Luang Probang – Muang Pakxeng – Kon Lor Cave ~ Our journey through Laos continues…

Listening to the rain coming down reminds me of our first post almost 5 months ago. Different setting though. Although like then, we are now still surrounded by green paddocks and a mountainous terrain, these green rice paddies are like a fluoro green, it’s indescribable!

Current view

We’ve seen and experienced so much since then. It feels great to think back and reflect on all we have learnt. Just yesterday while riding I was thinking how much knowledge I have acquired since leaving home. It feels amazing. We met a couple last night who are surfers from the UK, from a small town near Cornwall. They have been living for the last 4 months in Sri Lanka in the upstairs of a beachside family shack. They got married before they left and then sold everything so they could travel the world. It is reassuring to meet other people who are doing a similar thing to us. I feel as if it grounds us again, making us appreciate the current decisions we make.

Once leaving Luang Probang we decided to take an ‘off the beaten track’ route which would take us to certain places that we hadn’t seen yet in Laos. We made our way north for about 20kms before taking a right turn and heading east towards Muang Pakxeng. The first 30 or so kilometers were along an easy going road which had next to no traffic traveling along it. It wasn’t long before we hit the dirt road. We have been lucky enough to have somewhat great travel conditions so far, but were excited to get off road for a little while. That night we stayed at a small town called Muang Pakxeng. It had only two guesthouse options and we picked the one with a football field out the front, of course. This is where the last blog post was written from, where Micka enjoyed a game of football while the sun was setting. After searching and searching for dinner that night, we discovered that people in this village must eat early in the evening. It was only 8pm mind you, however we had to settle for dry packets of two minute noodles that night. As we started to chew through our dry, slightly stale, starchy dinner, Micka did happen to find a water heater and so we appreciated being able to eat our two minute noodles heated up.

Falling asleep that night, all that was looming in my mind was what our map had said and what was in store for us the next day, ‘Very steep road.’ We had only been riding for about 5 minutes and then we hit the prominently marked ‘very steep road.’ Being the width of about a single, small car, it winded its way up, up, up and around the mountains like a long scaly carpet snake, only much rougher. A very scenic ride this was and it had us appreciate views for miles, overlooking the small communities nestled into the mountains below.

Starting the ‘very steep road’ journey.

The winding dirt track.

View from one of the mountain peaks.

Half way into our journey, Mickas bike Brittany, decided it was time to cause some trouble. We had just reached the top of another peak when his foot gear pedal came completely off, making him unable to change gears. After a quick fiddle around to try and dodgy something up to hold until the next town, we had to roll down into the next village which thankfully was only about 2kms away. Here, we couldn’t believe our luck. After gaining some directions off the locals, we found ourselves at probably the remotest and smallest mechanic shop we’ve encountered. No sooner had we described what had happened (with lots of gestures of course) had the man brought out a brand new foot pedal. He took the old one and replaced it all within probably about three minutes. We could not believe our luck. We thought we’d be pushing our way out of that valley for sure until we met the next major town.

Micka noticing a problem with his bike.

Our savior! The local mechanic shop.

That afternoon we rode another 80kms and found a nice guesthouse in Viangthong. Here we met an interesting German guy called Patrick who had hired a scooter in the south of Laos and was making his way north. Over a beer lao and dinner, he showed us pictures of where he had come from in the south. After flicking through a few photos on his album, we had a definite goal in mind. South, towards a little area called the Bolavan Plateau. Situated here apparently, are some of the worlds most beautiful waterfalls. He told us about a lady’s property where he spent a few days living amongst nature, exploring the surroundings and swimming at the foot of some glorious waterfalls. We were so excited but still had to travel about 400kms until we could make it there.

A quick lunch break with the local kids. Notice the winding road in the background. That’s where we were headed.

Nice spot for a swim.

Stopped in for some lunch in a tiny village and everyone was crowded around watching UFC 189 on the tiny television. So random.

View of farming land about 80kms out of Phonsavanh.

Excited for the forthcoming weeks, the next day we hightailed it for a town called Phonsavanh. Until arriving to this town, we weren’t familiar with the extent of Laos involvement in the second war. We knew about some bombings and its slight connection with the Vietnamese war, but upon spending 4 days here, our knowledge of the Lao peoples suffering through, and since that time, has grown immensely.

We stayed at a great guesthouse called Kong Keo. We highly recommend it to any future traveler. The basic rooms are comfortable but it was the communal area that most had us feeling warm and welcome. In a timber shack (similar to, but slightly bigger than the Waabie for those of you reading from home) was a bomb case filled with firewood and seats surrounding, waiting for the flow of travelers conversations to begin, and that it did. During our time here we made some lovely new friends and were lucky enough to spend the next few days roaming around, exploring sights like the famous ‘Phonsavanh Jars’, Ancient town stupas and even came upon a used bullet casing from the war in the front yard of a ladies house.

