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Hi everyone
Not much news from yesterday as I had a chill of day to catch upon sleep, blogging and get rid of the hangover lol.
Today we have been to the blur lagoon which isn't too far away form our accommodation.
We had a leisurely morning and had a late breakfast and all met up at the hostel where most of the guys are staying. They are all friends of Laura whom is doing the stray pass and she met them when she stayed in a hostel prior to,the stray pass tour. They are following a similar route to,us and land around the same time as us. So we had 13 of us in two tuk tuks. David one of the guys who is from Canada checked to see how much they would charge us for a tuk tuk and they said 30k kip each, then he spoke to a lady who,runs a travel agents and she said she could get a mini van for 24k each so we opted for that. However when it arrived and we had all gotten in the tuk tuk driver was not happy and kicked
up a fuss, so we all,piled out Nd got two tuk tuks for 20k kip each! Which in UK money is about £1.50!
We headed to the blue lagoon and had to pay 10k kip per vehicle to cross the bridge and then we had a 15 minute ish drive to our destination. I have to say it was the worst ride ever and was a real bone shaker. The road was flat ish but as old bricks rocks and stones had been used the surface was very bumpy, and a tuk tuk has little or no suspension so you feel all the lumps and bumps.
We finally got there shaken not stirred and paid our entrance fee, disembarked from the tuk tuk and headed for the lagoon. We had a two part ticket, one for the lagoon and one for the caves. As we crossed the bridge which stretched across the lagoon we had to show out tickets to two bya, on about 12 and one about 8. It was their job to check our tickets and tear off the lagoon portion and we kept the caves portion.
Around the
lagoon were some open sided huts, tables, a volley ball pitch and a couple of places selling hot food, snax where you could rent an inflatable ring to sit on in the water and bob along.
The boys went straight for the rope swing or the tree which stuck out over the water. I went for rope swing too and my first attempt at using it as not so graceful and I landed bottom first lol, my second attempt later was only slightly more successful lol.
The pool,was quite deep, deep enough so that if you jumped or dived off the top branches of the tree you didn't hurt yourself. Managing from the tree and one nearby were rope swings which you could sit on and stay in the water as the planks you perched on were below the surface. It was cold ish but i think the water at the waterfalls was colder, but you did have to keep moving to keep warm. The water was a similar colour to the waterfalls, a milky blue/turquoise colour.
So after an hour or so we decided to head for the caves which
were only a minutes walk away. There was a warning sign about the danger of the caves, that you needed a head torch or torch of some kind, the darkness in there and the ability to get lost in them. You could hire a head torch for 10k kip or have a guided tour. Between us we decided we had enough torches or iPhones with lights on them so we decided not to hire any.
So my mountain goat skills were called upon again as we headed up the steep makes fit steps, no tree roots this time as the steps were more defined and an actual route up to the mouth of the caves. The intrepid excited boys went first and the girls and one boy brought up the rear. It took about five minutes to climb up and again we were very hot and sweaty when we got to the top.
Once at the top we had to negotiate our way down into the cave. The cricks were a bit slippery in places so we had to be careful. Again wish I had worn my walking boots as flip flops are not
the best foot wear in these circumstances lol.
However we were all pretty much in the same situation and initially we didn't need the torches as we had light coming in through two mouths to the caves. We then clambered up again to see the view inside and look down on to the Buddha shrine.
After taking the usual photos we climbed back down (only a few feet) and made our way down to the shrine. In places it was a little dark and slippery so we were glad of our torches. It was also dirty work and we got mud all over us from hanging on to the walls, slipping down on our bottoms and brushing up against the rocks and cave walls.
When we got to,the Buddha a few of the girls decided we had gone far enough but some of the more intrepid ladies forged on ahead into the caves with the boys. People whom were returning from the adventure said it was pitch black and and quite slippery in places, and that the caves seemed to go on and on and it was easy to get lost
in there.
As we sat there waiting for our party to return we passed the message on to the steady trickle of people who,were also coming to explore the caves. As we sat waiting the boys who had forged on ahead returned and relayed what we already knew. So,we headed back with them and left Gaby behind as she had her friends bags and she was happy to wait for them on her own. So we clambered back up the rocks taking a different, more direct and easier route up. As I neared the top I had a little slip but hung in and managed to save myself. I would have only fallen about 30ft if I had gone down lol.
We emerged from the caves safe and sound and headed back down negotiating the steps as went. We had to wait and stand to one side for people coming up, including a lady and her elderly mother who looked to be well into her 60s or even 70s! We decided we all wanted to be like her when we got to her age. She was smiling and chatting as she went and didn't
seem phased by the level of activity required to complete the task of climbing the stairs lol.
So we made it back down to the lagoon and were followed about ten minutes later by the rest of the group so we all made it back safe and sound. We made use of the lagoon again to wash off the dirt and mud and to cool down before heading back for the bone shaker of a ride to the hostel.
In the evening we had a low key time just eating and watching episodes of fiends. For some reason many of the bars and restaurants platypus back to back episodes of friends. The restaurants have raised platforms which you sit on -.taking care to remove you shoes first and sit at low level tables on big cushions and pillows. How every civilised lol.
I had an early night as i had a very early start because ...........
Xx
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