7 November, Thalat to Nam Lik Eco Village, 30km
Nam Lik Eco Village 200,000LAK

It was pouring with rain when we awoke, so we went back to sleep for an hour or so leaving eventually in a light drizzle. We had barely crossed the bridge into Thalat when it began again to bucket down. We took shelter under an awning until the worst of it had passed, amused by those cycling or biking with an umbrella in one hand, or simply getting wet, unstressed. The road to Phon Hong, a sizeable town, and thereafter for another 10km or so was very badly potholed or very muddy dirt. Here’s the problem with a rain-pothole combo: all the potholes are filled with muddy water so you cannot tell whether they are a few centimetres deep only, a jolting depth, or deep enough to shred a tyre or catapult you over your handlebars. At Phon Hong we turned off route 10 onto route 13 toward Vang Vieng. The last time I travelled the road to Vang Vieng was in 2002 in the back of a songthaew. An elderly woman so tiny she was virtually non-existent was seated beside me. She could not resist comparing my arms to her thighs by repeatedly squeezing first one then the other and discussing her findings with her broadly-smiling friend (ouch!). 

Between Thalat and Nam Lik

Between Thalat and Nam Lik