Day 76! It’s another day motorbiking across Laos! Today though, I was surrounded by beautiful mountains and went on a spectacular boat ride through the Konglor Cave! I also made some new friends and even ran into some friends I made the other day!

It was another early morning in Laos, but after I got ready and packed up I didn’t immediately hop on my motorbike like usual.

Instead I FaceTimed my parents for our weekly chat!

After a nice conversation and catch up with them, it was time to set out for the day.

Today was day two of the Thakek Loop and it was cloudy in the morning which made for a cool start to the drive.

I knew I had some “bigger” purchases coming up today. So I stopped by a nearby ATM to pull out some cash to prepare!

The first twenty minutes of my ride were majestic! I wove around gorgeous fields surrounded by ginormous rock formations. The clouds were very low around the mountains (I’m not sure what size constitutes a hill vs mountain) which made for a mystical environment.

I very quickly approached my first stop of the day, the Dragon Cave! I know I said I wasn’t that interested in caves, but I had heard this one was worth the stop! Also… today is a cave filled day, but totally worth it!

After paying 50,000 Kip (around $2-$3) I entered into the park.

The entrance had some stone carved Buddhas and you could take a side path to a temple, but I opted to go right into the belly of the beast!

Since it was so early I had the cave just about to myself the entire time! There were 2 people ahead of me but they exited almost as soon as I saw them.

The cave started out by leading you right up along an underground stream, which was a gorgeous shade of blue! The ceiling quickly became low and I had to crouch my way for a couple of minutes as I headed further into the cave… it actually was a little claustrophobic for me!

But then the cave opened up into a humongous cavern! My mouth dropped as I entered the area and I of course instantly tested out the echo in the cave.

The area was very open and you were able to walk pretty much anywhere. But eventually I exited the cave which led to a decision, to exit or to do a viewpoint “hike.”

I of course opted for the viewpoint hike and started my steep ascent up the side of the climb.

The view at the top was worth the sweat! I had a great view of the surrounding area and as I made it to the top, some friends from back home (who were celebrating St. Patrick’s Day) FaceTimed me and were shocked at where I was when I picked up.

I then swiftly made my descent and headed back to my back to set out on the next leg of my journey.

But before I left the parking lot, one of the workers brought me a free water bottle which was super kind of him!

I then set off down the road on an hour long drive to my next spot.

Originally I was going to drive another 20 minutes to a “cool pool.” But after yesterday’s waterfall adventure, I thought that was enough. Also apparently there were kids that liked to steal bags at this one so I opted to not take the risk.

These boats are special in Laos. They’re called bomb boats! They are boats made out of tanks that carried fuel for jets during the war.

A bit further into the drive I hit a construction zone! At first it was just terrible dirt roads with loads of pot holes. But then it turned into an actual excavation site with active excavators!

OSHA would not have been happy with what was going on. But the excavators politely waited for the motorbikes and cars to pass before they kept on working.

I kept driving on until I made it to my next stop of the day, the Rock Viewpoint.

This viewpoint overlooks the vast array of limestone mountains! It was very gorgeous, but I was ready to get to my homestay and escape the heat for a little bit. So I headed on down the road until I reached a closed road… which then directs me down a gravel dirt road which was not the most fun to drive down.

An hour later, after passing by many gorgeous views, avoiding potholes, and crossing sketchy wooden bridges, I had made it to my homestay for the night!

The first order of business was putting my things down. But the second order was to get some food!

I had been really craving mango on my ride. So I chowed down on a plate of it and for my meal I had a Lao curry, which was quite tasty!

I then set out for my last activity of the day, the pinocle of the Thakhek loop, the Konglor Cave! A 2.5 hour journey through a 7.5 kilometer cave!

Because I was by myself and no one was around to hop in with their group, I needed to pay 300,000 Kip for entry and a boat with a driver. But this was worth the money!

We started the boat down a pitch black cave and I had never seen anything like it! It was like a more intense version of Its a Small World or the scene from Willy Wonka.

We were geared up with our headlamps which illuminated this immense cave! However, not well enough to take the best pictures.

Our first stop was to a set of stairs that led up to a massive stalagmite and stalactite formations!

After admiring the hard work the water droplets had put in over the years, I hopped back onto the boat where we sped off to the next stop for similar views!

I then hopped back on the boat again as we started to get nearer and nearer to the exit out of the back of the cave!

After being in darkness for quite some time, the cave opened back up to the outdoors and we cruised down the river basking in the sun!

The river then led to a small village/tourist center that had drinks and food waiting for us to buy. At this point I had met some other travelers from the stops and I decided to join them for an afternoon beer!

I actually had met one of these travelers in Thakhek! We only had walked past each other and said hello before, so it was nice to get to know each other!

The group was Chris from the Netherlands, Steve from Australia, Dan from USA, and Boaz and Wannes from Belgium!

After around 30 minutes, we set back out in the opposite direction that we came!

I was thoroughly impressed with this cave. The sheer size was already jaw dropping, but the experience of riding through it in the dark on a boat made it so much cooler!

I saw plenty of bats and amazing formations! I would highly recommend checking this out if you’re ever in Laos!

I escaped into the sunlight and made my way back to the motorbike parking lot to wait for my new friends to see what their plans were.

They all wanted to go eat back at the place they were staying. But I found a cheap restaurant nearby and ate there before shooting them a message to ask what they were up to!

After I finished eating my chicken and noodle soup, they sent me their location and I rode past a beautiful sunset on my way to join these new friends for some drinks!

We ended up hanging out the whole rest of the night! Chatting away, listening to music, and enjoying each other’s company. Then out of nowhere, Sam and Guy come walking in as they had just finished driving for the day!

I was really glad to run into them again and it was very fun spending more time with them!

After a while we shifted to another restaurant closer to my homestay and played some casual drinking games and I ate a big plate of chicken fried rice!

I was the first to call it a night since I want to get up on the earlier side to start my ride to Vientiane.

I’m not sure where I’ll be staying tomorrow, but I doubt I make it all the way to the capital city tomorrow.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself today! Not only were there spectacular views and sights… but I met some new friends and was able to get some much needed socializing in! Tomorrow I’ll head out to finish the loop and then continue on my journey through Laos!

– Elie