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Published: April 18th 2007
That's Me, I Promise
All masked up to escape the dust. The Loop
It may sound like a new dance craze, but the The Loop is actually a circular road leading out of and coming back to Tha Khaek in central Laos. It goes through quaint villages and rugged, mountainous areas. We, meaning Deene, Greg and I, rented motorbikes from the city center of Tha Khaek and visited the police station/ tourist office to get more suggestions of where to go. The friendly man at the office told us of an anniversary party taking place for the next three days at the Konglo Cave to celebrate its 5th year of being open to the public. We photo copied a map of the area and its attractions and decided we would do a Reverse Loop in order to catch the party. We told Greg our idea and rented the motorbikes from a shop in town. I got a semi automatic turquoise green Kolao (Korean made) bike in shady condition. The mud was still stuck on it from the last trip it had taken and a piece of plastic cord was holding the passenger peddle up on one side. We rode out and got gas at the nearest station. We were on
Perfect View
Greg and I admiring Laos's mountainous view. the road by 3:00pm and aimed to get to Nam Thon. I was getting used to my bike and all its little quirks. Luckily, this particular leg of the trip is on a sealed road and the traffic (like in many places in Laos) was relatively minimal. We crossed bridges made of planks of wood, past temples, villages, periodically stopping at certain spots to admire the view. We got to our destination just after dark, settled into our rooms in the guesthouse and went in search of something to eat. The selection on the menu is slim pickins in this part of Laos; noodle soup, fried rice or som tom (spicy papaya salad). We had the fried rice and beer. Not a bad dinner actually.
In the morning we set off early to catch the festivities at the Konglo Caves in time. We rode on a tarmac road for a while taking a right onto a 40km dirt road leading down to the cave. This was our first encounter with “the dust” which would follow us for the rest of our journey. We could go about 50-60 km on the good parts and as slow as 20 km on
The Way to Konglo
The beginning of a 40km journey to the famous cave. the tricky bits. Giant trucks full of Lao party goers would fly by us, leaving their dust trail to choke and blind us. It may sound like hell to some, but it was actually a lot of fun eventhough I wished I had a dirtbike to compete fairly with the terrain. We also had the added bonus of maneuvering ourselves around the numerous off road detours necessary because of the construction going on in the road. It was like being in a game of Excite Bike.
We arrived at the caves around noon. I was shocked to see Matt and Jeramy, two guys on my Gibbon Experience, sitting at a table having a beer. I can decide if it’s a small world of if these two guys are just everywhere. I walked up to them with my helmet on and my face mask (essential for the dust). They had no idea who I was and were surprised when I finally unmasked myself. I had seen two guys on cool bikes gliding past us while riding earlier on in the day, they had seen us too but didn’t know it was me. We chatted a bit and went down to
The Dust!!!
Our first encounter with "The Dust!" the cave area to have a dip in the crystal water of the lagoon in front of the cave. By that time Deen, Greg and I weren’t sure if we were going to go in because we didn’t want to ride back to Nahim on the 40km dirt road with detours in the dark. The guide at the ticket desk said it took an hour to go through. We decided to go for it because we had time (we thought).
I am glad we went in because it is the best cave I have ever seen and being in Southeast Asia you see many. All others shrink in comparison. You have to take a small, motor powered boat 7km into the innerds of the cave. It’s pitch black dark, lit only by the head torches of the boat conductors. I felt like a miner. About 2 minutes in you feel the temperature drop 5 degrees and all sounds echo in the distance. It’s a surreal experience to say the least. At one point we were allowed out of the boat to a viewing point at one of the cave's crazy rock formations. This part was lit with colored lights
Recognize These Guys?
A chance meeting with Matt and Jeremy from my Gibbon Experience trip. to show off the stalagtites and concaves. We took photos and made shadow dances. Then were back in the boat to continue the trip. We had to disembarque several times because this time of year (dry season) the water level is a bit lower. We reached the other end of the cave and turned around to go back to where we entered. In other words, the trip took about three hours in total, not one. So, we did have to drive back in the dark which took us close to two hours. Still, I am glad I didn’t miss the Konglo Cave and it has been one of the highlights of my trip in Laos. We found Matt and Jeramy eating at a restaurant and joined them to have a delicious meal of pork steak and french fries. I had a cold shower and hit the sac.
