First day on the Hog, Bolaven Plateau

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7 in the morning arrives quickly and Mark and I jump enthusiastically out of bed...to discover that the A/C unit in our lovely room had been very busy leaking all night and the floor was awash with water. How i laughed when Mark's bag was soaked, only to find out on closer inspection that mine had suffered a similar fate! After sorting all this out and leaving our big bags behind at the hotel we hopped onto out new bike and wobbled down the road. The night before we had met two lovely ladies who were about to embark on the same journey as us so we had agreed to meet outside their hotel at 8 to ride together, for safety of course!

When we pulled up outside their hotel they were just recieving their bikes and being taught how to ride as well. After this we all set off carefully to get out of Pakse and to find a petrol station. This being our first day we took it very easy and the first 45 km passed in what seemed like an eternity. We finally made it to the Tad Paxuam waterfalls and village. This was amazing and we spent a good hour wandering around and taking in the sights.

From here we set off to reach Tad Lo, a little village. This was much harder to find, due to the complete absence of anything resembling a road sign. Our directions relying solely on our Odometer and the everpresent problem of Left and Right. When we finally arived we said goodbye to the girls who were to stay in Tad Lo and headed off to look at the Tad Lo waterfalls and have some lunch. As we were eating the rains came and we waited them out in the restaurant.

Leaving Tad Lo we headed North to a place named Salavane. This was a good 35km away but when we arrived we discovered it was nothing but a tiny little town. We drove around for a while searching for some sunscreen but to no avail. After a quick stop for a drink we hopped back onto our 'hog' to go and find the only attraction in Salavane, a lake. After asking what seemed like the entire vilage we were pointed down a steep and muddy track which led to a river with very sandy banks. After getting stuck twice in about 50m we turned back, not confident in our riding skills yet and quite muddy.

With the appeal of Salavane quickly fading we made the decision to head back to Tad Lo, something we would have had to do anyway the next morning had we stayed. This decision was made easier by the fact that we couldn't find anywhere to stay in Salavane, and that we had left two women in Tad Lo.

35 hot kilometres back down the road and we arrived in Tad Lo (Mark driving by now after receiving some dubious instructions from his co-rider). We checked into a little guesthouse with the most amazing view of the waterfalls and river and then quickly went to find some more waterfalls 10km up the road. These were great and feeling thoroughly knackered we went to shower and get some food. We met back up with Veronica and Emmanuel, the two french-canadians we had come with and enjoyed a fantastic dinner. From there more and more people trickled in and we ended up having a great night learning some french and enjoying chatting.

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Photos

On the road...
Our travelling buddies leading the way!

It's fun to stay at the...
Y.M.C.A.