Cycled 94 kms of which 17 was due to a mistake.
This second time in Pakse I thought I knew the town already and never bothered to look much at the map. I had seen the bridge previously when there was a policeman directing traffic off and on it. Somehow I had gotten it into my head that the bridge was also the border to Thailand. So next morning I did my morning rituals and bade Laos farewell for a week or two and rode across the nearest bridge. To my surprise there were no immigrations and no passport checks etc. Stopped for a quick look at the map and saw that Laos actually reaches a bit onto the land at the other side of the bridge. Cycled on half an hour and when I stopped to buy water a local man asked where I was going today I said Thailand!, as if it was a dum question to ask. His English was very limited but he put on a surprised face that made me take another look at the map. Bummers! I had crossed the wrong bridge and was heading towards Savannakhet. I had gone 8 kms North instead of west.
Bite the bullet, turn around and go back all the way to Pakse. Then cycle along the river to the Lao-Japanese friendship bridge and then ride some 35 kms again before I actually came to the border. While riding towards that bridge in Pakse I discovered a whole section of town I had not seen before. There are several nice looking restaurants along the river.
The border was easy. No hassle and no bribes needed on either side. I was across around one o'clock, and hungry. Within two minutes I found a little restaurant that served barbecued chicken and sticky rice, yummy!
I was in Kiam Cham just after three. I stayed at Apple guest house not far from Seven-Eleven. There were two German cyclists at Apple, and we had dinner together at a floating restaurant on the river. They had cycled in Laos for a couple of weeks and was soon going back at Pakse. Originally there had been two girls with them too. One had crashed in high speed in a downhill between Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang, wearing no helmet. A passing car took her to hospital in LP where she was advised to fly to Bangkok for treatment. In Bkk she was stitched up and then told to gome home. She is now in hospital in Germany hoping to regain her eyesight also on the eye that she can not yet open.
Then, in the same week, the other girl crashed. She accidently hit one of the guys, lost her balance and careened across to the other side of the road where she crashed. A truck from the other direction ran right over her bike. The girl fell into the ditch, mostly unharmed but the bike is totalled. She is now backpacking in Laos.
Leaving at least a few meters between fellow riders seems a good idea. And of course to wear a helmet!
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