The next morning we headed towards Lak Sao. Three minutes after pulling out of the gas station where we fuilled up I started hearing weird sounds coming from my motorbike and then a pop followed by the inability to change gears. A Lao man stopped to stare at me before recommending me
Konglo Swimmin' Hole
An oasis of crystal clear water outside the cave entrance. to go back to the service station. Greg towed me, by my arm, into the garage. There we waited an hour and a half while one man worked (seven other watched him) on trying to find a suitable replacement for my chain. He ended up having to weld one that was originally too long to fit my bike. It still made funny noises and we had to have him change the bolts so the chain didn’t rattle against the guard. Finally, we were back on the road. I was waiting for the chain to pop off again but luckily it never did.
The road to Lak Sao was still pretty good, but we decided to sleep there to sleep because that was a town we knew had guesthouses and the next leg of the trip was to be the most challenging. We ate at a local restaurant and took a stroll around town which took all of ten minutes. The locals gawked at us. This is a part of Laos that still gets very little tourism, so we were put on quite a good show for them just being there. Later that evening, Deene and I were having coffee
Cave Transport
The only access into the caves are by these motorized canoes. at our guesthouse amongst a group of Lao women celebrating something or simply drinking insane amounts of BeerLao and were not happy until we (briefly) participated.
The next morning, our guesthouse owner gave us as gifts florecent yellow T-shirts publicizing his business on the back. It was cold that morning so I was glad to have it and later on in the day thought it a good color to wear so that the trucks could see me in the dust. This bit of the road was challenging; rocky, dusty, rutted, potholed, did I say dusty? I was comfortable riding by this time and managed myself well, although I had to learn through trail and error how to get myself down the hills and around the curves without slipping. I think I came out of second gear only a couple times within those few hours. We passed through villages with the “Sabai dee” kids waving us by, jagged cliff mountains, water buffalo, rice fields, woman panning for gold, men fishing and people going about their lives. That’s what makes Laos such a peaceful country.
We drove clear past the town where we had planned to stop, not recognizing it
In and Out
At times we had to get out of the canoe so the crivers could drag it to higher water. was a town worthy of being marked on a map. So we ate lunch, fried rice, and made our way to Mahaxai back towards Tha Khaek. This was also very dusty but picturesque and relatively flat. Deene and Greg went a bit ahead because I was taking pictures. I had my own private adventure with thin the next half hour that followed. I was riding one direction when I noticed another woman coming the opposite direction, bags of this hanging off every part of her bike, although not an uncommon sight in Laos. She lost control (she was going at the glacial speed of 30km an hour) when she and all her stuff rolled back into a ditch next to the road. I turned my bike around to help her and a meter from where she was, my bike slipped out from under me (I was almost stopped) and I fell next to where her bike lay. I can’t imagine what she thought when I drove up and wiped out in front of her, laughing while I took my helmet off. Like I said, there are very little westerners in this part of the country. Me to the rescue…not! We
Cave Icicles
The caves's creepy formations. were giggling while we got ourselves vertical and on the road again. I’m sure she had a good story to tell her friends that night.
That’s not all! I hadn’t even been driving for five minutes when I realized I had a flat tire. A trucker pointed to a place, that I probably would have missed, where I could get my tire fixed. I was worried that Greg and Deene were waiting for me and wondered what had happened. The young guy worked at my tire while his neighbors gave me refreshing coconut juice and entertained me with their farm animals. Luckily, they had me back on the road in 15 minutes and I found the Frenchies chilling out under a tree having 7up. They had just rolled up about 15 minutes earlier themselves and were surprised when I showed them pictures of my bike repair and told them about how I had tried to rescue a Lao lady from the ditch.
We still had time to try to find a cave off the main road heading back to Tha Khaek, but we found a friendly village and a good swimming hole instead. We got back to Tha
Shadow Dancers
Deene and I playing with our shadows. Khaek exactly at 6:00pm, turned the bikes in and returned to the Travel Lodge to eat and relax. I felt good walking into the guesthouse dirty and dusty from our journey knowing there was a hot shower and comfy bed waiting for me. I scrubbed up and joined the other for dinner. We looked at our photos from the trip and added to the entries in the Travel Lodge guestbook about our experience on The Loop. Like someone else had written in the book “It’s hard, exhausting and really tough at times but well worth it.” I felt the same.
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Edwin
non-member comment
A question about one of the town along the loop.
I did the loop at the end of May 2007, and I stayed at a village whose name I forgot. Its the first village north of Na Kai. You would have gone through it just before entering Na Kai, after which you turn west heading back to Thakaek. If you know the name of it I would be seriously thankful. i stayed the night in someones house there and have part of their address but am not sure about the village's name. I too had a great time, if anyone knows please let me know.