Katie and I are currently awaiting a bus to take us to Chang Mai from Bangkok and we have some time to kill. Sounds like a good time to write. I think I left off in Vang Vieng last post.
Besides going tubing Katie and also rented Bicycles (as usual) and went for a ride. We wanted to visit one of the caves in the area as caves are pseudo-famous in this region. As we've come to expect, the best cave for visiting is also the furthest away from town. It was a bit of long journey on those azn-one-speeders, but we made it. We cycled a rough dirt and gravel road to a cave that was just under an hour bike ride away (later I had to go back there cycling alone, and it only took me about 25 minutes- thats a diffferent story though). The cave was really neat, I must say I was glad I had Katie with me for the spelunking (cave exploration?) because it quite the creepy experience, and nice to have someone with you for hand holding, nervous conversations and comfort in an otherwise scary situation.
Before entering the cave we had to hike up a flight of about 40 nature-made stairs to get to the cave entrance. (Nature made stairs means very big, uneven stone steps and a vine handrail). Under the intense sun this alone proved a bit of an exercise. There was a Buddha and some offerings near the entrance, and still quite a bit of light entering the cave through holes and such, but as we went further into the cave it got darker and darker and creepier and creepier.
After 10 minutes we were definitely relying on our Flashlights and headlamps. At one point, just to try it, we decided to turn off our lights to see 'how it feels'. The feeling was very unnatural and quite new to me. When our lights were turned off everything was pitch black, total and complete darkness. If the boogeyman lives...he lives in a cave, that's for sure. Luckily, on top of this, Katie and I had just recently watched a Natural Geographic urban legends special on the existence of giant man sized bats that roam in abandoned caves much like the one we were inside of at this very moment. Lets just say the lights were only turned off very briefly.
What really amazed me is this cave was home to many, many Laotians during the Vietnam War. The villagers used the caves as shelters from bombs the US forces were dropping in their efforts to slow the flow of supplies from North to South Vietnam. It was difficult to try and imagine living in one of these caves, but I suppose when faced with living in a cave or risking death by bomb it would be an obvious choice. After a creepy hour or so of spelunking we were back at the entrance and down the staircase to the beautiful lagoon at the foot of the Cave. The lagoon was a perfect swimming hole after sweating in the heat of the cave and the bike ride. We took a short break here at the lagoon, went for a few rope swings and a swim and then off we went, on our cycles, back to our hotel. The ride back was a little easier...it seems the ride back is always easier because you know approximately how long it takes and what to expect whereas on the way there you are always going on either local advice or tour guide book approximations, and none of these ever seem entirely correct.
So that's about it for Vang Vieng, the whole town is driven especially by tourism it seems and deals on food, rooms and swim gear are abundant.
And I know I've said this before, but Cycling in SE Asia is absolutely amazing (if you can handle it). While the bikes are usually rickety, only have one speed, creek non stop, need new brakes and are an all around P.O.S by our standards, in all my years cycling it has only been recently that I can say "I had to wait for that water buffalo to cross before I could enter the bridge", or "I thought that pig/duck/rabid dog was going to bite me!". And lets not forget about all the smiles you get from locals being on a bicycle rather than a motorbike (scooter). If you've got the gusto for it, rent a pedal bike.
Anyway, back to the subject at hand, after Vang Vieng we made our way to Phonesavahn to visit the mysterious and awe inspiring Plain of Jars. While it was worth seeing, and I definitely would never regret it, the van ride to Phonesavahn was not an easy one. Seating was fine (a nice change) but the road winds through the mountains and can be a little unnerving and stomach turning. We all made it without giving back our lunches though....it was close.
In Phonesavahn here is basically nothing to do except go to the plain of jars and learn about UXO (UnExploded Ordinance). We spent a very short time in Phonesavahn and have some great pics from the plains I'll have to show everyone. I would describe the 'jars' (as they are called) as giant cement flower pot type things and while they vary in size, even the small ones are bigger than a human. The mystery still exists behind them as nobody knows how they got there or what they are used for. One popular belief is that they were used as crematoriums or caskets for important kings and other like people in ancient society, but who knows, it might have been something as simple as a method of collecting and distributing water.....Either way, yet another mysterious sight to behold on our tip through this land. It is difficult ot explain exactly what they look like so I will put pictures up soon, and there is always good ol' Wikipedia.....
From Phonesavanh we made our way back south to a town called Pakse. In Pakse we rented a scooter so that we could go and see the nearby waterfalls. The drive there was quite exciting as we got a flat tire on our scooter and got a little squirrely on the back tire. I kept calm and remembered the advice from my motorcycle course back home and brought us to a controlled stop. We didn't have to walk the bike very far before we found a tire repair shop, the culprit was a couple small pieces of metal, much like part of a nail or something like that (it was a little suspicious as the culprit piece of metal was on the road only about 300 meters from the repair shop,the locals probably know, "at this part, stay only in this area of the road"). Anyway, we were fortunate the flat tire repair only cost us about $3.50 and 30 minutes of downtime. Soon enough we were on the road again to behold 2 very incredible waterfalls, some of the best I have ever seen. Their names elude me right now, but if you are in Pakse, it is easy to find them.
From Pakse we made our way to the land of 4000 Islands, an area in southern Laos where there are thousands of islands varying in size along the Mekong river. The larger islands, Don Khon and Don Det even have electricity and all those other comforts. I'll go through our adventures on this Island a little later, although they are limited mostly to a simple relaxing, a couple enjoyable bike rides and one not-so-enjoyable bike ride. Until next time, thanks as always for reading and I appreciate everyone's support and comments. I'll have some more information up here soon enough. We leave for Australia in a few days and I hope I can wrap up the rest of our SE Asia adventures in my first couple weeks there and then just let you know how it is trying to get back into a 'real life' (working, cooking, etc) in Oz.....
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