Tha Khaek

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A charming, sleepy little riverside town. Very old and run down looking. We spent a couple days going around, wandering by the restaurants at the riverside, eating tons of ice cream (Anais is an ice cream fiend).

Our best day was definately when we rented to motorbikes. This was my second time on a bike, but with an additional challenge - the town had no automatics - only manuals. I figured it out pretty well, I guess, but it took some getting used to! We drove out of town down the potholed highway, dodging shaggy-eared cows and herds of goats. There were enormous limestone mountains jutting out of nowhere, shooting vertically upwards and completely covered in green - remeniscent of Halong Bay. quite good. We crossed this bridge, where a whole bunch of naked little boys were jumping off into the water. Their parents were standing at the side watching and they beckoned us over. One had a limited grasp of english, and volunteered to take us on a boat ride to see the inside of a nearby cave. We accepeted, and set off in the little boat. it required constant bailing.

The cave was beautiful. Our approached was fantastic as well. A winding river full of fallen trees and little underpasses of rocks. One you got inside the cave you were stuck with a feeling of isolation, of having walked in on something quite untouched. I'm certain we were the first tourists to enter in some time. How fantastic! It was enormous on the inside - the roof of the cave was quite high and covered in stalicmites. The cave was still forming so water droplets were landing everywhere. We went swimming in there and I climbed on the rock stuctures that had developed inside the cave. We took the boat back out where we took a swim with the little kids.

The parents told us that if we were interested there was another cave about 500 meters up the road. They showed us the way - it was more like three kilometers. The path was flooded and slippery under our feet, but we took it slowly and we were fine. We were a little surprised to see streetlights at the end of the path - this is not a country of streetlights. As we continued down we found an extremely well developed cave, complete with concrete steps and indoor lighting. We'd been lucky enough to find ourselves in a cave that was designed for busloads of tourists, but it was only us there - the only way to properly enjoy a cave.

Although the inside of the cave lacked the calm of the first cave (perhaps due to the lighting or the obviousness of human involvement), it was still quite a nice walk. It was filled with concrete stairs going in every which way, winding here and there, up and down, sometimes stopping and then continueing 30 meters further, completely inexplicably. Sometimes they led nowhere. It was like an escher painting!

We made it back into Tha Khaek just as the sun went down, and enjoyed our last meal with Anais (at a kareoke bar). This was sad, as we'd been travelling with her for nine days and really gotten close - she'd been doing wonders for my french! But the trip was (and is) winding down, and we needed to get back to Bangkok.

We got up at 7 and headed down to the ferry dock to cross into Thailand. We missed the boat by a hair and had to wait for the next one. The border guard on the other side required a bribe of sixty cents to let us in. We got a TukTuk to the bus station and missed the bus by a hair. The next one left 8 hours later, so we decided to take a more complicated but ultimately quicker route by going from local bus to local bus, figuring it out as we went along. Time in transit: 22 hours. Funny how it doesn't seem so bad after having done the 38 hour the other day.

So now I'm in Bangkok. I'm thinking of enrolling in a 30 hour massage course. It's strange - I've been moving around for the last six months - this is my last stop. I can't wait to get home - to see my family, to play my guitars and to get ready for University - but I have a desire to keep moving - not to settle down and stay in one place but keep mobile! Maybe just a passing fancy. Anyway, I'm looking forward to a solid western meal and a Guinness.

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