Fire in the bomb casing at Kong Keo Guesthouse.

Jar Site 1

New friend and fellow Aussie, Chris, cruising around Phonsavanh.

From 1964-1973, the ‘Secret War on Laos’ was endured, where more than 580,000 bombs were dropped in Lao by the US. To put things into perspective, this is equivalent to dropping a planeload of bombs, every 8 minutes, 24hrs a day for 9 years! Reading this type of information, which is showcased in different locations all over town, makes you realise how much trauma this country went through not only during the war, but is still going through to this day. Research suggests that around 80 million ‘bombies’ (tennis ball size bombs) still lurk beneath the surface of Laos, undetonated.

Old pagoda in Ancient Town ~ Moung Kahoun

View of ‘Ancient Town’ from the top of an old stupa. The ancient pagoda from the previous picture is in the left of this photo.

After spending a few days in this historical town, we set off in the direction of Kong Lor Cave. It took us two days to get there, where the travel was fairly easy going. This was apart from the torrential downpours we tolerated for the most part of the days. In Phonsavanh we had heard that it was raining in the south, so we both purchased another raincoat and a decent tarp each, in preparation. Driving along the lengthy straight road into the Kong Lor Cave township, we quickly realised the location was certainly worth the suffering of our poor purple hands and feet had suffered through the day. All different shades of green rice paddies filled the landscapes with field workers layered in ponchos and wide brimmed, bamboo hats hard at work amongst the mist and slight drizzle. At the end of the green rice paddies, were lavish mountains, etched with black rock faces that stretched across for miles.

View from the guesthouse.

The sun is setting behind the rice paddies ~ Kong Lor

With the prospect of staying here for a few days, we have decided to relax today to enjoy the constant drizzle of rain fall from the cosy verandah of our guesthouse. Micka has taken over the huge shed out the back to strip the motorbikes in an attempt to re-wire the electrics and here I am…writing. A very nice Sunday for both of us. We are happy.

Current thoughts and 10 days of fast paced adventure with Marita, Lucas and Tim…

Sitting here on this balcony, watching Micka enjoy a game of football with the locals, a tonne of thoughts come to mind about what we could do next. We have had many discussions about what our future could hold and it seems with each new day, the possibilities are increasing, or wait, perhaps they’re decreasing…

Watching the sun set while Micka enjoys a game of football ~ Muang Pakxeng, Laos.

University is calling Micka big time – to complete his Environmental Science degree and strive to open a business of his own. Just yesterday he took it on himself to re-read all of his lecture notes to keep up to date with what he has learnt. I truly admire his commitment and dedication. Obviously a strong passion of his. The determination and commitment is paying off though and I am very proud of him.

With a degree already in hand, my wants are somewhat different, where travel and working overseas are still the capture of my thoughts. But then there is this other pressure…the pressure of settling down, buying a house and beginning a family. Shit, when did everything become so serious? Feels like just yesterday I was at high school and they were asking me what I wanted to be when I grow up. I still don’t know by the way… I think that’s why it is so hard. Maybe afraid of making the wrong decision, but also afraid of any potential regret with which ever decision made. There are so many work options available for me, but that is part of the problem. Similar to when a platter of delicious food is presented, I always have trouble deciding what to eat first.

The sun is setting now and they are still so engrossed in their game. One of the only times during the day where you can actually be outside and it not be too hot to do anything. Football is such a great ice breaker. No matter where you are, if you can play football, you have a way in with the locals. If only they all rode horses and I would be right at home.

I can hear the little cheer squad of about 8 children calling ‘Go Falang’ ‘Go Falang’. (Go Foreigner! Go Foreigner!). Beyond the game of football, there is a family out playing a form of badminton. To the left is a group of women attending to a local store, cutting and preparing perhaps what could be dinner. On the other side is a bunch of men who are necking a bottle of whisky and sharing many great laughs. It’s nice here. I like how social, village people are. Everyone is equal, it doesn’t matter whether you own the fancy Guesthouse in town or work out in the fields all day to make ends meet. At the end of each day, you can converse and share stories with your neighbour whichever their day job.

Micka’s pulled off to the sideline again. That’s about 5 times now to tie his hair of course. I think it is about time for a trim – interrupting his concentration… He may finally be beginning to understand a woman’s hair dilemma.

