With sweat dripping
down my back, I look down into the ditch out the back of the
guesthouse with complete disappointment. According to the Lonely
Planet this ditch should, in fact, be a wonderful refreshing swimming
pool. OK, so obviously they worked a little too hard on digging the
hole, they had to take a breather for a couple of years before
finishing it off. What else does this place have to offer, TV? Yes,
but no channels which isn't good as Tom and Nicky want to watch the
Man Utd match. Air con? No just fans, which isn't too much of an
issue but still a negative point. They did however, have beds and
showers. We were torn whether to stay or not. We had walked a fair
way out of the central part of the small town of Ba Na Hin to find
this oasis but in the end we decided not to stay and find somewhere
closer to town. We did have to wait whilst Tom finished his shower
though and we left extremely swiftly.
We did find a nice room
in a hotel closer to the centre with a double bed, a single bed, a TV
and wonderful air conditioning. It was a fairly new hotel as many of
the accommodation in Ba Na Hin is as it begins to experience the
tourist boom with travellers using the town as a base camp for the
Konglor Cave. Finally, we had arrived at our destination albeit one
day late. The night spent in Vieng Kham, I should say the few hours
we spent there consisted of a cramp nights sleep trying not to fall
of the bed that all three of us shared and finally getting the bus
straight to Ba Na Hin in the morning.
Beautiful scenery |
On our walk into town
accompanied by the hotel's dog who liked to follow us wherever we
went, we dropped into the tourist information chalet which was run by
a eccentric 30 year old Laos guy who was full of enthusiasm for his
surrounding countryside. We ended up organising motorcycles for our
trip to the caves the following day. He also told us about the bus
onwards to Vientiane.
We picked up our
motorcycles early the following day and our 50km trip to the Konglor
Caves had begun, albeit on the road on the wrong side of the road for
several hundred metres. That reminded me when my friends and I hired
a car in Corfu and we pulled out onto the main road between Kavos and
Corfu Town only to be confronted by a lorry coming at us on our side
of the road. I thought why is he on the wrong side of the..... oh
no... I'm on the wrong side of the road!!! It's alright though as I
think this is the last country that drives on the wrong side of the
road.
The journey to the cave
was absolutely stunning. Travelling through the green fields, hills
and little villages where locals stopped you with a rope across the
road to offer you a drink for a small donation. They were absolutely
fantastic and generous people who didn't speak English but were full
of smiles and laughter. The shot that I drank was extremely potent
and I was concerned that it was pure gasoline and my vision would
disappear whilst negotiating pot holes on the dusty road.
It took us around an
hour to travel the 50km to the cave and we arrived at the entrance to
the park where we had to stop at the barrier to pay the entrance fee
to the national park area. We parked our bikes up and found the hut
where all the guides were hanging out, drinking, talking and smoking.
We negotiated a price for a boat trip through the cave and were
handed life jackets. The guide got up and led us down to the cave
entrance.
Entrance to the Cave |
Our guide dragging the boat through shallow waters |
Thankfully the lights
lit up again and our eyes readjusted. A sigh of relief was heard
from all of us as we continued on the path back down to the other
side of the rock to rejoin our guide and head off again on our trip
through the middle of the mountain. I'm glad the lights went off as
it gave us the experience of being in true darkness and wonder what
it would feel like to be lost in this mammoth cave. The water is
cool and the subtle sound of dripping water can be heard from above.
At times, the cave opened up into huge chambers which were truly awe
inspiring, there are no words to describe the beauty of this natural
wonder that sits in the isolated south of Laos.
Up ahead, the cave
lightens gradually and suddenly we're out in the open water speeding
through the jungle that surrounds the river. My hands quickly search
my head for sunglasses as my pupils shrink causing slight painful
readjustment. The boat was slowly grounded on the banks of the river
where we got out for a short while for a drink in a Laos tourist trap
before we headed back through the cave to our starting point.
We finished our trip
off by have a swim in the small lake that accumulates at the entrance
to the cave. Wonderfully refreshing swim, however, dark clouds began
forming above our heads and it wasn't long before several load cracks
of thunder were heard accompanied by drips of rain. It was time for
us to take refuge under the trees whilst a short downpour took hold.
Once the rain had stopped we climbed back on our bikes and began our
trip back to Ba Na Hin. Our stomachs were grumbling so we stopped at
the first restaurant we found and it was good timing as the storm
above awakened yet again and this time heavy rain battered the
countryside.
The restaurant was in a
small guesthouse which was run by a very sweet and accommodating
family who welcomed us in with a shake of the hand. Their daughter
had her play area in the corner with toys spread across the floor.
She was so happy to see us and kept showing us her toys and drawings.
To feel so welcome in somebody's house is a truly fantastic
experience and will be memories that will not be forgotten. We got
back on the road again and sped off along the road back to Ba Na Hin
for an evening of food, fruitshakes and shithead although the
intermittent storm kept inducing power outages. The journey from
Pakse to here was definitely worth it!
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