Goodbye Vientiane hello Kong Lor

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Hi everyone,



Well I have left the craziness of Vientiane behind and have travelled to Kong Lor for two nights. We are a small group of 3. paukine from France who has been working in NZ for 7 months and Paddy who has been working in Australia for 2 years And our Gide Boon.



We took the stray bus for the 6 hour ish journey from Vientiane to Kong Lor. We stopped off along the way at a local eatery for food, but as the lady was on her own we were limited to what we could have so it was rice with stir fried veggies and pork lol. We also stopped off at a temple which contains a foot print of bhuddha which was imprinted into the rock so the story goes. We also stopped off at a beauty spot point which allows you to see the whole valley, quite spectacular!



Our accommodation is located on the outskirts of the village which consits of about 70 houses. There is a lots of home stay accommodation here which means you can stay with a local family. Naps we went wandering around the village last night we met up with a few westerners so the place is starting to get a name on the tourist map. It's been raining again and again and again, I think the rainy season is well and truly here, but it's not impacting too much on our itinerary and events. In our rooms we have a list of rules and I have a miffy bed side light lol.

The village is surrounded by padi fields which are used to grow rice in the wet season and tobacco in the drier seasons. There is also a range of mountains in the distance which are quite stunning, generally the scenery in Laos is very beautiful.

Last night we had a wander round the village just as the sun was setting, and then had dinner at a local restaurant and were attacked by every flying insect arountd for miles, or at least it felt like it and from a distance you would think we all had nervous twitches lol.

Today we have been to the Kong Lor cave which is about 2 km long and is navigated by boat which seats 3 passengers. They are very long and narrow . It was skippered by one of the many local boatmen who are very accomplished at sailing in the pitch black without running into cave walls, sand banks or rocks below the surface. To be fair we all had head torches and life jackets on (good job for Paddy as he can't swim bless him) so we could see some things. The only part of the cave to be fully illuminated were the collection of amazing stalagmites and stalactites.

When we came out of the caves at the other end we had a little trip down stream and then stopped off at a picnic area for ten minutes for a photo opportunity and drink and then back on the boat for the certain trip. Altogether it was a round trip of about 2.5 hours or so. I could hear the bats at the far end of the cave but couldn't see them. The cave was very wide at quite high in places so there was no chance if getting claustrophobia.

When we returned we walked back to the guest house and came across a small lizard. As we were walking back the clouds started to gather and not long after that the heavens opened and we had another down pour. This afternoon I have just relaxed and written my blog. This evening we have just been out for tea to the same restaurant as last night to re-live the attack of the killer bugs lol.

Tomorrow we head off to Tha Kek for more travelling adventures.

Xx

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