If you enjoy watching this video then please support my fundraising campaign to equip school class rooms in Darfur, Sudan. Thank you!
 
And if you enjoy watching it a lot, then I'd appreciate if you'd support me with a virtual cup of coffee on Ko-fi. Cheers! :)

Click here if you want to take a look at my equipment.

A guy on a motorbike appeared to my left. Since it was my first encounter with a Lao local and I didn't yet how the Laotian people would react to my appearance. I got a bit nervous. My first thought was Please! If you don't have anything nice to say, then please keep moving.
In broken English he asked: "Need help?"
"I'm good. Thanks!"
"Push Lak Sao", he said and pointed down the road.

I took a quick shower, grabbed some Kip out of an ATM and walked across the street to a restaurant. I was super hungry since I only had an orange and a handful of crackers throughout the whole day. I stopped for a second at the doorstep and took a deep breath. Please let me in and if not, at least don't yell at me.

I sat down. The waitress handed me the menu and I ordered a portion fried rice with vegetable. Nothing extraordinary but it felt like a feast to me and shuffled it into my mouth.

On my way back to my room I saw a group of teenage boys playing barefoot football in a park. I joined and played until I got blisters under my feet. :D

I know, reading about buying food in a restaurant and playing football sounds incredible unspectacular, but due to my latest experiences in Vietnam it felt just amazing to me and made me feel like a human being again.

I planned to follow the 1E road to Thakhek and then basically follow the Mekong River south to Cambodia. I expected to arrive in Cambodia latest in three weeks including rest days.

I arrived in Thakhek a couple of days later. Meanwhile I almost forgot about my unpleasant experiences in Vietnam because wherever I was in Laos, everyone greeted and welcomed me with a friendly "Sabaidee!" (Lao: Hello!).

The Vietnamese border was already closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Now the media reported that Thailand would do the same and the Lao government announced a Lockdown. How Cambodia would handle the situation wasn't clear yet.

In Laos I felt welcomed and appreciated and I was also convinced that the lockdown and its related travel restrictions would last for maximum three months. No economy can afford to shut down for a longer time. I know, looking back it sounds naive. But whoever knew better, I hope you made a bet with your bookie back then and you're a rich now. ;)

The lockdown got lifted after two months and thus traveling across province borders was allowed again. According to the news it was still possible to enter Cambodia. What a relief. Happy that I could continue my journey I set off and pedaled in direction south.

If you enjoy reading this blog then please support my fundraising campaign to equip school classrooms in Darfur, Sudan. Thank you!

And if you enjoy reading it a lot, then I'd appreciate if you'd support me with a virtual cup of coffee on Ko-fi. Cheers! :)

Click here if you want to take a look at my equipment.