Cambroadians Ride! Part Deux

A lazy bonjour from the capital of relaxedness, Vientiane. That's right, I'm currently in the tiny, clean, nothing-do-here and biggest city of Laos. If it wasn't for some of the familiar old faces that I've seen, it could also been have a “boring” place. But I don't want to slam that adjective on this picturesque town too fast. It has it's charms, like walking down the banks of the Mekong river, or checking out the old, rundown French colonial buildings. As long as you don't overextend your stay.

It's so relaxed that this entry is going to be a short one, because yours truly can't really be bothered to write anything long or complicated. And, to be honest, nothing really interesting happened the last time we saw each other. So, sorry for the lack of pictures.

Funny enough, I haven't seen anything new after I left the endangered dolphins of Kratie in northern Cambodia. Sure, I spent a couple of days in Siem Reap (again), and yes I traveled through a bit of unexplored part of northeastern Thailand also called Isan country (but there was nothing really there). I was essentially biding my time to cross over into Vientiane and Laos proper. It's a long and boring story, but lets just say it was a matter of visa's and logistics and a bit of playing around with a calendar.

Now, on to the juicy bits. Interesting times lay ahead people, and probably I won't be able to find a decent internet connection in the next two weeks. Me and fellow Cambroadian Brittan decided (after some good advice from Tette, my Dutch friend that I met in Cambodia) to rent a motorcycle and just bugger off for an extended period of time into the northern part of Laos. We found a guy who was crazy enough to actually give us two bikes for a decent price. We have a map. We're planning to bring everything we have with us. It's going to be an interesting sight for the Lao in the countryside: two Western guys, buzzing along on two mopeds completely packed with backs and backpacks.

It's been a busy day today, scouring the main market of Vientiane for useful supplies like motorcycle gloves, waterproof tarp, mosquito nets and other bits and pieces. Tomorrow morning will try to leave early (which probably won't happen) and get as far as possible up the road. The route will take us deep into the mountains; who knows what we're going to see there. We'll try to go as far north as possible.

I'll try to keep everybody informed, but we might as well be entering a two week blackout from now on as far as I know. Adventure lays ahead. It's going to be an interesting ride indeed.

Au Revoir!