The trail was like a spider web with side trails veering off every so often, but I continued on with what seemed to be the main trail, confident that it would take me to one of the villages shown on the map.  Sounds plain and simple, but this trail was far from easy going.  Several uphill's took 2-4 hours just to reach the top, only to be rewarded with a ten minute downhill thrill ride, only to have to do it again, again, and again.  Problem with the downhills was the chance of running into a fallen tree and breaking some spokes, or bending a rim.  I carried a half dozen spare spokes, but that was not a job I wanted to tackle out in the wilderness.

By the end of the day, I had gotten nowhere, though my speedometer clocked up 20 some kilometers.  There were no villages, no huts, no restaurants, nothing, just the few stragglers along the trail.  Worn-out and hungry, it was getting too dark to think about going much further.  Finding a tiny clearing just hidden off the trail, I strung up my mosquito net, spread out a sheet of plastic to lay on, and gnawed away at the driest, most non-satisfying, chunk of bread imaginable.  This was not exactly the way I hoped things would be.  At least it didn't rain.