Friday, February 17, 2012

The Loop!-Tha Khaek to Kong Lor cave, Laos
Friday, February 17, 2012 Okay, so I know I may be a little late in the game, but I think that is the first time this year that I've typed 2012. When you're not in a steady job and day to day routine, there's no need for retaining such trivial information as dates. Anywho, I'm sitting on a deserted beach in Don Det, Laos. The world is still sleeping here, and I should be as well—it's 7:30am. Not sure why I'm up, but I am. Actually, I take that back. I do know why---there was a jungle of assorted birds outside my hotel room that kept me up. At night, they took on a human form and in the morning, the actual kind. So, decided to be productive and begin the day with my blog before the masses arise. I'm not I n a hurry since the day doesn't start here until 12, at best. It's a college student's dream place. Last I left you, I was setting of for a 3 day adventure simply called "The Loop" in Laos. It's literally a loop (go figure) in the south-central part of the country from the small town of Tha Khaek, north to Thalang, and back. It's not a journey that many people take, and can only be done by renting motorbikes (no buses go there) which is what makes it so much fun. There are only a handful of other travelers taking the same path. This made for amazing memories since the locals are GENUINELY happy just to spot you. I'm talking, driving down the road, kids and other motorists would wave, shouting "Sabaidee!" ("hi" in Laos) with a smile so sincere on their faces you'd think they just won the lottery. And this didn't happen one or two times; it happened a lot. Like every 10 minutes, a lot. It was great! My friends and I all agreed that this was one of the highlights of the trip and one of the driving forces supplying the extra energy boost needed to continue on our way at some of the seemingly endless parts of the ride. See, taking a long motorcycle journey seems quite romantic and fun. What they don't tell you is that it's not that comfortable. Like, not at all. It also didn't help that the "roads" were non-existent for at least half of the journey. Sitting on the back was quite bumpy and there's no room to shift your position, sleep, or get comfortable. It's just you and your little bum trying to chafe as little as possible. But, if that's the most of my worries on this trip, I'll take it! I have to admit, I've never really been comfortable around motorbikes. Quite frankly, I'm terrified of them. Always have been. And this fear has only been heightened on my travels as I think I've only met a handful of people who have NOT had an accident on rented bikes. One story even included a man who was flying in to visit his son in the hospital after he crashed on a bike. The girlfriend died and he is now without a spleen. Good times. So let's just say that to even consider doing a trip like this was overcoming a personal challenge for me. That said, I still wasn't brave enough to drive my own bike. Fortunately for me, I my friends were kind enough to agree to let the girl tag along on the back of the bike and were patient throughout the ride with me. A HUGE thank you goes out to Steven for being my chauffeur for the 3 days. He did a FANTASTIC time driving (and singing Whitney Houston tributes) and I can honestly say I wasn't scared, even once. Thanks, Ebbers! So, enough background on the trip. Let me tell you the nitty gritty details of all the fun on "The Loop"!
Day 1: Tha Khaek to Thalang 10 am- 6:30pm, 139 km, 3 flat tires On the first day of our trip, we all met up for breakfast and then hit the road. The gang was me, Steven, Joe, Ronnie, and Eddie—my Dutch boys! On day 1, we had to cover 139 km before nightfall. We weren't sure what road conditions or other obstacles we might run into so after a few quick circles around the plaza to get the feel for the bikes, we left with plenty of time…so we thought! Turns out, we had THREE flat tires in the first 30 km! Just to clarify, the "we" was actually Joe. He was the only one who had 3 flat tires in a row. Poor guy! I was traveling with such a fun bunch of friends though, and we all agreed that we were grateful for the flat tires because they made for great stories and authentic interactions with the locals.
