Oh, the Places We'll Go

After our awesome experiences on The Loop, it was back to Tha Kaek and up to Vientiane for one more night in this wonderful little country. Ted had been to Southeast Asia in 2002 but missed out on making it to Laos – which is one of the reasons we wanted to be sure to visit this time around. Compared to it’s rather wealthy and tourism-friendly neighbors (Thailand and Vietnam, respectively), Laos is very much the little kid brother – it’s got similar natural beauty (save the beaches), amazing Asian culture and food, but people just don’t seem to come here, except for those who are a little more independent and adventurous. It’s managed to avoid some of Thailand’s pitfalls though – no sex tourism (if you want to sleep with a Lao person, you have to be married, and you could get thrown in jail or deported if you forget this rule!), no lady boys, not many drug problems, etc. It’s modern when you least expect it, yet more rural and poor than you could ever imagine. The tourism services exist but not at the level or complexity that we had experienced in most other places we visited. Though many folks speak English, many more do not. It will be interesting to see what happens to this amazingly friendly place in a few short years. It would have been fascinating for Ted to have seen it in 2002 and be able to compare it to now – I’m sure it has changed a whole lot. Though Laos is still very much under the radar compared to other Southeast Asia hotspots, it has so much going for it and it is only a matter of time until this sleepy little place finds itself in the same league as the big boys.

We were not ready to leave Thailand and we were not ready to leave Laos either, but our trip was winding down, we were running out of time, and we needed to B-line it to the beach to relax in our final days of bliss. We caught an international flight to Malaysia where we had an awkward 16 hour overnight layover. We made the best of it by spending the night in a sketchy hotel near the airport, eating some ridiculously good seafood noodle dishes, and getting a decent night’s rest. Then it was back to the international terminal for our flight to Bali!

One of the most impressive parts of the entire Loop was the newly-discovered Konglor Cave. Konglor is a cave that you access by a subterranean river. The cave was first discovered in 1995, first accessed by motorboat in 2002, and is now used to for tourism and to connect two rural villages only previously accessible by a multi-hour climb over a steep mountain.  In 2008, a French NGO worked with the local government to provide lighting inside the cave to show-off the impressive stalactites and stalagmites and thus make the cave more appealing to foreign visitors.

Approaching the cave

Cave entrance

Ted and I traveled through the cave in a long skinny boat with our non-English speaking guide and his non-English speaking assistant. With the help of some hand gestures and common sense, we determined when we needed to get out of the boat to walk around and check out the cave for ourselves. It was an incredibly impressive place – we were really blown away. Though there were some lights, it was actually only several hundred yards of the nearly 5 mile long cave where we could see anything at all. The rest of the time it was pitch black except for the pathetic amount of light that came out of our headlamp. As we cruised down the river, the walls would narrow to just a small passage, and then open into a great expansive cavern. Our driver navigated our long-tail boat through the winding labyrinth, expertly avoiding protruding rocks, shallow sandbars, and even a few short falls. Certainly one of the most unique caving experiences to be had.

Our guide and driver

The short illuminated section of the cave

Crazy stalactites/mites

And just when we least expected it, we saw the smallest sliver of light that opened up to the other side of the mountain. As we approached the shore, resourceful locals were on hand to sell us chips and sodas which we happily enjoyed before heading back through the maze and darkness.

The light at the end of the tunnel

Yes, this was our boat, which needed to be bailed out twice during our 2 hour tour

Konglor Cave is a pretty awesome attraction. It’s a relatively new place to check out and it’s just far enough off the well-traveled tourist loop to make you feel pretty cool for getting there.

Sex education in rural Laos, somewhere along the Loop.  Mr. Condom to the rescue!!

