A few days out of touch

Phu Chi Fa. Those words have hung over my head for two hot days on the road. Few roads lead there and those that do climb. Climb a lot. Phu Chi Fa, the hill, is supposed to be privy to the best sunrises in the country. The only other thing I know going in is that the riding is supposed to be spectacular. Right on both counts!

The first day is fairly level, though slowly the dusty farms give way to green forests surrounded by a wall of mountains. I lose time hiking around a nifty thermally heated waterfall and having drinks with some friendly Thais (“You! You! Beer Leo!”) and so elect to spend the night camping in the nearby national park. I am lulled to sleep by the sounds of the jungle.

The next day the climbing begins almost immediately and lasts for 17km, but luckily it's a short day. There is a bit of walking of the bike, but no shame. Once in the hills it's quiet but of course wicked, epic views of farm valleys and villages perched on the mountainside. The last 1.5km driveway up to the Phu Chi Fa hill is one where you walk the bike all the way. From the top you're above everything else in the area, you can see into Laos, you can see the Mekong River, you can see the salt stains on all your clothing from the climb.

The next morning, the hill is a zoo, packed with Thai tourists. A few grab me for pictures. With the mist lingering in the lower valleys and the light peeking up from behind the hills, and then some white kid with absolutely horrible hair in the foreground, it certainly would be a shot to remember.

The road follows the ridgeline for a while. It's a weird place, since there's almost no traffic, few signs, no trucks, very little development. The people up here aren't ethnic Thais, a lot of them are from these “hill-tribe” villages. They are minority people with their own language and customs and clothing. It's hard to understand what their situation is, to the Thais the funny dressed kids are a bit of a novelty. But the villages are much poorer than what I've seen elsewhere and they certainly aren't as happy as the Thais and I wonder if all the National Park Stations are actually a means to keep an eye on these people. Does anyone have a National Geographic on the hill-tribes of Thailand?

The descent back to the valley floor and back to the real world is impossibly steep, too steep to really enjoy. I alternate between brakes, hoping that they don't light on fire or something. The few times I do let go the bike goes from 0 to 50 km/h very quickly. My ears pop and it gets very hot again and suddenly there are lots of little shops by the road again so I have an ice cream. In trying to keep my stomach full I have basically turned into the cookie monster.

And then it's up along the Mekong River to Chiang Kong, the end of the line for Thailand. I cross by boat to the Laos city of Houay Xia, pay my $43 for a tourist visa, including $1 surcharge because it's after 4pm (Canadians pay the most of all countries in the world, which makes you wonder what we did to them, especially considering the States bombed the be-jesus out of the country during the Vietnam war). Welcome to Laos!