I said goodbye to Felix and was keen to start walking immediately, not because I was excited to walk, but due to the fact that I was surrounded by officials and the chance that they might force me into one of their vehicles back to the city. So I started walking and heading towards a trail that I had spotted on Google maps. Before I was off the Main Rd., Felix passed by in a government truck filled with officials and I waved goodbye to him once more. All smiles from the truck. I’m sure they were wondering what the crazy farang was up to.
Soon after I left the road onto a small trail that seemed to parallel the main highway a few km’s distance. It went for many kms and I was grateful to have it. The path weaved it’s way through rubber plantations and bush land that was likely used for grazing animals. It didn’t seem to see much traffic of any sort and was dotted with more animal tracks then human. I saw goat prints and several others that I wasn’t able to identify.
I was casually walking along the dirt trail when a severe leg pain flashed into consciuosness!!! I had come within inches of stepping into a snare trap. I’m not sure it would have been strong enough but I pictured myself hanging upside down on this trail until the trapper returned to see what he caught, hours or days later. I still don’t know what he would have been aiming for. Wild dog? Big cat? Laotian gremlin? Thankfully I never discovered out what it was.
I was much more cautious with my steps from then on and was able to see the next trap before I came close to stepping into it. I walked about 30 km the first day and was feeling good considering I was carrying much more weight on my back then I needed. I had all of my cycling stuff and a few extra boating articles I didn’t want to separate with yet. One of them was an umbrella which would come in handy during the sweltering days of walking to come. I managed to find a cheap guesthouse for my first night of sleep. It was welcomed.
The next day the pain began as my lovely trappers trail was left behind and I was forced to walk on dirt roads. Better then the highway for sure but there was no shade and every time a car or truck passed I was left in clouds of dust. It was hot and dry. The umbrella was a life saver!
After another 30km of walking I found a temple to pitch my sleeping mat for the second night. They happened to have a night market set up in the temple grounds with vendors selling clothing and food plus the opportunity to throw darts at balloons and win drinks and such. I took part and went 6 for 6, which got me three drinks of my choice. The sesame soy milk was tasty. I was then invited to (Kin Kao, eat rice) have dinner with one of the families there. It was tasty sticky rice with vegetables. On my way back to my sleeping mat I stepped on a ginormous millipede!!! It scared me like crazy because I thought it was a snake. It was thicker than a hot dog! It made me squirm and squeal which attracted some nearby kids who came over and trapped it in a jar. So cool.
I was then kept from sleeping as the night market went much later than I was expecting and the loud music continued into the night. It was a pop up market/carnival at the temple! Haha. I guess the monks need to pay for their cellphones somehow.
I woke up in the morning and was ready to walk away when one of the monks insisted I stay around to eat rice with them. An hour or two later I realized it was a massive feast where everyone from the surrounding area brought food. The main hall was filled with a few hundred people. The piles of food were put in front of the monks who got first dibs. Then some of the men of stature (including me) ate, while the rest along with the women and children took their food to go. It was worth the wait for sure but it meant that I was starting to walk when the sun was already high in the sky.
I felt like I had got a pretty good rest and was feeling okay when I started to walk but the blisters and pain quickly became almost unbearable. It would have been smart to stop and rest another day but for some reason I felt the need to get to Vientiane as fast as possible. I think I wanted to catch Felix before he left and my visa was also a bit of a concern. I needed to find a bike and either extend my visa or exit into Thailand. I walked on.
As I got close to the city I did my best to avoid the roads by navigating small trails I could spot on google satellite images. This meant I ended up bushwhacking through fields of rice and bracken, climbing over and under fences, sneaking through private property which was thankfully not guarded by dogs. I once passed what looked like an illegal cockfighting ring and the sketchy folks hanging around looked at me suspiciously. They seemed curious why I was walking down a dead end road into a rice paddy. Instead of asking if I could go in that direction I did what I do if I’m entering a club or hotel that I know I’m not allowed in. I acted like I belonged and knew exactly where I was going. It worked. And soon I was walking in mud.
I eventually made it to the outskirts of the city as it was getting dark. Generally these are the areas in cities all over the world where you are likely to find trouble. I was walking down a very dark dirt road with giant potholes as random guys on bikes offered me rides. I had my knife ready just in case one of them was interested in something else. I wore my dust mask to try and hide my white identity a bit and look a bit more intimidating. I’m sure it was unnecessary but it’s better to be a ninja then a Farang with a neon $ sign. Nonetheless I made it safely to some cheap rental suites and collapsed. Exhausted and happy to be done with walking for now. It was about 100km in three days. I hadn’t walked that much in three months. My feet were toast.
