94 km

We felt mildly better starting out today, and we were lucky to have cooler temperatures with cloudy skies. We were still unable to eat much, but somehow we still managed to ride a solid day and make good time. I guess it’s the 4,500+ kilometers we’ve ridden so far that kept us going. Our bodies are just used to riding.

After about 30 kilometers we reached Phonsi, a small village on the Nam Kading, one of the most pristine rivers in Laos. There’s a sign announcing 1-hour boat rides to the Tat Wang Fong waterfall. Our Lonely Planet Laos book said to follow the small gravel road for a few hundred meters to the river and ask around about a boat. We got to the water’s edge and walked around for a few minutes until we saw a longboat coming down river. When a couple of fishermen got out, the driver pointed up river and said, “Waterfall?” We said yes, then found out the price was 120,000 kip, or about US$15. It sounded like a good way to take a morning break from riding and get into the wilderness a bit more, so we agreed.

It was another cool day with some good cloud cover, so the boat ride was really pleasant. We were often amazed at how shallow the water was, yet we skimmed right along in the longboat. The water level during the rainy season would be rushing well above our heads.

As we headed up river, we saw a huge strip mine on our right, an anomaly that was hard to reconcile with the pristinely forested bank of the other side of the river. Soon after, we passed the mine and were in the most wild area we’ve seen so far.

At one point, Dave and I had to get out so the boatman could run the boat up through a narrow little rapid. He got stuck the first time, but on the second try he slid right through.

After that we were at the small but rushing waterfall. We swam and snacked upstream before enjoying a smooth and scenic ride back to Phonsi.

Our destination was Pakxan, a large and industrious town on the Mekong. We found the BK Guest House mentioned in our guidebook (off the highway on the road closest to the river), and it was so cute with beautiful gardens and a lovely host that I had to mention it for those riding the same route. This was a little oasis we really appreciated. We had a fan room with a screened window by our heads, through which we enjoyed a cool breeze all night after the evening rain. For dinner, we walked about 50 meters down the street to the BK Restaurant (the sign just says “restaurant” as far as I can remember) where we had our first real meal since being sick. The food was good and clean and fresh, and the cook was very helpful with our requests for vegetarian options of the dishes. The Lao phrases we’ve learned are well understood when the cooks are this engaged in figuring it out with us.