Back to Laos

At the end of the Vietnamese cacophony, I take the road already traveled to the north, to branch off towards the Laotian border. Oh, how good silence is!

In part, I stayed so long in Hue for fear of taking the road again in this incessant uproar. My initial plan to drive to the south of the country in Ho Chi Minh City ultimately did not withstand the daily horns. Having liked the north of Laos a lot, I therefore decided to go explore its south as well.

The departure of Times Hotel is emotional. Trach, the owner, gives me two sweaters, and is practically at my feet helping me put on my cycling shoes. The eyes are wet.

Back on the road

I gradually leave the heavy traffic behind me as I approach the border. The children start to shout hello to me again in the small mountain roads. The skin becomes darker. In Southeast Asia, with India on one side and China on the other, faces form a spectrum of shades in between.

Driving west, I notice that the eyes are becoming less slanted and the skin darker.

Despite my month-long cycling break, my legs are doing well. Rather, it is my buttocks that beg for mercy! It will take me a whole week to get back comfortable in my saddle.

Two curious little boys on the side of the road near the border with Laos.

A Vietnamese father strangely resembling Ho Chi Minh, and his daughter.

In Laos

New stamp and new visa when crossing the border. I am counting for the first time the available pages that I have left in the passport. This one may have been renewed before my departure, I am nevertheless already in 25 countries, including several visas taking full pages. It should still go for a while but I will have to make sure to follow it closely!

It is much flatter here than in the north of the country. I pass a few poor villages from time to time but otherwise, it is not very striking. In one of these villages, I meet Fabian, a young Swiss German doctor who cycled for 3 months from Hanoi to Singapore. Fabian believes he has found a way to protect his white skin from the sun by wearing his rice field worker hat ... over his bicycle helmet! Effective technique, and noticed!

Fabian, future Swiss doctor and cyclist.

Questioning

Despite the relatively easy road, I don't ride that much. I stop a lot and I can hardly find my motivation of yesteryear. In fact, I am wondering where I got all the strength to travel two continents in the past year.

I realize that I thrive on grandiose challenges: impossible mountains, deserts, constantly surpassing myself to achieve the best photos.

And in Southeast Asia, my biggest challenge for the past five months has been the sweltering heat. I got a break in northern Laos and Vietnam, but it turned into torrential rain for two months on a daily basis! Less impressive than crossing passes ...!

The lack of novelty doesn't help either. I am a draw on the road to the hundreds of people I meet every day. Here in particular, it seems to me that half of the Laotian population is under 10 years old, so I am constantly surrounded by overexcited kids to see me. I think I'm in Peter Pan when I pass a cart containing 12 young people, the oldest of which, the driver, must be around 11 years old.

Most of the time I am happy to greet these children, but sometimes I have moments when I miss the silence of the children. Stans. Even if the greetings are meant to be nice, it remains that I have been yelled at all day long for a year!

It is in these reflections, and under a humid 38 degrees that I arrive at the second largest city in Laos: Savannakhet.