Harley Honeys

Day: 186
Vientiane to Buddha Park
Time: 4 hours
Distance: 63 km
Avg Speed: The speed of a moped
Terrain: Flat

We decided to go out to a place called the Buddha Park today. The park is a product of an eccentric man’s desires to create a place of both Hindu and Buddhist worship. He passed away and the grounds were made into a tourist attraction. The park is located 25 km out of town and is easily found with a moped. We were planning on riding our bikes out there, but with my bum wheel we decided not to fiddle with it. The plan was to get breakfast, get the bike and roll wheels out of town. I was a little worried when Leslie got up this morning wearing her t-shirt that read ‘if you can read this then my bitch fell off’. I took that to mean that she was planning on driving. We splurged and spent the extra $1 to get the Honda scooter rather than the little Suzuki for $4. I fit just fine on the back and Leslie was a great motorcycle mama getting us around the country side. We took a wrong turn on the way out and had a great little drive through some little villages along the Mekong River. We finally got on track and found the Buddha Park and spent a great couple of hours checking out the statues, checking out the football (soccer) matches and talking to the local English students practicing their conversation skills. We got back on the road during the hottest part of the day and Leslie took the wheel and expertly guided us back into town for our afternoon baguette sandwich and mango smoothie. We took a little rest before we got on to the afternoon plans. We headed out to a local temple where we took a class on meditation and then followed it up with an herbal sauna and massage. I didn’t think that the sauna would do much since we had been riding in one for the last several weeks. I guess that the 4” vent shooting herbal infused steam into a 6’ x 6’ room did the trick. Leslie and I were both sweating within a few minutes. After about 20 minutes of steam Leslie and I both got our massages. We both had little Lao guys yanking, leaning and kneading on us for an hour. After it was all said and done we had spent 80,000 kip for the two of us to be treated. We were all smiles when we figured out it was only $9 for it all. It was great day hanging out in Vientiane with my best friend before we get our act together tomorrow and get packed up to leave.
Peace from the road.
CK