Day 48, Xethamouak to Savannakhet

If you have read the previous blog and worked out the distance between Xetamouak and Savannakhet, you would certainly have some doubts about our incredibly high level of fitness. In this case, you would be right. It wasn’t planned but we had a really tempting opportunity to skip two days of cycling when we found a bus close to the hotel and ready to go. Nevertheless, our cycling skills are also amazing and we have never had as muscles on our legs than now.

So, we got up at 6am, got on a local bus at 7am and arrived at the Savannakhet bus station at around 11am. We were totally in admiration of the bus staff, which consisted of:

• A calm driver who has a special skill in dodging animals, tractors and motorcycles
• A really practical woman that manages the money and everybody including us
• A young woman always on the starting-bloc to run at full pelt at each stop to help customers to carry and tidy their pieces of luggage

The Mekong river

We didn’t take any pictures inside the bus, but just imagine a tiny one, crowded as you have never seen.

Once in Savannakhet, we cycled along the Mekong river to find a cheap hotel. Afterwards, we found a restaurant on the main plaza and got immersed in the town. This city was built during the French colonial period; it really looks like a typical French village. “La petanque” is a very popular sport. There are stalls everywhere selling “choux a la crème” and crepes. People in their sixties generally speak French and some are able to quickly find out that I’m one. We met even a fan of the Marseille football club and Laurent Blanc!

We booked a trekking day at the eco-tourism centre and attended a meeting with other participants. It was an opportunity to meet a Korean couple, the woman was a journalist, and another Japanese man working on telecoms. We bumped into them at night and had a lively dinner with these fifty-year-old new friends.