Rescue!

I dragged my bike down to the beach as a river boat pulled up. I waded in to help him and asked for a lift. No, he was going up river, not down. But he pointed up river to show me a speck of a boat heading down. We both hailed it in and, hallelujah, it turned in.

The boat was one of the fancy ones with bus key seats. Falang boats. There was only the pilot and one western woman. Yes, down river. But as I started to load the bike, I had to wait for a conference. The boat was a chartered tour and the one westerner the queen. She td the pilot I was ok, and in moments I loaded the bike, helped him push off, and jumped aboard.

The woman was aptly named Frangelic, a Belgian. She was an older traveller, well healed, and on a private, pre-booked tour. She was, indeed, my angel, and I told her so. She was very amused by the whole thing.

It took us almost 40 minutes to reach Nong Khiaw. I realized that I had ridden three quarters of the way back upriver to Muang Khiaw. The shade of the boat canopy and the river breeze were a pleasure beyond description.

The plan worked. It is better to be lucky than good. I gave the boat pilot a big tip, since the ride was paid for, thanked my angel profusely, and headed off to my bungalow for the best shower of the trip.