Patuxay

So after living in Vientiane for over a year, I decided today it was time to visit one of the most prominent tourist sites in Vientiane. The Patuxay is the Victory Gate of Laos and was constructed in 1962. The story goes that the US government donated concrete to Laos to build a runway. No runway was built and this Arc de Triumph-like structure appeared. It is hence known as the world's tallest vertical runway. Now it stands at one end of Vientiane's Champs-Elysées with the presidential palace at the other. For about 40 cents, you can climb to the top and visit souvenir shops along the way. Interestingly, I was one of the few foreigners there and I was surrounded by enthusiastic Lao visitors. I particularly like the sign on the wall with a less than flattering description that seems to have been copied directly from a guide book. Ah, monster of concrete.

More bicycling adventures

So, after the adventure I wrote about in my last post, I decided it was time to invest in a proper bicycle. My colleague and I are planning to do a fund raising ride from Vientiane to Luang Prabang (388 mountainous kilometers in 3 days) which will certainly require more than one gear. So after a day of shopping we settled on matching Thai bicycles. The first day out, we took the same route as my flat tire adventure. I happily waved at the tire repair shop as we zoomed by. It was a nice ride, but my back was sore and I couldn't feel the 4th and 5th fingers of either hand for the next four days. I returned to the bicycle store for new handlebar grips and gloves and the numbness has been much less on subsequent rides. I have ridden a different 25 km loop a couple times and am really enjoying the new bicycle.

So, this morning, Amy and I set out on a different route. About 5 km in to the ride, the road became exceedingly potholed and it was a challenge to dodge the mudpuddles, potholes and motorcycles along the way. It was so bumpy that Amy's water bottle holder jiggled off and landed in the middle of street denting her bottle. We then came across a fork in the road. We asked another foreign rider which way to go if we wanted to ride along the river. She said go right. As we approached the fork, it looked pretty clear that we should go left, but we decided to explore. After another jostling kilometer or so, we did come to the river. The road curved to follow the path and I thought it would be a nice quiet ride along the shores of the Mekong. The road did not go far, though, before curving again and winding us through a village before tapering off into a muddy mess and ending in a cow pasture. Being an optimist, I hoped it would just keep on going and join up with the other road so we kept riding through the mud and hoped the cows wouldn't mind. With the trail becoming fainter and now covered in mud, we decided it was time to turn around. I was happy to reach the packed dirt path again and it was actually nicer than the potholed pavement. I must have been quite the site as multiple motorcycles full of people laughed and pointed as they drove by. With well jostled bottoms, we decided to head for home where we had to give our bicycles a bath to return them to their blue color. I then enjoyed my own shower to return me to my usual pale hue. Ahh, it was great. Where will our next cycling adventure take us?