Flat Tire #1: About 25 km from the start. We pulled over near a school and what we thought was a tire shop. They had tires but apparently didn't repair them—this is what we concluded from the pointing and grunts since we don't speak Laos and no one spoke English. Ronnie decided to head off on his bike and search for a tire shop. While he did that, I noticed another motorcyclist coming towards us and could tell it was a traveler as well. I decided to flag them down and as soon as I did, realized that it was none other than our Belgian friend, Maarten---small world! A minute later, Ronnie showed up with a pickup truck to take Joe back to the shop. We all rode along and they had some beers while we waited for the repair. For 7,000 kip (less than $1), we set off with a patched tire. Flat Tire #2: Fortunately for us, that patch didn't last too long….about 5 minutes to be precise so we were off for adventure #2 of the day! Tire #2 happened near a little "town" so we were able to spot a tire hanging outside a hut that indicated they did repairs. This time, we decided to get a whole new inner tube instead of a patch. WE splurged and spent 30,000 kip (~$3.70) They were quite diligent and had 3 guys work on it at the same time so we just had enough time for a quick snack before heading off to await flat tire #3. Flat Tire #3: The new inner tube held off longer than the patch but still not long enough. This tire happened as we were going up a deserted mountain so we were lucky that the first (and one of the only vehicles) that passed was a minivan who pulled over and helped us out. Through pointing we communicated the problem and Joe and the bike piled into the back of the van to head to a repair shop. This time, we bought a new inner tube and tire. We didn't want to take any more chances. So for 110,000 kip ($13) we finally had the problem solved. Although personally, I think it worked this time because it was a girl who changed the tire! : ) Besides these unplanned excursions, we did have a few planned stops as well (all pre-flat tires). On day one, we saw a cave where we paid a local guide to walk us through with a light. We also stopped at a lagoon (but didn't stop to swim since we weren't sure about time), and a Buddha Cave. At the cave, they wanted to charge for parking the bikes. Some of us didn't want to pay and as we were discussing, the woman threatened to slash our tires. That made our decision easy so we drove off and parked right near the entrance for free (we later speculated if Joe's flat tires weren't so coincidental). At the cave, we each paid an entrance fee and then I was handed a skirt from a woman and asked for another 2,000 kip. Luckily, I had a dress with me and I put that on as a skirt instead. Granted, 2,000 kip is only around $.20 but sometimes you have to have principles and its tiring feeling like you are constantly being ripped off. The cave was not that spectacular but I'm glad we did it anyway. Afterwards, we had lunch at the stands outside. We had a nice feast and a fun time trying to order and gave the local ladies a good laugh as they watched 4 gigantically tall Dutch boys and one mini American girl devour their food. The best part, by far, was Steven traumatizing the youth. There was a tiny girl (about 1 or years old) who wandered over with her brother to watch us eat. Steven decided to touch her hand to say hello and as soon as she did, she burst into tears. Real, dripping, scared for her life tears. She was so terrified, her own mother couldn't console her. Only my coconut juice did the trick and she finally relaxed. By the time we finally reached our guest house, it was dark and we were a bit nervous we weren't going to make it. It was interesting driving in the dark, with sunglasses to protect our eyes from the bugs and dust. The only guidance we had in finding the places was that it would be near a bridge. Maarten had recommended the place he stayed and it did not disappoint. Sabaidee guesthouse is run by a really friendly man who could not have been more accommodating. Since we arrived late, there was only one room left with 2 beds. Since we were 5 people, he set up a tent, hammock, and chicken coop all for free. In the end, we didn't use them but it was a nice gesture. The place even had internet and a guitar to use for free! At dinner, we ran into Graham, another guy from the slow boat, and two other couples we had met at various points in Laos. We tried to settle in for an early night but the boys did a great job entertaining me with card tricks and acting out Eurotrip scenes 'til later night instead. It was good fun! Day 2: Thalang to Kong Lor, 9am-6:00 pm, 120 km After the start to day 1, we decided to have