Day 26 1054 days to go. Distance today 100km total 1208. It’s 11.20am and lunch break time on route about half way to a place called Seno. You know that willy Nelson song ‘on the road again’ I’m hearing you willy. It’s having a place to go but enjoying the road along the way. People people people smiles hellos nods waves cheers more smiles oh dear no teeth no health care system but smiling happy nonetheless it’s that Loas psyche and I love it. Boxing say and it appears just another day here with school and the different working days as usual. It seems the people celebrate Christmas of sorts as there have been decorations and Christmas trees and a concert last night and fireworks but in what context Christmas is celebrated I’m not sure. Anyway it was nice to spend the day in tha Knaek. I was in a dormitory with a stack of backpackers and didn’t really connect with any or maybe I didn’t really want to. I did meet this one quirky couple who were from Israel and had been traveling for three years. The played the flute and the recorder but were very much out there and entrenched in the backpacker scene which is very different to my interests so there was little topics to discuss with detail. I find that scene a bit tiresome and try to dodge and weave it where possible. It’s a bit tricky cause its in the bigger towns that this scene is ripe and where I have stop overs to have to access to Internet etc. mmmmmmm need a plan. I think finding a piece of the towns authentic self, indulge in it and have something very cool and unique about the place to share with you is far better focus and a good plan to stick with. Accommodation is so cheap here I can afford a room to my self when they’re available and I appreciate that luxury more so now. Anyway today’s been cool the smaller towns I’m passing through have been interesting with lots of animals hanging out amongst the townsfolk like goats and pigs and cows and buffalo of course chickens. Fried specialities are about. I bought one and they’re like a donut ball filled with a sweet paste and rolled in icing sugar yum. Gotto share this story I saw this puppy he looked very poised so got my attention but he was very interested in up the road further then his tail started going off bigtime and approaching was his family coming home from a mornings work with the tractor. There’s some basic qualities that are universal aren’t there any way made me smile. Reminds me of when I had the home stay at long Lo and the puppy and kitten sat very attentive watching me eat breakfast. When noone was watching I have them half each of my leftover fish the cat of course devoured it growling in case the dog had ideas. But the puppy took it straight outside and buried it in a sandpile for Ron. There’s honking geese somewhere nearby and the sounds of children, adult chitchat and domestic choirs of all sorts as background noise. lots of layers of cool sounds and quite cathartic listening while sitting in the sun now over lunch. I’m munching on rice cakes and banana. The rice cakes have like a toffee crunch drizzled over them and they’re really yummy and my new fav. I suppose it’s time to start the next half of the day so far so very good.
It’s 5.46pm same day and I got to Seno this arv. It’s been such a nice day. I relaxed into the kms and had heaps of stops to mix with people that got my attention. Hey they play botchy here with the silver balls. It’s weird cause my family are big botchy players at the inaugural boxing day bbq and I so thought of them today seeing the locals right into it. The area is again agriculture but now heaps of sugar cane growing and watermelons. So there’s lots of smoke in the air as they still use the grow and burn style but made for a great sunset tonight. I passed this lad who held up a rat he had trapped and was clearly proud of the fact. Shortly after there was this stall with rats all hanging and really small melons for sale. I had to stop. The little girl ran inside and came out with her mum again no teeth but all smiles and hello. Of course with the cane there’s heaps of rats so what’s plentiful is what’s eaten. The lady showed me that the baby melons get put inside the rats when they cook and apparently taste pretty alright. Lunch stop was at this servo good spot with toilets and water for a top up. I went to sit on the ground near rube and a man and his kids were having lunch at a table and invited me over to join them. They offered me to share their sticky rice and a mixture of soupy dunks and I showed them my rice cakes and bananas and said I was ok but say with them anyway the man chatting away to me talking about goodness knows what but happy to chat he bought me a water and wished me well. I shared the last of my rice cakes with a long haired mutt that was giving me his best I’m starving look which he wasn’t but it worked. He looked a bit like my cousins dog Marley very cute. Later in the day I stopped to adjust Rubes rear brakes which were having a squeek and happened to stop next door to a mechanical place. Of course they were very keen to check out her bits. I must say I felt a little bit the idiot with the mechanically minded watching on but I sorted it and got their nods of approval. They even tried to find a #5 allen key amongst their tools but no luck really lovely of them to try but. You have probably guessed by now that children are everywhere here and appear from nowhere so of course there were a little gang hanging about playing tricks and getting chased and tickled by me which they loved as well 🙂 I did the photo thing before heading off and its a nice picture for keeps sake as it was big fun. I’m very fond of the whole grease monkey scene and am definitely a bogan at heart. I just need a few thousand more skills to be a bit more legit. I mentioned before there are so many goats in this area and as an avid fan of these beautiful creatures I find myself calling out to them constantly saying hello or be careful of the road etc. Their bleat is so unmistakable you hear it often from the fields or the footpaths and roads now I think of it. Lots of babies who have their own octaves lol they’re such darlings. I’ll grab a photo if I get the chance again I’m too busy chatting to think about grabbing the camera. Back at home the Woodford Folk Festival started today so the theme for the Ipod was the bands I bought albums from when I was there last year. I haven’t listened to some of this music for ages so I was singing to the goats while the Ipod lasted. Seno is allot smaller than what i thought and not much about except this huge market at the top of town where the road heads off to a place called Savannakhet a border town with Thailand on the Mekong. Allot of Thai products must come through this way because everything from clothing to jewelry to bags and accessories stuff you don’t see elsewhere were for sale and loads of it. And that’s bpretty much the town which is odd. I was really lucky to find a guest house with only one in town 50000kip. It’s got these two wooden chairs inside that way over 10kgs each made from some solid timber. They’re ugly as hell but would cost a fortune back at home in an antic place I’m sure. I checked out the foodstalls and bought some more rice cakes and bananas . I also found a bag of baguettes finally was game enough to buy skewered eggs 5000 kip for 4 that have been grilled. They look so weird skewered eggs but they’ll taste great as most food here does. On that note I’m hungry and going to set up a picnic for dinner yum. Good day all all round and very happy to be back on the road. Talk soon x
shecyclesolo 