– ODO- 16786 – 16890km
– Location- Nong Bua Lam Phu, Thailand
– Weather- 24-38
As I approach the last couple of days on the road on this leg, from Kathmandu to Vientiane, I become pensive. By this point I’ve been cycling solidly for a month. My daily routine. However tough it seems to cycle around the world the reality day to day is easy. You just have to get into the rhythm. Wake up an hour before sunrise. Pack the gear while eating a simple breakfast of bread and peanut butter (sometimes with added jam). Ride for 6 hours. Eat lunch at a cafe. Rest and read for the hottest hours of the day. Cycle another 6 hours. Camp. Sleep. Repeat.
This leg has been the toughest so far. I feel like that’s true of each successive leg. The beauty of starting in Europe and heading east is the ability to prepare gradually. Becoming used to new cultures, money and personal space with a gradual build. This leg had been tough because of the mountains. Following the foothills to the Himalayas east through Nepal and further east through India took me up some steep climbs on terrible roads. My last leg, 5 months cycling around India, was strategically timed over winter which meant it rarely got above 30 degrees. But now we’re bang in spring and the rainy season. I’ve dealt with new levels of heat and humidity. My clothes never drying and stinking with sweat. Heat rash across my entire body. I’ve traveled through uncharted Myanmar, feeling as far away from home as I have ever felt but finding my way regardless. Along the way my bikes begun to struggle too. With new and compound issues cropping up and slowing me down.
Tomorrow I cycle to the border with Laos. I’m living and digital nomading there for at least two months. Seeing my family for the first time in 18 months too and picking up some parts for my bike. Fingers crossed when I hit the road in autumn I’ll be all set and ready to go.
