There wasn't much happening in Savannakhet. I had a brief look around, got a SIM and went to the museum. There are apparently some old French colonial buildings. The only one I noticed was the hospital and a few houses. The museum was very ordinary. Only a couple of things of interest and no information. The crossbow they had looked really out of place.
Apparently taking a photo of religious buildings that aren't Buddhist is illegal.
I got the bus up to Thakhek yesterday. The trip was supposed to be 2 hours but took closer to 5. We had to stop to pick up about 50 doors from a workshop.
I had street food last night in Thakhek then went back to the hotel. There was a kind of hall thing across the road. I'd say it was a restaurant but the people doing the cooking were outside on the road. The locals were boozing and got really rowdy. I was tempted to join them but I had to get up early this morning to begin the Khaek loop.
The loop is a 450km round trip that takes at least 3 days. Today I went east from Thakhek through "cave alley" and into the mountains. I only stopped at a couple of caves - it rained heavily last night and the tracks looked a bit too muddy. The first cave took a bit if finding. I ended up riding my scooter down a bush track that was obviously only a walking track. I got it most of the way though.
The cave had a couple of little dark openings filled with water and a massive opening with a stream running through it. I was the only person there, which was nice. I climbed around the edges of the stream and went through the cave. It was only about 100 metres to the other side. I imagine in the wet season the stream turns into a torrent.
Bizarrely, down a little tunnel I found a seashell.
The second cave was larger and had been touristified. There were stairs inside and red and green lights. After wandering around there is a section with a stream and some boats. I waited for 15 minutes or so for the boatman to return but when he didn't I decided to give it a miss.
Looking natural...
The cave is so big even the signs echo.
After the caves the road continued through the dramatic karst formations before winding up into the mountains. At the top of the mountains there is an enormous lake. The edges of the lake were full of the trunks of dead trees. I went down to get a photo and there were people working across the water who continually shouted at me to "come here" even though I couldn't get there without swimming. When I started ignoring them they shouted at me to "play ball". It might be that they only know those 2 phrases, or they were actually speaking their own language and it just sounded like that. I gave them a few cooees and that shut them up for a bit.
The final section continued along the lake edge and I'm now in a town called Thalek. There are a few other people here doing the same thing. One guy I met in the second cave just arrived.
Tomorrow continues through the mountains to the Konglor cave, which is kind of the purpose of the trip. The third day is supposed to be a 110km dash down the highway to close the loop. I didn't fancy that so I rented the scooter for 4 days instead and will return the way I've come. That will give me a chance to visit some of the places I missed today.
Apparently taking a photo of religious buildings that aren't Buddhist is illegal.
I got the bus up to Thakhek yesterday. The trip was supposed to be 2 hours but took closer to 5. We had to stop to pick up about 50 doors from a workshop.
I had street food last night in Thakhek then went back to the hotel. There was a kind of hall thing across the road. I'd say it was a restaurant but the people doing the cooking were outside on the road. The locals were boozing and got really rowdy. I was tempted to join them but I had to get up early this morning to begin the Khaek loop.
The loop is a 450km round trip that takes at least 3 days. Today I went east from Thakhek through "cave alley" and into the mountains. I only stopped at a couple of caves - it rained heavily last night and the tracks looked a bit too muddy. The first cave took a bit if finding. I ended up riding my scooter down a bush track that was obviously only a walking track. I got it most of the way though.
The cave had a couple of little dark openings filled with water and a massive opening with a stream running through it. I was the only person there, which was nice. I climbed around the edges of the stream and went through the cave. It was only about 100 metres to the other side. I imagine in the wet season the stream turns into a torrent.
Bizarrely, down a little tunnel I found a seashell.
The second cave was larger and had been touristified. There were stairs inside and red and green lights. After wandering around there is a section with a stream and some boats. I waited for 15 minutes or so for the boatman to return but when he didn't I decided to give it a miss.
Looking natural...
The cave is so big even the signs echo.
After the caves the road continued through the dramatic karst formations before winding up into the mountains. At the top of the mountains there is an enormous lake. The edges of the lake were full of the trunks of dead trees. I went down to get a photo and there were people working across the water who continually shouted at me to "come here" even though I couldn't get there without swimming. When I started ignoring them they shouted at me to "play ball". It might be that they only know those 2 phrases, or they were actually speaking their own language and it just sounded like that. I gave them a few cooees and that shut them up for a bit.
The final section continued along the lake edge and I'm now in a town called Thalek. There are a few other people here doing the same thing. One guy I met in the second cave just arrived.
Tomorrow continues through the mountains to the Konglor cave, which is kind of the purpose of the trip. The third day is supposed to be a 110km dash down the highway to close the loop. I didn't fancy that so I rented the scooter for 4 days instead and will return the way I've come. That will give me a chance to visit some of the places I missed today.
Inline photos FTW! Them caves look pretty cool, I hadn't heard of that loop or those caves before.
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