grabbing coffee in the am....

I knew something had happened when I saw all our bikers standing around. Then I saw Louise sitting on the side next to a rough patch of road. Apparently she was going too fast and lost control of her bike in the rough stuff and took a tumble. Not all that great….especially since it was her birthday.She wasn't badly hurt though. Wrenched her shoulder and scraped a knee and arm. She rallied enough that she went kayaking with us….although she did not paddle.

This happened just after Damen and Andy joined us at a rest stop. They are from England and are spending 8 months traveling around the world. They had already crossed Australia and been through Malaysia. They had the right equipment…Thorn bikes with Rolhoff hubs. Damen told me that they planned to bike all the way to LP by tomorrow night. That seemed pretty unlikely to me since they had 25k to reach Kasi and Kasi to Kiu Kacaham, the half way point, is 9,000 ft of climbing. We stopped 10k short of Vangvieng, our destination for the day, for our usual kayaking. The weather was good and it was a nice break. We had a BBQ lunch on the shore.

Philip, Louise, Kate, Rosie, Pip, Ron and I and Daolit went kayaking. Everyone else headed straight into VV. We had a nice dinner along the River on the Terrace of the Ban Sabai hotel. We even managed a birthday cake for Louise. Tomorrow most of us plan to ride our bikes to Houay Mo and then take a boat to Na Ngam. The road from VangVieng is dusty and hot so it seems wise to cut the ride short by taking the boat.

At the rest stop headed into Vangvieng

Damen and Andy...I think pretty unlikely they made it to LP in 2 days.

Beth on the road to VV

The ride into VV is fairly flat...but still scenic.

Oranges galore along the road.

Ou BBQ lunch on the river.....

A knock on the head and a bruised shoulder were not going to keep Pip and Louise off the river.

Our BBQ lunch.

View from the balcony of our place in VV

Birhday girl Louise at the Ban Sabai

I heard what sounded like flamethrowers in the am....and that is exactly what they were. A couple of balloons floated by...at tree top level. Apparently there is know more than tubing in VV.

It's not an easy ride to Kasi. Phoukoun, which is the cross road to the Plain of Jars sits on a ridge and the road to get there is up and down along another ridge. Not easy by any means.

On the way to Phoukon we all passed Tamir, the Israeli guy that had just bought a bike in LP and started to ride. He had shifted from flip flops to army boots. I think that was a wise move. He still wasn't moving fast though. When I passed him he was zig zagging up a hill and barely making progress. I offered to carry his bag again in our truck, but he wasn't having it. I had no doubt he was going to make it.

We stopped in Phoukon where we all had noodle soup. There really isn't too much there other than a local market. The soup was very good.

From there is was a massive downhill to the hot springs where some went into the water. And then on to Kasi, which sits hard by a river. Kasi is famous for its oranges and ladies line up on the street to hawk them.

Everyone seems pretty tired and after a dinner of Fish Soup, beef laab and fried vegetables.  We all hit the sack early.

Tomorrow we have some kayaking and Vangvieng…..party town.

This was the view from Kiu Kacham in the morning. KK is at 2200 meters and the valley below fills with fog.

Same spot the night before...with the sun setting.

At lunch in Phoukon on the way to Kasi. Phoukon is where you turn off to go to the Plain of Jars.

The view shortly after Phoukon on the way to Kasi....it is 30k of down.

Philip and Daolit soaking at the hot springs on the way to Kasi

View from the hot springs.....