an even earlier start on day 2. It was Valentine's Day and I was surprised by 2 roses! We had all joked about not having a Valentine so Steven was nice enough to surprise me with a rose, and then the owner of the guesthouse gave me one and some candy. Plus, we awoke to discover there was a beautiful river next to the hotel. Since we arrived at night, we had no idea. I think it was my best V-day ever! ---Sad, I know : ) I was SO sore from day 1 that I really didn't know how I could last all day on the bike again. On top of that, we had been warned that the "road" on day 2 was not really a road at all and would be bumpy…it sure was! Okay, this is getting really long so I'm just going to list the highlights from day 2: -Roads were really dusty and we had to keep on glasses and cover our mouths -Getting lost and taking a few different "'short cuts" by hydro-electric damns -Being really excited about my new headphones that ended up not working : ( -Watching two tanker trucks miss my watch in the road by inches and retrieving it unharmed! -Singing Whitney Houston tribute and various other songs with Steven all day -Somehow missing a waterfall -Becoming a spectacle for the locals that came just to watch us snack on chips and watermelon -Finding "gas" stations that were no more than a canister with fuel or a bottle of fuel poured by the owner with a tube or funnel -Feeling and listening to the whistling wind and taking in the enormous mountains surrounding us -Utilizing my new Laos language skills acquired from the one-page word list on the back of our "map" -Riding through a local village in search of a hotel -Waving back at smiling kids shouting "Sabaidee" as we rode by -"Re-meeting" people from previous bus rides at dinner -Singing in the shower with the boys through the "walls" of our bungalows and later learning that everyone in the hotel heard us -Trying to ignore the snoring of Ron and Eddie in the room next to us -Falling asleep to Joe reading me "Three Weeks with My Brother" -Nicholas Sparks We spent the night in Kong Lor, a tiny village of mostly guesthouses, surrounded by huge rocks. Our guesthouse was nothing to write home about but it was 80,000 kip ($10) split three ways, the owners were sweet, and were only 1 km from the cave. Day 3: Kong Lor cave to Tha Khaek, 11:30 am-6:00 pm, 160 km We rose early and set off for Kong Lor cave, a 7km long cave with a river through it. It was AMAZING! For a few dollars (2,000 kip to park the bike, 3,000 entry, and 115,000 split 3 ways for the boat), we were given a head lamp, a life jacket, and a prayer as we were driven in a wooden canoe with a motor on the back. It was a real adventure! We had two guides on our boat. The one in front had a headlamp and a paddle. His job was to constantly scan the cave for rocks and help guide the man steering the boat from the back, in the dark. We all commented on how much fun it was that even though it's a heavily visited spot in Laos, it is far from feeling touristy. In fact, the "guides" speak no English (the only words our guide knew was "you" and that worked quite effectively to tell us when we should get out of the boat or not), there are no long lines of tourists or signs explaining anything. You have no idea what to expect on anything and you get to make up your own explanations for everything which is pretty exciting! At several points during the trip, we had to get out of the boat while they pushed it over the rocks and rapids. The water was surprisingly warm and clear. It was fun! There is also one part with stalagtites and stalagmites and it is the only part that is lit up (and the lights are only on as you walk through it). The cave is 7km long and almost 75 meters high at points. It's huge! Once you reach the other end, you stop and have a chance to see the village and buy snacks before heading back. Outside the cave, I tried driving the motor bike. Steven was patient and taught me what to do and the other boys were happy to sit back and laugh at my attempts. For the first time ever, it wasn't too bad (if you forget about narrowly missing a tree). I was concentrating so hard on everything else: placing my feet, keeping balance, turning the throttle, etc. that I forgot one minor detail…look up and steer…oops! After the cave, we set off to end our journey back in Tha Khaek. Even though it was a long day for km, it was the best paved roads so we made it fine. The highlight of the drive back was stopping for lunch at a random roadside house where I used the vocabulary sheet to order lunch for everyone…and it worked! The lady was as sweet as could be and was so impressed by the amount of food we ate. I think she will be talking about us for years to come!