1000km

Right now Hawk and I are down south in Pakse, and the day before yesterday we passed our 1000th km on the bikes.

Since leaving Vientiane the roads have be fairly flat and monotonous as we have stayed close to the Mekong River. We have battled consistent rain, at times I thought I saw Noah float past, and have continued to find it difficult to eat anything other than Noodle soup. The children still run alongside the road, shouting 'Sabaidee' and waving, and on occasion we have been challenged to a race through a village by a young kid looking for bragging rites.

The road along the flatland has been bound on either side by rice paddies and 'Farmers in Pajamas' and conicle hats. And while they battle to plant their crops in the rain, and we battle to cover the required distances each day, conditions have rarely allowed for the cameras to come out of their waterproof hide-aways.

Yesterday we loaded all our wet gear, bikes and weary bodies onto a bus, tired on the sameness and rain, and covered 368km in comfort, sunshine and at an average speed a little over 50km/h. For once we were the major road force, running down those that got in our way, and honking at those who slipped out of reach. And today we spent in an airconditioned minivan, complete with driver and tour guide [Udan - keen to practise his English], and explored the waterfalls of the Bolaven Plateau. While tomorrow we are back on the bikes.

[Would love to post photos but the Internet speed here won't allow it, so text only]
Cpp