26
November, Muang Khua to Muang Mai, 38km
Saeng Many II Guest House 60,000LAK
Our road
climbed and climbed into cloud then above cloud into blue sky. At times
visibility was reduced to less than 20m and we spent an hour or so cocooned in
mist, wrapped in near-silence. Just our laboured breath and the
squeak-complaint of our loaded bikes and birdsong for company on a
traffic-scarce road. When we popped out of the clouds it was into a hotter
world from which we looked down on cloud-wreathed mountain tops, the cloud
dissipating fast in the hotting day. We met a woman in the street as we arrived
in town who works for a development agency to help local farmers grow coffee
and cinnamon. She recommended a Chinese restaurant for lunch, where we ate a
delicious meal having selected the main ingredients – pork and liver – from a
glass-fronted cabinet. Soon after we were seated, four men arrived and each
ordered a quarter jack of brandy. The bottles were consumed literally within
ten minutes, the men growing progressively more rowdy and cheery as the food
and beer arrived for what was clearly destined to be a convivial afternoon. We
dined at the same restaurant in the company of a young cycling pair from the US
and an intrepid father-daughter team, also American, biking the world in
sections, this one begun in Morocco nine months ago. Tomorrow we cross the border
into Vietnam.
Between Muang Khua and Muang Mai
Between Muang Khua and Muang Mai
Between Muang Khua and Muang Mai
Between Muang Khua and Muang Mai
Between Muang Khua and Muang Mai
Between Muang Khua and Muang Mai
Between Muang Khua and Muang Mai
Between Muang Khua and Muang Mai
Between Muang Khua and Muang Mai
Between Muang Khua and Muang Mai