74, 116km: by Amy

Thankfully the mozzie net kept our bathroom friend away overnight. The lovely guesthouse owner brewed us a cup of fresh Lao coffee each before we left. Chris was fascinated by the man's Mina bird which had learnt to replicate all the sounds of the bus station- creaking door, horns, squeaky breaks and laughter (as well as 'hello' in 3 languages). The day was hot, sunny and predominantly flat along the river so we made amazing time.

Chris found a lunch spot but I struggled to find him. Our speedos were different because I had stopped to take pictures and our two-way radios were being temperamental due to the thick jungle. I was getting hot and hungry (=grumpy) looking for him. At that moment 2 Canadian cycle tourists cycled past. They were really nice and we chatted for a while. They were puzzled as to why Chris and I don't cycle together (a fact I was lamenting at the time) but our paces are so different it just doesn't work. I'd bought some random eggs that had been drained, mixed with some sort of stock then put back in the shells to be boiled. They tasted good but one was a bit raw. Chris avoided them entirely. The afternoon was incredibly hot, made tolerable only by soaking my shirt and headscarf in a stream. We ploughed on, arriving at Luang Probang in the final moments of daylight.