14 July 2016, Thursday. So I woke up at 4:30am this morning, determined to witness the morning alms giving ceremony I missed yesterday. Left my room around 5:15am and walked towards Sisavangvong Road in Luang Prabang.
Local vendors have set up these stools and mats mainly for tourists to participate in the alms giving ceremony.
Opportunistic locals setting up stalls like this for tourist to purchase sticky rice and / or sweet snacks for the alms giving ceremony. I’ve heard that the monks would have preferred if the tourist bought the rice from the morning market as the rice from these vendors are sometimes of questionable quality.Tourist prices. Obviously.Ooh… I spotted this really well-maintained retro car.And like clockwork, I could hear the temple bells ringing at exactly 5:40am – sunrise. The monks started coming out from the temples and made their way to the streets.It was a very sacred and quiet event as the monks walked silently through the streets to collect their alms. Each monk is given a pinch of sticky rice – roughly about the size of my thumb.
Tourist are encouraged to participate in the ceremony only if it’s meaningful to them. The monks won’t mind being photographed, but would request the tourists to not get in their way. Also, no flash photography please – something some tourists just didn’t understand.
Monks lining the street to collect alms.They move swiftly and silently to collect their only meal for the day – barefooted.As I prepared to leave Luang Prabang before 7am, I noticed a nice number on my odometer.Stopped for breakfast along the way. Saw this tissue packet. Somebody obviously forgot about the placeholder.
The MAIN ROADS here in Laos are horrible, horrible, horrible. There are no highways, no freeways. It’s mountainous snake passes all the way to the capital city of Vientiane. As if that’s not bad enough, potholes, loose gravel, sand traps, and mud blobs booby trap the entire route. And then a rain cloud descended and it was misty and foggy. And the floor was wet and super slippery.
1,290m (4,232ft) above sea level. And yes – that was my max speed. 36kmh.It’s 1:05pm and I limped my way to a Chinese eatery and guesthouse near Phou Khoun. Bad weather and slippery roads. I don’t want to ride no more. Just over 120km from Luang Prabang, I decided to stay the night here.At 1,369m (4,491ft) above sea level. That’s rain AND fog. And some very slippery roads.The little remote town.The reason I decided to call it day. Mud patch. =( Nope, no further comments.The right side of my E22 cracked open. I had to strap it down to prevent the cover from flying off.
Thankfully, I was on full gear – except I didn’t have knee protectors on. That’s another story on this one. So some bruising on the right patella and I’m limping a little now. After resting for about 2 hours, I tried going out for a light walk earlier and the knee seems okay – just a little sore. Will probably be okay by tomorrow. Thankfully, the biggest damage is a just a bruised ego. The Givi side box, the engine guard, the mirror, the bar-end and the brake pedal can all be easily replaced.
I pushed the bike into the restaurant / guest house. Pulsar will rest here tonight. I hope the weather clears up tomorrow. It’s been raining and foggy the ENTIRE day.
4 thoughts on “The sgBikerBoy 2016 Trip – Day 24”
Bro, don’t push yourself too hard. If your body starts to act weird, either due to the fall or just fatigue, trust your instincts and consider heading back.
Hey Shahr33n! if you noticed, I *AM* heading back. Hahaha. I moving South! Just that the treacherous mountain snake passes with bad roads, rain and fog, made a really, really bad combination.
Take it easy Bro! Luckily U were rather well-geared so U weren’t that badly beaten up by the fall. If possible stop riding when it rains…..to be on the safe side….. Do take extra care and watch out for lunatics drivers, animals, etc….Cheeers!
Would have loved to. But it ain’t like in Singapore. Can’t “stop riding” up in the mountains in the middle of nowhere. Hahah. I was trying to head to the nearest town when the fall happened.
Yeah – I almost always insist on full gear. Can’t afford to get injured here. It would be a logistical nightmare.
Bro, don’t push yourself too hard. If your body starts to act weird, either due to the fall or just fatigue, trust your instincts and consider heading back.
Ride safe!
Hey Shahr33n! if you noticed, I *AM* heading back. Hahaha. I moving South! Just that the treacherous mountain snake passes with bad roads, rain and fog, made a really, really bad combination.
Take it easy Bro! Luckily U were rather well-geared so U weren’t that badly beaten up by the fall. If possible stop riding when it rains…..to be on the safe side….. Do take extra care and watch out for lunatics drivers, animals, etc….Cheeers!
Would have loved to. But it ain’t like in Singapore. Can’t “stop riding” up in the mountains in the middle of nowhere. Hahah. I was trying to head to the nearest town when the fall happened.
Yeah – I almost always insist on full gear. Can’t afford to get injured here. It would be a logistical nightmare.