The photo above is of the hotel we stayed at last night. The place was pretty good. Good location and nice and quiet. In the afternoon we went for a walk across the road to a market that had set up just about opposite our hotel. They were selling the usual fruit, fish, meat, and the flies were free.
For dinner we decided on a bowl of glass noodles, prawns, tomato and onions. WELL, talk about being hot. I'm not good with hot food, but this was bullshit. Both Len and I couldn't eat it. We walked back across the road to hand deliver our food back to this dickhead who thought it was real funny. So, we went back to our rooms to scavenge what food we had in our pannier bags. I had biscuits, fruit and some oat bars. Not enough for dinner, but it had to do.
The photo above is of the City Pillar Shrine, Nong Khai. I found this whilst out looking for the bookshop today. I finished my book by Frank Gardner and am now in desperate need of another book. In front of the shrine were African figurines surrounding nice gardens. Not sure what all that means.
From the top of the Shrine looking down to the gardens below.
Just another angle of the City Pillar Shrine, Nong Khai.
Inside the pillar I was surprised not to see a statue of Budha. Plenty of incense burning but only 1 single pillar. Perhaps I should read up on my history before the European trip later in the year.
The monument with the blue and red ribbon around it is the Prab Hoe Monument. The new monument of Prab Hoe was built in the Buddhist area of 2429 as a memorial place which brings about reflective sense of thinking of brave hearted soldiers courage and sacrifice in the fighting against the tribal rebellion of Hoe. In 2459 BE.
Whilst searching for the Hornbill Bookshop I came across the Governor's Mansion of Nong Khai. It certainly is in need of a face lift.
Whilst on my search for the illusive bookshop I ended up down on the Mekong River. The importance of this area is significant to me. About 5 years ago my good friend Terry Sandford and I did a trip down the Mekong River and I recall sitting on these steps. It's certainly changed in 5 years. More shops and more hotels now surround the waterfront.
Directly across the road from the waterfront is yet another Wat. I like this one due to the enormous ceremonial drum in the structure.
This photo is of the hotel Len and I are staying in tonight. It's called the Grand Paradise Hotel Nong Khai. Beautiful place with all the amenities you need for a stop over.
In the market yesterday afternoon we got to meet some of the locals selling their goods. Every person we met gave us a great big smile and never minded having their photo taken. I did hear one lady say husband. She was looking at Len.
This lady was the local fish monger. She had a lot of fish and more flies than you could poke a stick at. I was not in the mood for fish.
This is one of many photos Len took of me whilst changing tubes yesterday in the heat of the day. Eventually it worked out. I can't say what I said to him whilst he was taking my photo, other than to say I told him the camera would fit if he worked hard on it.
Now for today's ride.
We left Phon Phisai around 7.am. We headed for the 7/11 store to buy some goodies as breakfast was not supplied by the hotel. After stocking up on some food it was time to hit the road for the 47km trip to Nong Khai. Nong Khai is where the friendship bridge is located that will take us over the Mekong River and into Laos tomorrow morning.
Today's ride was really fast. Len was setting a really good pace all morning over some nice rolling hills with beautiful overhanging trees protecting us from the sun. During the ride a lot of road works were going on and this was causing a lot of dust be in the air. You can taste it as you rode along.
About 6kms outside of Nong Khai we found that famous Amazon coffee shop. We had to stop for the Aussie morning tea. Another nice iced coffee with a little rest and soon we were back on our way.
As we rolled into town Len took us straight to the White Inn Hotel which he selected as our accommodation for the night. A good choice, but unfortunately the hotel was fully booked. We went down the road and the next hotel was fully booked as well.
We did see the Grand Paradise Hotel as we rode into town and decided to go back and check out the prices. At first the reception asked for 1280 Baht. I immediately said I'm not paying that much for a room to sleep. The reception then dropped the price to 1000 Baht. This was more reasonable.
So the afternoon was spent looking for the bookshop, swimming and watching some English TV.
In total I rode 50kms today with a maximum temperature of 105 degrees and an average of 92 degrees. Good roads, slight tailwind.
Tomorrow we ride across the friendship bridge to enter the city of Vientiane in Laos. I have a feeling we'll have to put the bikes on a bus as they won't let us ride our bikes across.
Until tomorrow, safe riding.
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