Day spent in the wifi-enabled restaurant. The owner has heard of our plans to cycle China and kindly offers her friends' services; he is from there. We spend about 2hrs with Anthony, going over our maps and he writes out phrases we will need in Mandarin and gives hints and tips of surviving our trip. He is concerned, however, that we will be cycling in some pretty remote areas and urges us to rethink parts of our route. He advises that we will have to visit Kunming after all to get an extension on our visa's; he does not think that the border staff will be able to assist us with this. Kunming will also be a place where we can speak to other people about cycling routes in China. We swap email addresses and Anthony kindly gives us his mobile number and tells us that if we ever need help or assistance in China, we can call on him.
Kilometers: 0
Total Kilometers: 2234
Day 87: Chiang Khong to Houay Xai (Laos)
We sadly say farewell to Thailand and make for the border crossing and the half kilometre boat ride across the Mekong.
A thirty day visa ($35) was secured at the Laos border, so we have until 31.07.09 to enter China. We aim to rest here for 5 nights, to give Kate's achilles the rest they need (and deserve). Accommodation found at Sayabidee Guesthouse, one of the newer establishments in town. It has cable TV with HBO, so we'll be able to watch Wimbledon (so gutted for Roddick) and catch a few movies.
Kilometers: 2km
Total Kilometers: 2236km
Days 88 - 92: Houay Xai
Complete rest is the order of the next five days, and we do absolutely nothing but rest Kate's ankles, We find the town itself has not much to offer and as a result most travelers stay only one night and then move on. We are, however, almost considered by locals as one of them by the end of the week; we had struck up a relationship at a few of our preferred hangouts, and on the last night a few of them declared they will miss us! With regards to our future movements, the plan was to head towards Luang Namtha (via bus as the weather recently has been atrocious; it has rained heavily and non-stop for 5 days), spend a week there and then get a bus to China on the 15th July when our visas start. However, plans change when on closer inspection of the visas, Lee Lee finds that they were valid from the 15th June. This prompted huge embarrassment for me, closely followed by joy – as this means we can get a bus straight to China. I've wanted to visit this country for many years, and my wish is very close to being fulfilled! We are embarrassed to report that we have only one picture from Laos...
Straight after this was taken we witnessed a pretty bad accident. A group of motorcycles were coming down the road at speed, when a local hound decided that he would chase the first of them. As he was duly shooed away, he panicked and was unable to dodge the remaining motorcyclists, one of whom crashed in spectacular fashion, spilling it's two passengers onto the road with such force, we thought he might be very seriously injured. It transpired that the cyclists were Laos' equivalent of the British “hoodies”; drunken menaces racing the streets at night after consuming alcohol. One of the lads we reckon was badly concussed and may have broken his arm, but his pals were quick to come to his aid and flee the scene. Drama!!!
Kilometers: 0km
Total Kilometers: 2236km
LOL - you should have used your Youth Offending Team Officer skills to rehabilitate them - lol
ReplyDeleteJosie-May x x x