{"id":386,"date":"2025-02-12T15:48:50","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T14:48:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travel.thatmanmatt.com\/?p=386"},"modified":"2025-02-12T15:48:50","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T14:48:50","slug":"day-24-try-not-to-sweat-the-small-stuff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/travel.thatmanmatt.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/12\/day-24-try-not-to-sweat-the-small-stuff\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 24: Try Not To Sweat The Small Stuff"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In theory, today\u2019s ride should have been a nice six-ish hours from Phonsavan to Muang Hiam. Take route 7 out of town, switch to route 1C, don\u2019t miss the turning where route 1C goes left, turn right, done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can probably spot where things went awry. In some respects, it\u2019s testament to how \u201cgood\u201d route 1C is in comparison to every other road in Laos, that I was making such good progress. \u201cI can\u2019t have come as far as the turn yet, it\u2019s only been three hours.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course<\/strong> I missed the turn and didn\u2019t notice. My only observation was that the road conditions became somewhat worse, but I put that down to the increased number of lorries dragging themselves up and down the mountains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only when I stopped for petrol did I check navigation and wonder why my ETA was two hours later<\/em> than at the outset. Yes. A 25km<\/em> wrong direction slog meant another 25km in reverse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An aside<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You may be thinking \u201cwell duh, this is what satnav is for.\u201d Of course I\u2019m using a navigation app (damn you GMaps). But my phone isn\u2019t mounted to the bike, it would be vibrated to hell and probably down the side of a cliff in minutes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I have only GMaps mirroring navigation to the Apple Watch app which is (shocker) absolutely shite. It takes five minutes to detect that the phone is navigating. It then requires two taps to show directions (sure, I love to stop just to tap my wrist). The navigation display is useless for two-wheel use, with tiny text for \u201cdistance to next turn\u201d and \u201cETA\u201d. And the use of the wrist tap to indicate which direction to turn is lost in the general vibration of riding a motorbike. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So yeah. I missed the turn, and when I realised I got angry, and riding a motorbike when angry is not A Good Combination. Either I had to stop riding, or stop being angry with myself, and only one of those was a real option. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back I went. The turn was so fucking obvious, but also obviously too soon<\/em>. The remainder of the ride was acceptable to challenging but nothing too bad, in Lao terms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hot springs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the reasons I got annoyed was that I\u2019d hoped to be in this one-horse town early enough that I could go for a long soak in the hot springs just up the road. As it was, I arrived 2h30 later than planned and assumed the springs would be closing at dusk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good news: they close at 8pm, so my weary ass and shoulders got some relaxation time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I\u2019d pulled into where I intended to stay I\u2019d noticed three other bikes similar to mine. This is a popular stopping-off point on this loop so no great surprise, and also no great surprise that their riders were already in one of the pools, since the springs are only two minutes away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I got talking, two Aussies (brothers as it turns out) and their riding guide. Ended up having Lao hotpot with them all in a local place before coming back to settle in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lesson learned <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Again: be fucking kind to yourself, you idiot. You messed up. It happens. Everything turned out okay. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while I didn\u2019t stop many times, there were, of course, some spectacular views. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tomorrow<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The route to Nong Khiaw has one turn<\/em>. I shall be sure to make it. And it shouldn\u2019t be a long journey, if the Aussies are to be believed, as they came from there today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Actually happier than I look here. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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On top of the world, again. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Room with a view. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Just\u2026 \ud83e\udd29<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Good company.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Persistent dirt. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Hot (water, not me).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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My tip for drying wet clothes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n
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In theory, today\u2019s ride should have been a nice six-ish hours from Phonsavan to Muang Hiam. Take route 7 out of town, switch to route 1C, don\u2019t miss the turning where route 1C goes left, turn right, done. You can probably spot where things went awry. In some respects, it\u2019s testament to how \u201cgood\u201d route […]<\/p>\n

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