Day 235, October 11, 2013, Friday,Outomxay-Luang Namtha
The bus ride to Luang Namtha was easy, the negotiating for bike prices wasn’t. The driver wanted 40,000 kip. We pointed out that our tickets are 40,000kip, if we pay that much, our bikes should have had a seat inside the bus. Really, I’m not willing to pay simply because it’s a bike, but we offered 5000. The driver wouldn’t take it. I sat back in the bus and offered for him to take us back to Oudomxay and I’ll just ride. The driver retrieved a bus station employee to help negotiate. We told him that our bus to Oudomxay had no bike charge, stating its unfair that we have to pay 40k. We settled at 10k per bike.
We rode back into Luang Namtha right at lunch time and checked the usual lunch spot and surprised Rene, Melanie and Bianca. Ah, its good to be back and reunited with these wonderful friends. We talked until they needed to go back to work and Raj and I remained to eat lunch. A guy saw us from across the street and headed right for us, he must be Melanie and Rene’s coworker we haven’t met yet. As he approached I asked “Are you Christian?” He seemed uncomfortable and said “Uhh, as in God?” We all laughed. Turns out he is Jan, and his girlfriend is Emily, they’re the other cyclists in town, doing a year on the bike, crossing central Asia and China, doing a few days off in Luang Namtha. They sat down and we talked bikes for the afternoon, arranging sauna and dinner plans.
Cyclist met: 2
Running Total:
That evening, Raj, Rene and I went for a run through the nearby hills, regenerated in the sauna and replenished at the night market.
October 12, 2013, Saturday, luang nasmtha
Raj and I wanted a full day in Luang Namtha to hang out with the Luang Namtha crew. Today was prime. We booked kayaks through a local trekking company and floated down the Namtha River all day. The kayaks, were totally useless, non-directional. But it was still a great day. Big flat slow sections, some small rapids, nice scenery, even some jungle. Good lunch, and great company.
That evening I got a grip of veggies, we hit up the sauna, and Bianca led us in making a hearty curry and I prepared a fresh salad. Good last night. Missing everyone already!
October 13, 2013, Sunday, Luang Namtha-Chiang Kong 30km total 11030
We really want to stretch our time in Luang Namtha, but we’ve got to leave today, by law. Our visa is over. We were tempted to catch the 12 o’clock bus but we did the responsible thing, got up at 5:45, packed up, ate and biked to the bus station by 7:30 and booked a ticket, though, leaving Luang Namtha is never easy, and this time is no exception. The bus driver wanted 100k per bicycle. We paid 10k(unhappily) from Oudomxay. 100k is more than what we paid going across the country! The driver was not budging. And the bus staff was not helping. I pointed to a pair of people carrying over a 50kg sack of rice to the bus. “Look, that’s effing heavy, 50kgs!! Two people.” Bike is still 100k. We offered 50k. Bike is still 100k. We broke down and said fine, but the driver refused to take us and the bus station employees said the bus was full. They had our tickets in their hands but sold out the seats as we negotiated. They offered us one seat. Idiots. Then the arguing turned to negotiating just for a seat! The bus left, cyclist-less. Now we just hope that the 12 o clock bus will get us to the border before the mekong ferry stops.
We rode back into town. All in all, we’ve done the ride from Luang Namtha to the highway eleven times. 110 kilometers. I rode to Melanie’s house and she and Bianca just laughed. By now its shouldn’t be too surprising when we say we’re leaving… and we don’t. One last breakfast.
We headed to the bus station and hour and a half early, got a ticket, loaded and left. I think we might be notorious, they changed their bike charging strategy, we loaded them on, sat on the bus and just as we were leaving, they said we needed to pay for the bikes, 20k. Still not wanting to pay anything for such a bike duty, but 20k is a lot better than 100k.. Sailed over the mountains, dang petroleum makes things easy. Made it in time for the ferry, got the exit stamp, and departed.
I’ll be back..