It's starting to get proper cold of an evening now, a welcome change. Had the blankets on last night, it would have been below 20 for the first time in a while. This morning was misty and cool right up until 9:30, so for the first hour and a half I was pretty comfortable cruising along the relative flat of the Mekong. The highway runs along the Mekong all the way to Nong Khai, so its greenish most of the way. I say highway, but theres not much traffic, 20 cars an hour at a guess. The road surface has deteriorated too, particularly between Chiang Khan and Pak Chom its riddled with potholes. I was daydreaming looking at the river and I rode into a massive pothole that I'm suprised didn't take out a few spokes. I also had to come up with a new strategy for dealing with dogs. They catch me too easily on hills so instead of trying to outrun a pursuing dog, I find its easier to avoid their rabid fangs by getting off the bike facing them, and slowly walking away from them (backwards) while facing them. Worked for me today. If you turn your back, or try to ride away too soon their right on your arse snarling and snapping at your heels.
So I pulled into Sang Khom late arvo. Another chilled out riverside town with very little going on.. I'm tempted to stay a while, but I've just enough Thai baht to get me across the border to Lao, which I'm pretty excited about. Northeast Thailand was for me, much more enjoyable than the south, which in my opinion isn't the greatest bike touring destination. It has served it's purpose to get me in shape for the coming mountains however. I much prefer the green of the cooler mountain areas, and this will surely come in abundance as I continue north through Lao, and after that the temperate forests of Southern China.
Snapped this panoramic of the Mekong outside my guesthouse, its incredibly dry at this time of year, peak of the dry season infact, so it's looking more like the Nile.
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