1275 km (vangvieng).

'ten weeks with clifford (a love story)' continues.

it's strange to be so far away during the madness leading up to the us elections. now more than ever, i feel like fellow travelers see me as such a representative of the us. i've actually gotten hoorahs when i've said i'm absentee voting for obama. as if it was a hard choice. i guess i shouldn't be surprised, when the vice presidential debates i just suffered through are actually taken seriously. my dad sent me this about a month ago, but i'm reminded of it daily, as i'm questioned about the us elections.

i wanted to use this post, not to rant about politics (you at home are probably tired of it) but to talk about my recent obsession with sticky rice. and to also talk a little bit about the biking i've been doing.

i've really been struck by the warm reception i get as i bike from town to town. as i wrote previously, people frequently come to the road and say hello, give me their hands, try out random english phrases ('my name is' without the name, 'good afternoon' at 7 in the morning).

i tried to take some video as i passed through a few of the villages, none of which worked all that well. the one i tried to post didn't work for some reason - i'll try again in the next few days. too bad i didn't have my camera out when i had 30 kids running beside me through their entire village... so much for subtlety.

i've decided (after much consideration (and i don't use 'much' lightly here)) that my favorite response is the occasional one i get from people over 60, mostly because it's so unexpected. usually, older people see me and probably think, 'pshhh, just another 2 meter white kid on a red bike with a yellow helmet and short shirts.' but then, occasionally, a 72 year old woman with a machete will make eye contact with me, give me a look that says 'what's wrong with you?', and then, just as i'm passing, throw me a thumbs up and a hurried sabaidee! it's those moments that make me happiest to be biking. and the downhills. oh, the downhills.

when i bike uphill, i think about sticky rice. biking downhill has become meditative - the wind has a calming and clearing effect.

the most common response i get after people hear about my bike trip is 'whoa. ok. i assume you've done a lot of biking before?' to which i usually respond 'um, no. well... no. my bike is red, though.'

what this has actually caused me to think about, though, is whether i see myself becoming a 'biker,' whatever that means, in the future. in the first few weeks i would have said definitely no, but as time has gone on i've really started to fall in love with biking as a mode of transport. halfway between luang prabang and vangvieng, i got stuck in the village of kioukacham due to a pretty intense rain storm, and spent the afternoon watching buses full of tourists stop, grab a sandwich, and move on. i was surprised to find myself quite content to watch them pass through, knowing i'd be spending the night in the middle of nowhere, and biking on the following morning. i'm not sure this is something i could have said two weeks ago.

i also realize i've been talking a lot about 'hilly' biking but haven't really told you what that means. so, courtesy of the lonely planet se asia biking guide i found in a book exchange in luang prabang, i give you an elevation guide of the two day ride i did between luang prabang and vangvieng.


it's a little confusing because i've done the ride in reverse. i started in the upper right hand corner in luang prabang, and biked to kioukacham the first day, then continued to muang phukhun and on to vangvieng (along the bottom) the second day. elevation is marked on the left, and distance on the bottom.

anyway, that's probably enough for now. it's been raining a lot today. writing felt like a nice alternative to getting wet. over the past few days i've been eating more mulberries than i ever thought possible, and tomorrow i'm going rock climbing in some limestone caves. should be exciting. and then i'm off to vientiane - i'll hopefully arrive by tuesday. hope you're all well!