Looking into Laos

I am currently on the border between Thailand and Laos. I rode for 9 hours today covering some of Thailands most excellent roads. I was told this would be good but I didn't really expect it to be this good.

The tarmac was like a Grand Prix race circuit in places. The curves so much more enjoyable on the little 400cc bike revving madly like an angry bumble bee, sounding like it is way over the limit but which in fact isn't doing much over 100kph. It is bizarre, zooming through corners with scenery out of Platoon but with advertising.

I passed through numerous peasant villages and quite a few towns. The noise of the bike attracts some attention, people mostly stare at what I can only imagine is as alien and unusual as their faces suggest. The noise, the bike, the leathers, the helmet, the boots... I can see them trying to take it all in in the brief seconds as I pass by. I often wave at kids, many of whom are trying so hard to compute that they don't even wave back. Kids everywhere wave back, unless they are looking in disbelief at a spaceman.

I was photographed today by some students who seemed to initially be photographing the scenery. As I passed by, the camera was suddenly set up at I was snapped. I slowed and turned round to say hello, and motioned for another pass. Just in case they needed a better angle. They gleefully agreed they did. Slightly guilty ego junky shares moment with bike fans. I zoomed past and continued on.

The hostel tonight is actually whicker huts on the bank of the Mekong river which runs along the border of Laos and Northern Thailand. The huts have bathrooms and beds and the walls are thin. The older Italian ladies next door do seem to talk loud. I don't expect they will be partying too late though.

I met a great Swiss-French couple and shared a tasty Mexican meal overlooking the hazy Mekong as the sun went red and disappeared. No cloud to refract light, just a grey haze with a perfect, dimly glowing sun which seems to stay high until the last moments, then it is suddenly dark.

Tomorrow I will follow the border towards the Golden Triangle, the point where Laos, Burma and Thailand meet. Then it is west along some more reportedly amazing roads and down to Fang and then back to Chiang Mai. The 400cc is a bit cramped, and my knee hurts and the nappy rash has not completely gone, so I might cut short the trip and take out the other hire option at Tony's Big Bikes, the CBR1000, just for a day to see some other parts of the region. That will definitely cause a stir with the peasants. The CBR 1000 is rare here, in fact this might the only one in the country. It even looks like a spaceship. I am trying to find the Thai English dictionary. How do you say "My name is Buzz Lightyer, I come in peace"?