Did I mention yet that I love Laos? It really is an amazing country. I could find myself a hammock and stay for a very long time. The day before yesterday was a well-deserved rest day, which I spent almost entirely in a horizontal position on the hammock, reading, eating, and dozing. Banana pancakes with chocolate sauce, coconut shakes, and vegetables and cashews. Delicious. We were in Nong Khiaw, a town 150 km from the old capital city, Luang Prabang. B and I did get out for a little while when we went to check out some caves a few km outside of town that were used by the villages during the IndoChina war.
Yesterday we were meant to cycle about 40km, part way to Luang Prabang. However when we made it to our 'destination' before 10:30 am, we decided to push on all the way to Luang Prabang, another 110 km. We were only able to do this because the road was flat, paved, and it was slightly overcast which took some of the bite out of the sun's heat. It was still quite hot though and a few of us ended up with heat rashes all over our body. We drafted each other almost the entire way, which has its benefits and drawbacks. The upside; it's much easier. The downside; I can describe in intimate detail the look and colour of Monica and Peter's back tires. I wasn't able to look around much since I was concentrating on not running into them.
Today for breakfast I ate more banana pancakes ( I think I might actually be pancaked-out), then visited some of the many temples around the city, spent the afternoon in the shade (you sweat in the shade while doing nothing), and had a massage at the Red Cross in town. They train local students to do massages, which provides employment and also some funds for local Red Cross programs. While we were at the wat (temple) some of the monks were chanting, which is an experience like no other. I'd like to find that again before we leave.
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