Champasak to the Four Thousand Islands…..

Monday 28th January….Cycle to ‘Four thousand islands’…..
Yesterday we cycled from Pakse to Champasak in our first experience of cycling in very hot conditions. When we arrived, we checked into a hotel and immediately got a tuk tuk to Wat Phu, another UNESCO world heritage site (four on this trip). A buddhist temple high up on a hillside overlooking the Mekong. Over 1500 years old. An amazing place.
Today we have cycled about 115 kilometres in about 35 degrees. We started early at seven o’clock in the morning. It was a great ride, cycling on a minor road parallel to the Mekong. the road was a mixture of good, sealed roads and around thirty miles of dirt track. It was very dusty and We used our ‘vendor’s masks again. We stopped several times to drink water but minutes later you were thirsty again.
We eventually reached Khong Island in the area known as the Four Thousand Islands. There are two speeds in Laos, slow and stop. We have just stopped. We took a catamaran to the island that is in the middle of the Mekong river which at this point is around 4-5 kilometres wide.
We are a little bit tired….but pretty chuffed at our efforts. Tomorrow we are going to another island (Don Khet) and staying there for three nights before crossing the border into Cambodia just twenty miles further on.
These are the sorts of days that will live long in the memory. This is why I love travelling. Doing it on bikes with two great blokes makes it extra special.