Back to the blog…It’s hard not to get side-tracked with the goings on around me. A lady actually just came and sat down next to me and was fascinated by the computer. It then dawned on me that maybe she has never seen one before. It is hard to forget that remote villages like these still exist as even through Asia, it seems the majority of people are walking around with their smart phone in hand. Ok, she has wondered off to tend to her garden, I’ll get back to it now…

Perhaps why all these thoughts have come to the forefront of our minds is because our much awaited time with our friends has just come to an end. We had the best 10 days travelling on motorbikes through Laos but maybe the thought of them going back to work to replenish the bank accounts has become a little prominent in our minds. Perhaps one could even go as far as saying we could be jealous. Crazy I know and I’m sure it will pass… If I could see myself last year saying this I would’ve thought there was something wrong with me. It is funny what 5 months on the road can do and how much your thoughts seem to alter. Anyway enough of the heavy stuff for now. I feel like lightening this post with some highlights of our trip with Tim, Lucas and Marita. There were seriously way too many great memories to write about so I’m going to summarise them under some headings. Starting with…

The Pickup – Luang Prabang Airport

Their arrival time was 12:15pm so we, being super eager decided to arrive at the airport at 11:45. I could hardly contain my excitement and found myself hiding behind banners beside the doors they would walk through (even though the plane hadn’t actually landed yet). 30 minutes go by and here I am doing laps of the airport waiting in anticipation. Micka was just shaking his head at me at this stage. 45 minutes go by and finally some foreigners start to appear through the doors. Still no friends but then we overheard that there was a big line at the visa desk. (Oops forgot to tell them they needed money to obtain their visa at the gates)… About 45 minutes after arriving at the airport and after Micka and I had been practising how we were going to surprise them or how we could film them coming through the doors and I working on my Michael Jackson Moon Walk, Marita appeared at the entrance! Micka quickly fumbled with the GoPro switching it to video and I raced up and gave her the biggest hug in history! After she got past the shock of the addition of the nose ring and the thought that ‘oh there’s just another hippy’ she finally realised it was me and we embraced in a sort of awkward 3 way hug. So where are the rest of them we asked and as she sort of nervously giggled she informed us that she had to go back through the gates with money for their visas. Talk about anticlimax!

In the end, Marita had to walk through and back through those doors 3 times before she appeared with the rest of them. By this time, she had made great friends with the lady controlling the doors and had a final conversation before appearing for the last time.

Then it was all systems go and the entire tuk tuk ride back to our guesthouse was full of catch up conversations. Oh and photos of course. It is here I should probably introduce our new friend Ting Tang (the guy replacing Tim) as he was our personal photographer/selfie man for the duration of the trip. (Even though the countless selfies and videos of him swirling around in the river at Vang Vieng, sunk to the bottom of the river with his Go-Pro).

Reuniting at our guesthouse on the first day! From left to right;
Lucas, Marita, Chelsea, Micka, Tim

The motorbike surprise / lessons

After settling into our guesthouse (which I think they were very shocked about as they were expecting the worst) we all sat down at the big wooden table with a couple of beer Laos to share. Conversations were flowing and Micka and I were feeling right at home with our dear friends with us. It was such a good feeling to have some love and familiar faces from home. When you are constantly on the go, it doesn’t always occur to you how much you actually can miss someone. Upon seeing them, this feeling was very much felt.

I can’t actually remember if it was in the tuk tuk ride or around this table but finally the topic of how we are going to travel around came about. Micka and I shot glances at one another trying so hard to hold our composure and not giggle.

See those motorbikes out there we said – Well happy birthday our friends. Those babies are yours! A few shocked glances were conveyed and then we could hardly hold Tim back from going over and checking out his new set of wheels. After the initial introduction they were super eager to get out there and try their hand at riding a motorbike in Laos. It took a few bunny hops and hill start attempts to get out of our street and onto a back road where the traffic was less dense. Here we spent the remainder of the afternoon, doing laps of this dirt road building confidence and getting acquainted with the locals…and some of us, the bushes. After a few laps, a crowd had gathered and the lessons were a great spectator sport for the locals who lived on the street.

It only took that afternoon of practice before we were on our way the following morning, heading straight for the mountainous terrain of Laos.

Their new toys…

Heading out for a test ride…

Mechanic shops and Service Stations

Before I begin on this one, there needs to be a very special mention to Lucas who was our savior for many parts of the trip with his knowledge and love for tinkering with the electrical components of the bike. Along the way, we all became very accustomed to having to pull into the nearest mechanic for a quick ‘dodgy up’ or the nearest service station where all but one of us would sit on the tiny bit of shady concrete step, staring aimlessly at the miracles Lucas was performing. Micka was helping out as much as his knowledge would allow him and Tim, well, he did a good job of looking the part, either holding the bike or keeping everyone supplied with Beer Laos. (His words). Marita and I would often find ourselves checking out the gardens at the Service stations or wandering off for walks through the villages, giving out stickers to the youngsters surrounding us. Making children’s smiles light up with just one sparkly, bright sticker was definitely the highlight of so many of our days.

It always feels as though everyone from the passing villages are expecting us. The streets are always lined with curious faces awaiting our arrival. With the group of us, this experience was certainly heightened and we always turned heads as we rolled into every town with our extremely loud exhausts and pale skin.

