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Published: June 15th 2008
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With over 200km to travel today, we were slightly apprehensive due to the problems we had the previous couple of days with the back tyre. However, by 7.45am we were checked out and raring to go! First stop was the petrol station to fill up our little baby but with a very small amount of money remaining we hoped she would not guzzle too much!
The night before had brought a huge monsoon storm and we hoped that the roads had not been too badly damaged! As we trundled along at a steady pace, the inevitable happened and the back of the bike began to wobble. On closer inspection, the rear tyre was completely flat once again and we set about our now usual routine! Mark carried the bags as Ollie pushed the heavy bike along the side of the road. However, once again we were lucky and a repair shop was only a few hundred metres along the road. This time a boy of no more than 10 years old set to work with his little box of tools and repaired the puncture on the inner tubing. Fifteen minutes later we were once again on our way.
DISASTER!
1km further along the road and the tyre went again. This time however, we were not so lucky and there was no repair shop just around the corner. As we trudged along the side of the road in the increasing heat we decided to try and flag down a pick up truck. Five minutes later, a kind family who spoke a bit of english pulled over and helped as load the bike onto the back of their truck. Mark was even lucky enough to ride inside with the air conditioning on full! They were going in a different direction to us but dropped as at a crossroads a few kilometres down the road. We thanked them and walked to a nearby repair shop. However, they did not stock spare tyres and we had decided it was the tyre that was creating the punctures, rather than the roads. We were beginning to get fed up but battled on along the side of the road. We decided to take our chances with another pick up and shortly after had managed to flag down another one. They too were very kind and helped us load the bike onto the back of their truck
Attapeu to Pakse
Although the road was rough we did get to view some beautiful scenery! and we were on our way once more. Luckily this time, they were continuing in the same direction as us and dropped us outside a repair shop about 5km along the road. We again thanked them and set to work bargaining for a new tyre and inner tubing.
As we sat by the side of the road waiting for the repairs to take place, we wondered if we would ever get back to Pakse. When the repairs were finished, we counted what little of our remaining money we had left and begrudingly set off! This time we did manage to last 1km and the new tyre seemed to be holding up! Although we were now 2 hours behind schedule we were generally happy to be making progress. After an hour we reached our turning and caught a glimpse of the road that lay ahead. Until now we had been riding on a relatively smooth concrete road but what lay ahead was a muddy, slippy and somewhat dangerous looking dirt track. Both of us were mighty hungry but with limited funds left we stopped at the junction for some local produce. This consisted of a bag of rice and some
sort of uncooked meat product which really made our stomachs turn.
With a little food inside us we began the daunting task that lay before us. At first the road wasn’t not too bad but as we ploughed further into the jungle, we were forced to gently trickle over potholes and around huge muddy bogs. Some of the time Mark had to walk around them while Ollie cautiously drove through them. As we pushed on the rains began and we were now faced with limited visibility as well as now even more treacherous roads.
The journey was very slow and required concentration from both parties as feet were often needed as stabilisers to stop us from falling. We had read in our guide book that Nam Tok Katamtok (100m high waterfalls) should be visible along the track and luckily Ollie spotted them through a clearing in the trees. We stopped and enjoyed the sight for a few moments but were dissapointed we could not get any closer. However, in truth we were glad of standing up as our glutes had taken a beating from the bumpy roads over the last few days.
After a very slow 25km,
we spotted a sign for another waterfall and decided to venture off into the jungle and have a look. We thought the sign read 200m (but on closer inspection as we returned we noticed it was actually 2000m) and so dismounted the bike and headed off on foot! It turned out that walking was just as dangerous as riding. Dale would have had a field day. Many slips and tricky footpaths later we reached the waterfalls of Sape and were slightly unimpressed by them. Feeling slightly disheartened we made our way back up the track to our bike, which was thankfully still there. By this point the rain had stopped and we battled on along the “road”.
As we continued on, what we had been fearing eventually happened. Ollie was driving and came across some hidden potholes. He attempted to hit the brakes but the holes were too boggy and we skidded to a stop, unfortunately we were now horizontal! Luckily, we had managed to slow enough and the injuries we sustained were only minor. After a few minutes to compose ourselves and check our wounds, we continued on to the nearest village. When we stopped for petrol, a
kind family noticed the blood and grazes and let us clean ourselves up in their home. It later turned out that the husband had had a similar accident the previous day and we were lucky to share his iodine and tweezers to pick the grit out! Once we were cleaned up, we realised that the wounds were very minimal and really just a few badly placed grazes. Luckily for Mark, Ollie took the brunt of the fall but both of us escaped with only minimal reminders. The best part was that Ollie had ripped a massive hole in the crotch of his shorts.
From then on, Mark took the wheel and we were both highly excited when we caught a glimpse of real road 10km down the track. Even this road took concentration, due to the numerous amount of hidden potholes that just seemed to appear from nowhere! With about 40km left to go the monsoon hit again and we quickly dived for cover in a nearby local restaurant. We managed to stretch our budget and get 2 bowls of foe for just over a dollar which was good news for our aching stomachs.
When the rains eased we set off on the final leg of our adventure and decided to avoid the remaining couple of waterfalls on our map. By this point we were ready to get back to the safety of our hotel and Ollie was not enjoying the nasty draft he was now experiencing!
As we reached Pakse, we stopped and could just about afford a bike wash! We felt this was necessary as the bike had taken a bit of a battering and we did not want to end up paying for any damage! The wash only cost 30p and made the bike look respectable. Unfortunately, they were not willing to wash me and Ollie, who had now been wearing the same clothes for the past 4 days! (white was not a good choice of t-shirt!)
After 10 hours, we had made it back to our hotel and quickly checked into a comfy room. Both of us were completely filthy and were in dier need of a shower. We both spent at least 30 minutes in the shower and 2 bars of soap later we still didn’t feel completely clean! Highly satisfied with our new state of near cleaniness and fresh pants we headed out for a celebratory beer/s and a huge, well deserved Indian feast.
Needless to say, we were both asleep with 10 minutes of returning to the room!
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