70 km
An up and down day.
Northern Laos is hilly no doubt. There are many trying hills for cyclists. They are serious hills, going up several hundred meters and then down to cross a river before heading up again. On this western side of the Mekong though hills are much shorter, and steeper. Today I have struggled on hills so steep I had to get off and push my bike going up, and then so steep down they are scary to ride.
My only map of this area is a road map with no topographic indication. Apart from aiming South I did after some time try to veer a little Westward hoping to get away from the worst hills. The GPS listed a 'resort' at a place I have now already forgotten the name of. I cycled into it at 4 pm only to find it more or less destroyed. All doors where open and the inside of the rooms full of rubbish. I could not stay there and moved on. The next nearest guest house would be way over to the East again, some 13 kms. I started pushing up a ridiculously steep hill. After a bit a young man, 16-17 or so, came downhill on his small motorbike. He stopped and offered me a ride uphill in very limited English. First I said I did not think it would be possible to take my loaded bike on his. My cycle and bags probably weighs more than 30 kgs. He insisted it could work. When I asked how much would that cost he was adamant he wanted nothing. Again I said I did not think it possible to have me and all my gear on the back of his little motorcycle.
It would have been so easy for him to accept my reluctance and drive away on his own. But he didn't. Instead he showed with gestures how he could have my panniers between his legs and I could have the bike between myself and him. We loaded up and away we went. When I saw how steep and long the hills where I grew incredibly grateful I did not have to push that on my own so late in the afternoon. Stupidly enough I had spent all my one hundred Baht notes in Wiang Kaen and now only had three one thousand bills, a fifty and some twentys. My gratitude to the young man grew with the steepness of the hill and I decided I simply had to give him a thousand Baht. But when we came to the place where he was going, which was about half of the way I needed to go to find another guest house, he insisted he wanted nothing. What a guy!
In my later years, after I started going to India, and doing a lot of meditation, I have become more helpful and generous to strangers. But I must admit that at the age of that young man I was very far from as helpful as he was. I hope Karma rewards him richly!
No comments:
Post a Comment