The Traveling Duo

The Best Day Yet

When traveling, it is inevitable that some days will be grand while others just seem to drag on.    Typically we’re the kind of travelers that do one really cool thing and call it a day.  Some may call us lazy, but we just like to keep things slow.  The Best Day Yet turned out to be quite the exception.  

After a bit of luck and a lot of help from strangers, we arrived in Ban Na Hin, a quaint little village in Central Laos.  The main draw here is its close proximity to Tham Kong Lo, a 7km-long limestone cave.  Since arriving in southeast Asia, we have been drawn to the idea of buying a motorbike and cruising through the countryside.  Due to some hesitation (from one of us more than the other) and lack of experience, this has only been a passing thought.  Our luck struck again, though, and we were finally able to convince a motorbike rental shopowner that we were quick learners and would not crash their vehicle, and after a quick 30 minute lesson, we were on our way. 

Our first stop was a 9km drive from town to a scenic lookout point just south of town.  We had seen the spot on our way in but hanging on to a sawngthaew isn’t really the best way to enjoy a view.  As our 110cc motorbike crept up the hill, we were finally able to have some long-desired freedom to stop and enjoy.  Before us stretched a vista with hundreds of strikingly carved limestone karsts sporadically covered in jungle foliage.  Neither of us had ever seen the earth looking so raw - almost prehistoric.

Next, we took a partially-finished 40 km road in order to reach Tham Kang Lo.  ”Partially-finished” is a bit of an under-statement, as the trip felt more like an off-road adventure.  The vast majority of the road was unpaved dirt, or loose gravel if we were lucky.  The portions that were paved were curiously interrupted by massive tree trunks strewn across the road, forcing us to constantly drop off 2 meters to the side on to an alternate path until we were past the obstruction, then climb back up a steep slope to reach blessed pavement once again.  Then there were three river crossings where they were still in the process of building bridges.  Fortunately, the rivers were dry this time of year, but it still meant steep descents into treacherously deep mud.  Given that this was our first time on a motorbike, it was simultaneously nerve-wracking, heart-wrenching and… absolutely exhilarating!

Tham Kang Lo was a cave of gigantic proportions.  It took us an hour and a half to traverse its length in a motorized canoe, all but five minutes of that trip was spent in absolute darkness.  If you stop and think about it, people often find themselves in dark situations - hiding in the closet as a kid, walking around late at night, etc.  But in most of those, there’s at least a sliver of light that shines from underneath the door.  If there’s movement inches away from your face, you can at least discern the faintest hint of a silhouette.

In Tham Kang Lo, with our headlamps off, there was absolutely no difference between having your eyes open and closed.  You couldn’t see your hand waving right in front of your face.  When we did turn our headlamps on, we were treated to massive caverns the size of several football fields (and this is the portion we could see).  We came across areas where steady drips of water were starting to form a new generation of stalactites and stalagmites.  In a different cavern, there were a series of thin limestone formations which rang deeply when drummed upon.  What was even more interesting was that during the trip we encountered several canoes filled with villagers.  Apparently, the cavern-tunnel is still a throughway for locals trying to reach the other side of the karsts.

After finally making our way back into town just after sunset, our plan was to have a nice meal and retire early to bed.  We were still energized from our exhilarating day but had an early bus to catch.  These plans quickly changed, however, when we got invited to attend a wedding reception.  It was only 8:00, so we figured we could enjoy the festivities and still make it back to our guesthouse before too late.  Little did we realize that wedding parties can go on all night!  To make it even more interesting, we were seated next to the groom’s parents who made sure we had a good time.  While Daniel was forced to pound Beer Lao after Beer Lao, Sarah was asked to stand in the middle of the dance floor with three other women.  The emcee briefly talked about each person (all we got out of it was falang…or foreigner) and slowly men approached to dance.  As we all got more and more drunk, the dancing became less and less formal until it was a Laos-style mosh pit of all ages. 

We did end up missing the direct bus due to a little trouble waking up the next morning, but fortunately were able to hop on another bus later in the day.   Because we were late we had to sit on plastic stools in the middle of the aisle and try to get more sleep to help with the hangover.  It was all worth it, though, and as Fortune would have it, we’ve been invited to yet another party tonight!