Indochine Feb 23
by Bob_Thompson on Feb.27, 2010, under Indochine, Indochine - Feb 10, 2010
If you are interested in touring Lao and anyone tells you the ride from Kiu Kacham is easy….forget it. It follows the ridge but it is nothing but up and down. It is spectacular though. The section from Phoukoun is the best of the best in Laos.
We had a nice dinner in KK, but let’s face it, unless the village is putting on a shindig (we have run into a blow out one before) there really is not a lot to do. Before dinner we had a cocktail hour behind the restaurant….just past the toilets for the bus people and just before the hog pens. Neither of those two things diminished the ambiance or the pleasure of watching the sun vanish behind the hazy mountains.
The setting sun even provided some great light to take pics of the kids playing by the small brick catfish pond. You have to know where the good spots are in Kiu Kacham. Earlier in the evening Gwyn and I visited the school grounds. We found 4 small boys playing a version of “rock, paper, scissors” that somehow involved little tiny playing cards that they would throw on the ground.
The yard of the school had some playgrund equipment…style….parallel bars….chin up bar….basically just big sticks attached together. We both made use of those. I think I have a few pics.
In the morning we had eggs cooked by Ms May along with bread, jam and peanut butter. We also had some left over rolls from the JOMA bakery in LP. We all stopped at the hot springs for a dip.
There, we unloaded the bags of Jerry and Linda for who are biking independently and for whom we carried panniers. They were trailing somewhere behind us. Jerry and Linda were spending the night at the hot springs, while we were heading on to Kasi. After we all arrived in Kasi for a couple hours, the van people showed up. It seems that everyone else is turning in early.
Chantal and I wondered the streets a little, where we met a couple guys from the Basque country traveling by motorbike and some Lao kids that were eager to practice their English. We gave the later an english novel and Chantal also bought them a translation dictionary.
Tomorrow is a short day to Vangvieng. We normally kayak the last 7k in to town. There were only 6 takers this time for the kayaking. Me, Chantal, Freddy, Paolo, Gwyn and Bob B.
Best,
Bob
Heading towards Kasi
Enjoying the hotsprings
At the hotsprings