Windy rural roads

Clouds floating over impressive rock walls

Mountains jutting out of nothingness

Rice patties as far as the eye could see

Lush green fields

Occasionally muddy roads

Chance encounters with Slow Boat friends

Women working in the rice patties; men with oxen plowing the fields

Adorable children

Quaint rural villages

Lots of open space, very few obstacles for nervous motorbike drivers

Fairly fantastic weather

Not a lot of other travelers, very little English

Lots of Beer Lao (post-driving, of course)

Dozens and dozens of caves to be explored

Surprisingly nice accommodation and food options

Two extremely happy people who were so glad they did The Loop.

Ted had confidently and adeptly displayed his motorbike driving skills throughout Thailand and other parts of the world, and I was always quite happy to be the passenger. However, our next activity was a 400km (250 mile) driving loop that required each of us to have our own bike. To further complicate matters, the bikes were not automatic transmission, so it required an additional skill that I do not excel at.

But we were excited to experience “The Loop” after the rave reviews we had heard from other travelers from as far back as Bolivia. So we took the bus 5 hours south from Vientiane to our starting point in Tha Kaek, a small town among the foothills of Laos’ central region. We got hooked up with Mr. Ku who rented us our bikes, taught me a few things about driving, provided a pretty impressive hand-drawn map, and got us some decent helmets. We also met another traveler who was going to do The Loop too, so we had a partner in crime – Deo is Philipino but on vacation from Thailand where he was currently living and working.

Mr Ku's not-so-to-scale map of the Loop

When we set off on our ride, it was dry but the clouds were quite ominous and we were pretty sure rain was in our future. We knew we were on the front end of the rainy season, but we were optimistic/naive about how much rain we might get. Well, about 7 minutes into our 4 day/3 night 400 km motorbike loop, it started raining. Then it started raining harder.

We pulled off to get our rain gear on and pull down the visors on our helmets before we pressed on again. Our Philipino friend was leading the way, followed by me, with Teddy pulling up the rear. Twenty kilometers north of town, I rounded the bend to see our new friend in a ditch by the side of the road. He had apparently taken a curve too quickly for wet the roads and slid right off. His bike was busted up a bit, his rain poncho was in shreds, and his poor foot was a wreck. He may have broken something and at the least needed a ton of stitches. He was a little discombobulated – as you might imagine – however, still coherent enough to call Mr. Ku and to contact his health insurance provider in Thailand! Thank goodness he was traveling with a cell phone because we were not!

Another traveler stopped to help us as well as a Lao family who spoke zero English but knew exactly what needed to happen – this kid needed to go to the hospital. They were headed the wrong direction but they waved down another passing truck, helped load the kid into the back and off they went to get medical attention. Laos is one of those countries that you hope to not need medical care in. Our Lonely Planet guide states, “There are no good facilities in Laos; the nearest acceptable facilities are in Northern Thailand”. Fortunately for Deo, that wasn’t too far away!

So as our friend headed off to the hospital, we stayed by the side of the road with his motorbike waiting for Mr. Ku to come pick it up.

At this point, only 20 km into our trip, I am convinced our driving extravaganza is over. I was nervous to begin with and then I saw what could easily happen in just a moment’s time. We had already met dozens (literally dozens) of other travelers in Thailand and other parts of Laos with motorbike injuries – ranging from cuts and bruises to broken bones. So after Mr. Ku rescued the bike, we got back on our own and headed back towards town and where we’d come from. The rain had lightened up but we still took it easy because I was a little shaky from all the adrenalin and nervous excitement.

And that’s where this story might end. But it doesn’t. No more than 5km back towards town, I changed my mind. I don’t know what really came over me but I decided I could it. I wanted to do it. We’d come all this way to do it. We should probably do it. So just like that, The Loop was back on! We decided to take our kilometers/hour down a notch, and we were not going to drive in the rain – but we were going to do it. And boy am I glad we did!

A taste of what was to come...

Stunning landscapes

Happy travelers

P.S. Our friend made it safely to the hospital in Laos but decided to return to Thailand for his medical care. He must know what the folks at Lonely Planet know!