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Lao People's Democratic Republic/Don Không Round the world trip 2008
1-30-08
We secured a lovely, large room at the Thakhek Travel Lodge, a great place with much outdoor seating and an evening fire ring! After perusing the log books at the lodge and reading of several attractions in the area, we rented a motor scooter thinking it would be much easier on Art’s bottom (saddle sores and all).
The next morning 1/27, we hurried, anxious to get on our way to ride the “crescent moon”. Thakhek is the base for visiting a great area of karst formations filled with caves and much natural beauty, national parks and quaint Lao villages. We decided to do only two legs of the “loop” (hence the “crescent moon”) to avoid a road that is under construction, deep dust and gravel plus congestion. Traveling clockwise, our destination today is 146 km to Na Hin.
The roadside vistas were lush and green unlike the road from Savannahket and the limestone formations rose on the horizon like dragon’s teeth. We were gob smacked when we stopped at the view-point on route 8 to gaze over a karst landscape like no other we had ever seen before!
The next morning we moved to another guest house (Mi Tuna) which we thought would be better than the Xio Xan guesthouse we stayed in last night. In reality, both had hot water, were cool and fairly clean – each with their own drawbacks, but comfortable, nonetheless. After settling our luggage we headed down the dirt road to Khon Lo Cave. They are paving this road and access will make visiting easier, but also create a greater demand on the already busy tourist site.
The cave is described as being threaded by a 7km long river, accessible by local boat. When we arrived, we were the only ones. We paid $10 for a boat and $1.50 for admission, were taken by a guide down to a picturesque lake, up and over to the cave mouth. He took great care in helping us aboard the small, flat bottom boat. Are we getting special treatment because we are grey haired? The guide sat in front and our boat driver sat in the rear steering by the typical engine with long tail propeller. The cave was DARK. We all had head lamps to view the wondrous stalactites and stalagmites. The immense size swallowed much of the light. Periodically, we all got out of the boat and waded through the shallow places. At one point, our guide ushered us up the banks and into a grotto of wondrous formations. By the time we left, motorcycles were arriving - at least a dozen more tourists!
The spectacular scenery warranted a short drive up the opposite side of the valley and down into another, viewing the dividing range between Laos and Vietnam before returning to Mi Tuna for dinner. The next day we hopped on the motor scooter for an uneventful and pleasant journey back to Thakhek. However, as we pulled onto the highway, we realized our rear tire was flat, so we pushed the motorbike to a garage about 1km down the road. The mechanic took one look a the rear wheel and was more alarmed at the wobbly wheel than the flat tire. He and two assistants took the wheel off and while one repaired the tube, the mechanic rebuilt the rear axel, using tin cans to create shims for the bearings. As we watched, the sky opened up and rained. By the time the mechanic had completed his magic, the clouds had parted and we then indeed, had a pleasant ride back to the Travel Lodge
February 05 Lao People's Democratic >
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January 26 Lao People's Democratic
We secured a lovely, large room at the Thakhek Travel Lodge, a great place with much outdoor seating and an evening fire ring! After perusing the log books at the lodge and reading of several attractions in the area, we rented a motor scooter thinking it would be much easier on Art’s bottom (saddle sores and all).
The next morning 1/27, we hurried, anxious to get on our way to ride the “crescent moon”. Thakhek is the base for visiting a great area of karst formations filled with caves and much natural beauty, national parks and quaint Lao villages. We decided to do only two legs of the “loop” (hence the “crescent moon”) to avoid a road that is under construction, deep dust and gravel plus congestion. Traveling clockwise, our destination today is 146 km to Na Hin.
The roadside vistas were lush and green unlike the road from Savannahket and the limestone formations rose on the horizon like dragon’s teeth. We were gob smacked when we stopped at the view-point on route 8 to gaze over a karst landscape like no other we had ever seen before!
The next morning we moved to another guest house (Mi Tuna) which we thought would be better than the Xio Xan guesthouse we stayed in last night. In reality, both had hot water, were cool and fairly clean – each with their own drawbacks, but comfortable, nonetheless. After settling our luggage we headed down the dirt road to Khon Lo Cave. They are paving this road and access will make visiting easier, but also create a greater demand on the already busy tourist site.
The cave is described as being threaded by a 7km long river, accessible by local boat. When we arrived, we were the only ones. We paid $10 for a boat and $1.50 for admission, were taken by a guide down to a picturesque lake, up and over to the cave mouth. He took great care in helping us aboard the small, flat bottom boat. Are we getting special treatment because we are grey haired? The guide sat in front and our boat driver sat in the rear steering by the typical engine with long tail propeller. The cave was DARK. We all had head lamps to view the wondrous stalactites and stalagmites. The immense size swallowed much of the light. Periodically, we all got out of the boat and waded through the shallow places. At one point, our guide ushered us up the banks and into a grotto of wondrous formations. By the time we left, motorcycles were arriving - at least a dozen more tourists!
The spectacular scenery warranted a short drive up the opposite side of the valley and down into another, viewing the dividing range between Laos and Vietnam before returning to Mi Tuna for dinner. The next day we hopped on the motor scooter for an uneventful and pleasant journey back to Thakhek. However, as we pulled onto the highway, we realized our rear tire was flat, so we pushed the motorbike to a garage about 1km down the road. The mechanic took one look a the rear wheel and was more alarmed at the wobbly wheel than the flat tire. He and two assistants took the wheel off and while one repaired the tube, the mechanic rebuilt the rear axel, using tin cans to create shims for the bearings. As we watched, the sky opened up and rained. By the time the mechanic had completed his magic, the clouds had parted and we then indeed, had a pleasant ride back to the Travel Lodge
