Riding west

Out of Loei, we headed west to the festival town of Dansai, nestled in the undulating hills south of the Mekong. Our goal as always was to shoot for a 10am arrival and beat the mid-afternoon triple digit heat. Apparently Dansai is the location of a three day spirit festival at some point in June, but outside of that the town maintains a pretty low-key atmosphere.

We laid low for a few hours in the hotel room staying cool and re-hydrating after the ride before venturing out into the town in the late afternoon to collect snacks for the next day. Our wandering leds us to the large open air market in downtown Dansai, a large concrete roof covering tiled islands where people have laid out their goods for purchase. All the usual fare was there, various types of meat on a stick, all kinds of fresh fruit, cold drinks, and an assortment of bagged snacks.
After picking up some fresh fruit at the market we poked our heads into a few smaller snack shops in search of our dietary staples so far in Thailand: half-liter cartons of chocolate soy milk, and raw peanuts. Healthy, healthy...what can I say.

In the evening, after an underwhelming dinner of fried rice, we wandered to the imposing Wat on the hillside overlooking our hotel. By the time we arrived the light was almost gone which limited our views of the temple, but we were treated to a tour of the grounds by a nun who spotted us wandering aimlessly around by the entrance. She was a wonderful guide and the first local we had met who spoke fluent english and we were able to have a conversation with. The grounds of the Was were beautiful, immaculate gardens, high golden arches, and the dark silohuettes of the buildings against the purple evening sky.