Day 82, 73km: by Chris

After more uphill Amy's rear innertube valve failed for a second time this trip. This time it looked like the valve had just come away from the tube. Luckily I'd managed to replace our spare in Luang-Prabang so in it went leaving us without a spare innertube for the second time. We descended to a cultivated plateau, sparse of trees and full of rice paddies and perfectly domed haystacks. Sitting in a grassy roadside meadow we ate a very pleasant but limited lunch in the sun. We were running low on food and the village shops are worse than those in China. They sell crab or salmon flavoured Crisps and inflated packets containing mostly air which cushions a small crumb of unknown food. Nothing substantial. On the road again and with 25km still to go, bafflingly, Amy's rear innertube valve burst again. This was a challenge now because I could not fix it and we had no spares. I tried to fix an older valve and glue it onto the failed tube but this was in vain. The solution was to cannibalise Amy's trailer, using its wheel on the front of her bike (leaving her without a front brake) and the innertube from her front wheel in the rear tyre. I carried the panniers and Amy's front wheel on the top of my trailer and the frame of Amy's trailer was balanced on top of her rack. We eventually limped into Phonsavan town at 18:00 as thick grey clouds bloomed in the sky and dusk was setting in. Looking at the place I was doubtful I would be able to find the specific Presta valve innertubes we need for Amy's rims here. That evening after hours of mulling and puzzling I came to the conclusion the tyre must be slipping on the rim, pulling the innertube with it and ripping the valve off which gets left in the hole. Luckily my bike is capable of taking car tyre valves which are easily obtainable here so I will swap to these and Amy can have my presta valve innertubes. This gives us a spare again so fingers crossed. Although this was good news, the bad news came from BBC news online when we found out typhoon Haiyan is heading our way.

Amy's trailer saves the day