I was worried about today’s ride too even though it was short. I get confidence from every achievement, so by now, I should have enough faith in my abilities to take on any ride and do it. I certainly don’t like the pain of climbing steep hills, but I know it can be done, and what’s the alternative ?
Today’s first job was to find something to eat and it wasn’t easy. As I exited the hotel grounds, it started raining. Finally, my weather luck had deserted me, as rain was predicted all day.
I pulled in at a local grocery store to stay dry. They didn’t have much to eat except a pot noodle. They asked me to sit down at their table while they got hot water and filled the container for me – how nice.
Then I realised it had prawns in it – that’s allergy danger for me, so I took them all out and ate the noodles. They looked at me very strangely.
The rain wasn’t stopping, so I put on the Poncho and took off. 500m later, I passed a nice looking restaurant which I’m sure would have been better than noodles. On the outskirts, I passed a corner store and got a can of coffee. I didn’t want to be wet AND grumpy. No excuses now, I’d better get moving.
So then it was into the early undulations and then the first climb. Straight away, it was 10% and whereas yesterday, the road was empty and I could zigzag in the steepest bits, today there was a trickle of traffic that kept me on the straight and narrow.I got incredulous looks again. Old white guy in a blue poncho trying to climb this hill ????? There was lots of encouragement as well, and a number of people rode past on motorbikes, looked back and gave me a smile and a thumbs up. Even trucks were doing it.
As I neared the top, the rain stopped and the descent was on a dry road. My weather luck had returned. The big climb was done in the dry.
For the last two days, the road has been excellent, but as I turned off to go to Hongsa, it really deteriorated. The good road went straight ahead to the large power station 😁
It was a good few kms of bumpy road, puddles, mud and more rain on the way into town, but as always, drivers were very courteous. In town, I saw a speciality coffee shop, and couldn’t possibly ride past. When I entered the shop, I saw they also did pizza – why not ?
Thankfully the pizza was better than the coffee or it would have been inedible ☹️.
The people there recommended the guesthouse around the corner, and it’s great. Hongsavady Guesthouse for 120k. My room is upstairs and has teak walls, a semi enclosed shared verandah, fridge, tv, aircon, and fan, but strangely, no basin. There’s a bucket for that. I didn’t notice when I looked at the room, but it hardly matters.
After washing myself and my riding gear, I went for a walk through the town which is having some sort of festival. Karaoke was blaring, the markets were full on both sides of the main road and there were people everywhere. Most were just staring at me as I walked past. Paranoid ? Me ?
I got some nibblies and a can of Beerlao dark lager then sat on the verandah. I enjoyed the dark lager, but it’s only 70c a can !
Dinner was around the corner at Nouker Restaurant which is a lovely place. I had my Thai favourite, Pad Kapao Moo with rice. Google helped me translate the menu and the waitress had some english, so she explained that the dish is called the same in the Lao language. That is something to know, but it made me realise that I’ve been so focussed on route planning that I’ve made no effort yet, with the language.
Time to stretch, relax and worry about tomorrow’s big day 😁