February 06, 2004

Oh no! More caves!

Vang Vieng, Laos

Heading further south I stopped in at the town of Vang Vieng. Once a small and sleepy town it had become a bit of a travellers destination due to the sensational scenery and large number of caves. Never one to turn my back on a dark and dangerous exploration I headed to the town with enthusiasm.

The next day I headed north a little way with a guide. We started at a small village reached by a rickety bamboo bridge. The bridge is rebuilt every time the river floods. Several times a year. Apparently the village was getting electricity in just a couple of days but the villagers seemed to be containing their excitement over this momentous event.

In light rain my guide Peng led me to the first cave, full of large chambers and some quite good formations. The rain was a strange experience. It was only the second time it had rained on my trip so far (the other being in the jungle in Malaysia).

The next cave was a large, long tunnel. Probably more than a kilometre. We finished at a T junction with a river. The river once flowed through the tunnel but had since made a new path and the tunnel was now dry. We waded up the river a little way then sat in the dark and talked for a while.

The third cave was the exit of the river's new path. Normally it's explored by floating in to the cave on inner-tubes but the inner-tube guy had decided to go home. Not to be defeated we stripped down and swam in instead. We had just one light so it was pretty dim but a lot of fun to explore.

The next day I decided to stay on and explore a different area by myself. The place is riddled with caves so it was no trouble to find a few quiet and undeveloped ones to rat around in. The rain had stopped by there was a heavy low mist which made the steep mountain-sides look very dramatic. I think I went a bit crazy with taking photos.

Heading back to town there's a wide stretch of river to cross. The bridge here has a toll of 1000 kip. About 10 cents. An American girl I met on one side of the river suggested we might take off our shoes and wade across to avoid the toll. I figured I could afford it.

Not yet satiated I stayed yet another day and explored a bit further. The scenery was just magic and it was easy to walk along the quiet road on the other side of the river past a number of small villages. At the first village a bunch of young but street-wise kids came up to see if I'd like to take their photo. I declined but they then started up a chant of "kip, kip, kip, kip", sounding remarkably like small birds. After a little bit of this the six-year old leader would wave his hand and they'd all go quiet. A few more moments of no reaction from me but a smile and one of them would tentatively start the call up again and soon the "kip, kip" cry would be back in full swing. It was so funny to hear that I almost succumbed.

Posted by David at February 6, 2004 01:54 AM