29.6.2013
Konglor cave was calling us, so our crew checked out of the Thakhek Travel Lodge this morning. We weren't coming back to Thakhek anymore, since Konglor cave is about 130 km from Thakhek and it was easier to continue our trip from there to Vientiane.
Eventhough 130 km doesn't seem like a long trip the ride still took about three hours. Anywhere you travel in Asia the traveling is usually slow due to the bad roads and traffic, and in many places the people like to live right next to the busy streets, so the houses are often build right next to it and everything happens there or close to it. When you drive here you have to watch out for people, the kids, the chicken, the dogs, the cats, the pigs and cows and motorcycles and whatnot. The roads we travelled in Laos were in pretty good shape though and Laos isn't nearly as bad with chaotic streets as some other countries.
On our way to the caves the views were beautiful from the bus. Lots of karst mountains and ricefields and we even stopped once to see a closer view of the mountains.
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Mountains everywhere
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And beautiful ricefields
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| Closer view of the karst mountains at the rest stop |
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| Butterflies covering the rest stop |
Finally in Phu Hin Bun National Park - where Konglor cave is situated - we
ate a very basic lunch together with other groups. Our group had eight people, as Tom and Florrie also travelled with us now. This group stuck together for most of the Laos travels, only shrinking with few members near the finish line.
The Nam Hin Bun river flows through the 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) long Konglor cave. We walked to the river in ten minutes, where we took a short boat ride and switched to boats used inside the cave. We were lucky the river hadn't flooded too much due to the rainy season and were able to enter it. Some parts of the cave are tight, so especially during this time of the year it can be tricky to go there. Our guides told us that a dam project floods the area in July, so it's not accessible at all then.
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| Konglor cave entrance in the middle |
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| Part one; boat trip to the Konglor caves mouth |
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| Part two; switch boats |
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Nothing much to see here. The fun starts inside.
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| Entering darkness |
The boats are very low and noisy, so if you're planning on coming here take earplugs with you. Also protect your camera and phone etc from the water, as it splashes a lot, and take your own flashlight too, because theirs aren't too powerful. The good thing is they at least had lifejackets that came with the ticket.
As Konglor cave is not only long, but also wide and as high as nearly 92 meters (300 feet), the tours also take people on walks inside. The paths are easy and not very long.
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The paths inside are sandy and sometimes slippery
from mud |
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| Formations |
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| Cave dust. This can cause distress for e.g. asthmatics. |
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| Formations |
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| Cave creatures |
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| Formations |
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| A small shrine |
We travelled through the whole cave and reached the opening at the other side after about twenty minutes. It felt like a neverending boat ride. The cave
had collapsed in some parts because water rushes through it and keeps carving it into new shapes. It was exciting to hear the water flowing between the rocks and see all
the big holes where masses of water pour down during the rainy
season. Although it was rainy season we didn't see any waterfalls.
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| On the other side. The cave cooled down nicely from the heatwave. |
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| "Pathfinder". On our way to the rest stop. |
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| Lonely giants |
After the cave we stopped for a while to rest near the river before heading back through the cave again. This time we didn't stop for anything. Our boat guy seemed to be in a rush, so now we went quite fast. Soon without a warning he started speeding towards a huge rock! With no idea what he was up to we were sure
he was gonna hit the rock! At the last minute he steered away from it, but we hit the bottom a bit and I got complitely wet. The reason
he did this was because the cave has a narrow and shallow spot where you
need to speed up to pass through it. How awful that it just happens
to be in front of a huge rock! One wrong move and you'll paint the rock red. He could've at least warned us.
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| Back at the entry point after cruising through the cave again. |
The Konglor cave took less than an hour to see. Eventhough it can't be compared to the beautiful caves we visited earlier near the Thakhek city it is still worth adding to your bucketlist. After all, it is different and it's so huge you could build a whole
city inside it! There's even a small lake inside. You can still easily feel adventurous here.
Next we headed to Vientiane with our minibus. A few other people joined along this trip with our group, so the minibus was crammed. The over four hour trip was quite painful as I volunteered to sit on a broken extra side seat with my neck bent sideways and head leaning to the window most of the time. I felt like smashed tomato when we finally reached the city after a long day mostly travelling and needed some stretching and relaxing.
Traveling with a low budget means you have to give in to many things to keep the budget. It often means you travel with cheap buses, not by flying, and these buses often break down and are in bad shape. These inconveniences grow your tolerance and it came handy while sitting on that bad seat.
We spent the evening at the nice Chokdee Cafe, the Belgian beer bar where they also sell cider, and the next day we relaxed at the citys outdoor swimming pools.
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Chokdee cafe
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| Our group at Chokdee |
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| Vientiane outdoor swimming pools |
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Culture hall
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| Strange building in Vientiane |
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| Paradise Guesthouse nightguard naps at the restaurant |
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| Vientiane sunset |
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| Vientiane exercises at sunset |
Next: Off to Vang Vieng, the backpackers party town, which has changed a lot from its golden days.
