27th – 30th September 2011
Arriving at the Laos border after an overnight bus ride from Bangkok, we paid for our visas, got complimented on my beauty from the very sweet female border guards, and then got a tuk-tuk for the two kilometers into Tha Khaek.
We stopped at Tha Khaek Travel Lodge for some egg… SANDWICHES! (how I have missed proper bread!) and sorted an itinerary and a scooter for The Loop which runs round the Khammuan Province in Central Laos. After a perfunctory wash and a much needed re-application of Djalma’s 48 hour deodorant we jumped on our already knackered scooter and were away just before midday.
The route we followed was really simple (it would have been very difficult even for me to get lost) and went through some stunning scenery; limestone karsts, emerald green paddy fields, clouds of butterflies and past the cutest little kids with the biggest smiles playing in their villages. The road took us roughly 446km in a circular loop, up and down hills and along a few stretches of horrendously muddy potholed roads, yes we came off but more about that later.
Our first afternoon on the road was fairly uneventful, the road was sealed, the passing landscape luscious and green and the air cool. We were advised by the bike rental place at the travel lodge to stop every hour for five minutes to rest the scooter, so when we crossed a bridge with a pretty view either side we took a break. Djalma was beckoned over a small stream which flowed into the main river and misjudging his step went into the water up to his waist. We had A LOT of money to dry that night! Everything was drenched, his trainers – barely holding together as it is, everything in his pockets, our phone as well as our wads of cash not to mention his clothes. He did make it over to the other side where his new friends gave him some barbequed fish and a little conversation. Back on the road it was getting drearier by the minute, it started raining, and then just bucketed it down, well it felt like it was – we were going about 50kmp/h in thin, not-very-waterproof Macs. We pulled over at a roadside restaurant and had some really good beef noodle soup, filling our bellies, lifting our moods and warming us up before we bundled up in our fleeces and crap Macs and hit the road again looking for a ban pak (guest house).
After stopping and asking at several different places we found one and settled into our room, utterly shattered and got some more noodle soup, this time it had extras, bad extras: stomach. I didn’t manage to eat all of mine even though I fished most of it out I still managed to chew on a piece before spitting it out feeling revolted. I went to bed hungry but it didn’t matter, we were so tired we were asleep by 9am. Welcome to Laos!
The next day, after some sticky rice, strips of deep-fried beef and some cucumber slices, we got back on the scooter, the pain of the previous day fading from our backsides as the journey wore on. The weather was a lot kinder and although our bodies were grateful for the brief stops the sun soon got us back on the bike to catch the breeze and cool down again.
The road wound up through some beautiful scenery this time and we stopped at a look-out point which overlooked black rock formations, multi-coloured trees and a bit closer in the plants were home to swarms of big beautiful butterflies.
Having taken about a zillion pictures of my favourite insect (?) We kept on going, aiming for Kong Lo, roughly a 40km detour (one-way) down a road past a few hamlets, to a 7.5km long cave.
We arrived there about midday (incidentally we had been told back at the Travel Lodge that we should have been able to make it this far on our first day) and after wolfing down a packet of crisps we got into our hired longtail boat, rented out a couple of torches and set off into the black.
After a few minutes we stopped and got out of the boat and while it cleared some shallower patches (or so I thought) we walked through some really cool stalactites and stalagmites to meet it again a few hundred metres further on.
This was the most beautiful part of the cave, or maybe I just thought that because the rest of the cave was poorly lit by my dying torch and not illuminated by blue and orange lights…
Getting back into the boat we continued through the cave the loud motor of our boat echoing off the walls. I think it took a little longer than half an hour for us to pass through to the other side, and when we did the sunlight was blinding. We whizzed (in slow motion) to a small docking area and got out to stretch our legs, carefully avoiding small armies of red ants.
Getting back into the boat we went back the way we came but this time we stayed in the boat until we reached the entrance. It was a really cool experience a little spooky bet never scary, alas it was all over too soon and we got back on our bikes aiming to make it to the end of the road in or perhaps if we were lucky further on to Lak Sao.
In the end we did make it to Lak Sao.
Just in time – night fell as we arrived and started looking for guesthouses – not the easiest of tasks in sunglasses and failing light. We did eventually find a guest house and after a refreshing bucket shower – literally a wash out of a big bucket using hands to scoop the water up (even in India they gave you a little cup or a jug to pour water over yourself!). We had some Vietnamese chicken noodles, basically some more noodle soup but this time with chunks of very old very rubbery chicken, fortunately we had a plate full of greens to make it taste decent. After such a long day on the road we were dog tired and it took about a minute to fall asleep back in our little room.
