{"id":363,"date":"2025-02-09T10:24:35","date_gmt":"2025-02-09T09:24:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travel.thatmanmatt.com\/?p=363"},"modified":"2025-02-09T11:08:20","modified_gmt":"2025-02-09T10:08:20","slug":"day-21-lets-sail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/travel.thatmanmatt.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/09\/day-21-lets-sail\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 21: Let\u2019s\u2026 Sail\u203d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the words of my friend and former colleague Andrew, mistakes were made.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or perhaps, like Bob whatshisname, a happy little accident<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m writing this post while sat near the front of one of those narrow boats that transports everything here, from people to scooters to chickens to idiot white people with their oversized trail bikes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
They must love me. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And so you may be asking, \u201cMatt, didn\u2019t you rent a bike so that you could ride a bike?\u201d It\u2019s true, I did, but I did not bank on Google Maps being a filthy liar. \u201cOh yeah,\u201d it said, \u201cthere are two routes from Vang Vieng to Phonsavan. Either go back the way you came a bit and then over the top, or take the southern road and approach from the south.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I left nice and early, 8-ish, to give me plenty of time. After two hours, that southern route runs out of routeness. There was a bunch of construction workers where the road disintegrated into absolutely nothing and one gestured to me \u201cno, go back and take the boat\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Not far from here, the road just disappeared. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The boat?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ohhh. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The boat<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
That\u2019s the boat, on the left, docked against a houseboat. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You see, while I was talking with the guy who sold me two new inner tubes to replace the ones that got nicked yesterday, I asked him which route was \u201cbetter roads\u201d. He gestured at the southern route and then pointed to a picture of a boat on a poster of tourist activities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I smiled, thinking sure, but I\u2019m not interested in a tourist boat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne a day,\u201d he said. \u201cAt twelve. Take one hour from here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meh. Whatever, thanks for the tip but I\u2019ll be on my way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It all became (sort of) clear by 10:30am. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Boat<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Eventually I find<\/em> the boat on my third attempt. And I ask a tween what time it leaves, where it goes, how long, how much. Communication isn\u2019t so easy when there\u2019s barely a data connection for translation. But a calculator helps for numbers, so: 12<\/strong> (time), 280<\/strong> (price), the rest of it, a mystery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More and more people are arriving on scooters and from time to time a guy wheels them down from the houseboat\/dock that the boat is moored to. They neatly line up, transverse fashion and people can sit either side. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m getting a little concerned that there won\u2019t be room for my relatively large bike (just be glad it\u2019s not a GS1200\u2026) but reassure myself with the general impression that I get from the Lao that \u201cwe\u2019ll make it happen\u201d and indeed he does, with the support of about five other guys to manhandle my bike into position. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGreat,\u201d I think, \u201ctime to get going\u201d, as I clamber aboard and take what appears to be the VIP seat near the front. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But nope. Still more scooters to cram on, they managed to get another four in the remaining space by my knees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Just going with it tbh. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As of 2:20pm, that\u2019s where I am, somewhere in the middle of a reservoir that I can just about see is fed by a river, that may or may not pass somewhere near Phonsavan, that the boat may or may not traverse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What\u2019s that about comfort zones again? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Postscript<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Yeah the boat didn\u2019t get anywhere near as close to where I needed to be, and since it\u2019ll be dark well before I could make it to Phonsavan and the hotel I had booked, I found a very down-to-earth guesthouse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are a lot of roosters here. It may be an interesting night. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the words of my friend and former colleague Andrew, mistakes were made. Or perhaps, like Bob whatshisname, a happy little accident. I\u2019m writing this post while sat near the front of one of those narrow boats that transports everything here, from people to scooters to chickens to idiot white people with their oversized trail […]<\/p>\n

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