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| The next morning after breakfast (sticky rice, Ramen noodles, egg), Papa had to do a bit of negotiation to get a boat for us to visit the cave. This huge cave, Tham Lot Konglo, was the whole objective of our trip to Konglo. So the four of us went with two boatmen and 3 headlights in a small 'long-boat' on the Nam Hin Bun. The water was almost turquoise and crystal clear, but very shallow, so we had to get out and wade ankle deep a few times before getting to the cave entrance. It was a large opening in the face of a limestone cliff with the river rushing out. The boat was pushed over some rocks and rapids and we continued our way with daylight disappearingrapidly. So here we motored along this 30-50 m. (100-150 ft.) wide and 10 m. (30 ft.) high corridor, our light beams shining on the walls and ceiling. Here too we had to get out sometimes to push the boat through shallow sections. We got to a very large section of the cavern with the ceiling at least 50 m. (150 ft.) high. It was very impressive to see large blocks that had fallen down in the water ages ago. After what seemed like an hour we got out to climb on a hill to view beautiful large stalactites and | |||||||||||||||
| stalagmites. When we wanted to go further it happened to us again: engine trouble! The boatmen were trying their best, but there was just no way they could get the motor going again. Unfortunately we had to cut the trip short and decided to head back. With a single paddle the boatmen got us out safely and we were happy to see the natural light at the entrance of the cave! Back in the village Papa tried to organize our transport back to the main road, preferably by boat. But they were just asking for too much money. He tried to find out if the truck would be going back to the fallen bridge, but didn't get much wiser. You have to understand that nobody spoke any English in this village, so he had to rely exclusively on his very limited knowledge of Lao and the vocabulary of our guidebook. We decided to wait, walk |
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| around the village a bit, have lunchand after several attempts to find a compromise, the negotiating parties finally came to terms: two boats for US$ 30 to bring us close to the bridge. It ended up being worth it: the trip lasted 4 hours and took us down this very scenic, yet shallow river, past villages with a lot of local activity, like fishing, washing and bathing. Geesje went with all the packs and the 3 of us were in the other boat. We were dropped off just before dark at a village where we chartered a tractor to take us the next 10 km. to the fallen bridge. In pitch-dark we tried to first find a place to spend the night, but decided to cross the river with all our packs in the small dugout and someone was kind enough to taxi us to the guesthouse in Ban Na Hin. After a quick meal and a much needed shower we fell asleep. | |||||||||||||||
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| The next day we caught an early bus to Route 13 that runs from northern Laos all the way to the very south. Tried to hitchhike, but ended up in another bus. The ride was OK: 4-5 hours over a good road, but in a bus that was chock-a-block with large rice bags. We arrived in Savannakhet, about mid-way in southern Laos. It�s a nice little town on the Mekong that gets some trade & traffic from Thailand (we watched the ferries going back & forth). With Mommy I entered the local church (St. Teresa) while Papa was chatting in French with the priest about freedom of religion in Laos (OK in the south but not in the north...). We also visited a nice temple where monks were busy making Buddha statuesout of concrete. In this town we had our first Vietnamese meal as the south has a lot of Vietnamese restaurants and shops. But | |||||||||||||||
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| our destination was further south. So we took another bus the next early morning (complete with baguette and omelet in hand) and arrived in Pakse around noon. It sees quite a few foreign travelers, as it is the center for excursions in the south, but also a point of entry/exit for Thailand and Cambodia. We checked into a nice French colonial building with courtyard and enjoyed an aircon room for US$ 10 a night. | |||||||||||||||
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