The next day was our third on the road and we had some tricky ground to cover, almost the entire road was exceptionally muddy and badly potholed. Marvellous. Especially when you consider two very delicate bottoms already tormented from hours on the back of a scooter with shocking (if there was any at all) suspension. Nevertheless after another breakfast of sticky rice and deep fried beef with a pungent garlic and chilli sauce to ease it down. Having spotted a few phone shops on the way to breakfast, Djalma decided to see if we could fix the now dry phone or get a new one. So I sweated and waited by the bike while the very helpful shop assistant completely dismantled the hone and then left to serve other customers. It turned out that it might only be the battery so we didn’t get a replacement phone or our phone to work. Back on the road we left dusty Lak Sao (which means 20 kilometres) and soon encountered the mud strips that pass for roads in monsoon season.
After getting stuck behind a large car we tried to overtake and lost our balance and came off the scooter. It wasn’t serious thankfully (don’t worry Mums!) but I did cry like a big baby, very embarrassing. We both covered the right side of our bodies in the orange brown muck, Djalma grazed his forearm and knee, getting a bloody hand in the process and I who was such a big girl came away with a little scratch and a big bruise on my hand and my eye (I looked very much the down trodden and abused wife a few days later when the bruise came out). After “dusting” ourselves off we rode down a bit further until we found somewhere to sit and rest. After sharing a litre and a half of nice cool fanta we got back on the bike, much more careful now and continued on. That first section took an hour and a half and we covered less than 15km, it was so depressing.
The road soon dried out, there were still potholes but there were easier to spot (most of the time). We passed through super green fields of rice and up through the hills, the road getting progressively better although by no means easier the further we went. The last section of Loop for the day was through a protected area flooded by a new dam. There were clouds of butterflies and some big puddles, we had some fun and filmed driving through both of them. The huge tree filled lake was really stunning, very eerie and completely spellbinding. We passed a couple of men in bright blue ponchos which coordinated with their boats quietly fishing in the silence, the water was still in some places creating some beautiful reflections.
We stopped several times to take pictures, the area the flooded water covered must have been enormous around every turn there were more trees in more water. We crossed one last bridge and spotted the Promised Land – guesthouse and restaurant! We had covered hardly any ground but we were both exhausted and I was a little tightly wound, so we skipped a shower in favour of an immediate welcome beer or two and ate over-looking the enormous lake.
Feeling tired we didn’t wait for long to get into bed and watch a film before falling asleep readying our minds and bodies for one more day on the road.
The next day we skipped breakfast at the guest house and drove for one hour to get to the next village where they were holding a small festival with boat racing. The section of road through the village was churned up beyond belief but we parked our bikes and joined the throng of people wandering through the different stalls and stopping to get some popcorn which turned our tongues yellow.
Everywhere we walked people stopped to look at us and this being SE Asia a big smile from us turned the questioning frowns upside down into some of the most beautiful heartwarming smiles. We walked down to the water to watch some the racers but it was a fairly relaxed affair, a small group of cheerful ladies offered us a glass of beer but owing to my freshly dodgy stomach (the shits strike again) we declined and wandered on.
There were kids everywhere, selling things, being carried around by smiling parents, running where the mud was a bit sturdier, shooting for prizes and above all staring at us. I bought a small section of bamboo stuffed with sticky rice and topped with coconut (it tasted ok but was more to fill my tummy up) and then we got back on the bike, got through the mud (I walked while Djalma rode) and onto the road leading out of town and back round to Tha Khaek, our starting point.
You have no idea how pleased I am to report that the rest of the road was sealed and free of major potholes. The last stretch of road curved through mini mountains poking up through the grass, Djalma managed to lose the GoPro which popped out of his pocket while we were speeding along, the whole camera came apart and we searched the roadside for all the pieces.
Camera back safe we continued along the road and turned off down a dirt track to one of the recommended caves to visit – it was huge and a wee bit scary especially because I lost Djalma and was wandering round the back of the cave, badly lit, calling out his name like a lost child.
Reunited we left the cave and headed towards Nam Pha Pa, a small cave recently discovered by a local man, and home to over two hundred small bronze Buddha statues. It was underwhelming and we left after two minutes. The way to the cave was flooded so we got back into the little slowly sinking boat and were punted back to shore.
From there we were a mere 8-10km from Tha Khaek, we sped home relieved to have the end in sight. Dropping off the scooter we ordered a much needed sandwich and then set of for the bus station and onto Savannaket the same afternoon.
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