Boys hard at it…

Marita making children smile.

So many beautiful smiles!

Brittany (Tims bike) getting a bit of work done.

Mechanic shop again.. This time its Bert (Mickas bike).

Lucas hard at work again..Micka learning and Tim…painting?

Rock off for shots of whisky

In a small town called Kasi, we found ourselves wandering the streets looking for somewhere to dine for dinner. After coming across only dry looking old meat in hot boxes we stumbled across what we gathered to be a Chinese restaurant. It looked like a quiet place with large round tables so we decided it was the one. After taking a seat we discovered there was of course no menu, so Micka took it upon himself to venture out the back and point to some different options, making it appear he knew what was happening. To be honest, we had no idea what was going to be served that night.

It was now, that a Chinese man appeared with a pot of tea. I quickly spoke up and said how lovely of him to offer us some green tea with our dinner (which is very common over here). Smiling, he then carefully placed a shot glass down in front of each of us and I could see Lucas, Tim and Marita’s facial expression change to a slightly feared look. He then began to move around the table, pouring this white clear liquid into each shot glass. Micka and I instantly knew what it was and we felt our guts let out an instantaneous shriek. It was of course Lao Lao Whisky which is about as potent as they come. I think Tim took the courageous first shot, followed by each of us simultaneously. After thinking thank god that was over, he began to refill our shot glasses. The look on Marita’s face said it all and I managed to haggle out of it ‘for now’. Tim however graciously took the second shot with the Chinese man, quickly following it with a chaser of coke.

To our surprise, shortly after these pre-dinner shots, a delicious assortment of differently cooked meats and vegetables were presented. In the middle of the lazy Susan, the pot of Lao Lao kept getting turned, passing by each of us, remaining just short of being full. We ate quickly, I think trying to overpower the horrible after taste left in our mouths from the whisky. Now there was another pot of green tea getting turned around the table, however this one was the real deal ‘Green Tea’ and went down much more smoothly. The full shot glasses remained though and the inevitable fate was looming. Perhaps not for Marita and I (we thought). We secretly tipped ours into the empty coke cans and cringed as the boys took their remaining shot.

Shortly after, the Chinese man appeared again. Staring Marita in the face with a small grin beginning to appear, he then half-filled her glass. This was much to her astonishment and sent her into a panic of waving arms saying “No, No, No.” He then held out his hand, gesturing for her to play scissors, paper, rock for the last shot. I think it was just pure luck that Marita got out of all three games and potential shots because I wasn’t so lucky. I lost one of my games and had to down one last half-shot of Lao Lao. He was the ultimate loser in this game though and had just shot 5 shots in a row of this darn whisky. He didn’t bother the boys with games after his 5 shots and we quickly exited the restaurant while we could. Lovely man he was, beckoning for us to return tomorrow.

The Chinese man refilling my whisky…NOOO!!

Karaoke and Bocce Time

On our third last night together, we found ourselves in a somewhat remote country township. We all know that Tim is a big karaoke fan and because Karaoke is a big deal in Asia, the moment for him to shine just had to come. So after having many Beer Laos on the veranda of our lovely guesthouse overlooking the mountain ranges, we ventured into town to find a place for dinner. Walking in, we could hear the sounds of broken singing and Asian Techno. Pretty standard for a small village town. After ordering a few different meals to share, Tim somehow found his way into sharing many Beer Laos shots with a group of locals who were sitting a few tables over. We did lose Tim for most of that night to the locals and even though our meals had come and been eaten, he still sat and spoke half broken English conversations. It wasn’t long before he was singing his heart out to not only English songs, but also trying his hand at some Laos songs too…… We finished off the night in the yard of the bar where they had a Petanque (Bocce) area. The locals took a liking to Lucas, who they re-named Spiderman, and eventually we even won a game or two against them. We probably wouldn’t have been able to do this without Spiderman’s supreme skills.

Playing Bocce ‘Laos Style’

I could be here forever recapping the fun times shared, but I will allow some of the pictures to enlighten you of our journey, while the memories for us will forever remain imprinted in our minds.

Thank you for coming and sharing this time with us.

Marita and Buster

Amazing scenery

Lucas and Tim enjoying a sunset at Vang Vieng.

Parked up for the evening at Hot Springs Resort between Kasi and Luang Probang. Highly recommend this place to stay.

Look at that view!

Marita, Tim and Lucas.

Magical waterfalls.

Cruising past the local traffic.

Micka and Tim enjoying the Blue Lagoon at Vang Vieng.

Working in the field.

The boys at Kuang Si waterfall, Luang Probang.

Taking a moment…

Micka out in front, Lucas then Tim.

Lucas, Micka, Marita, Chelsea and Tim at one of the highest points on our ride.