Ecotourism Adventure # MCLVII: Spelunking and Cycling with Schannelhannelestenhauser & the Snorkmaiden

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We decided to come up for air for a bit from our torrid love affair with the river and venture further out into the countryside. We rented mountain bikes and bumped our way over gravelly, potholed roads through beautiful karst scenery. We went to Tham Phu Kham, a cave hollowed out of the limestone karst 1,000s of years ago, and met some travelers and cave-philes from Austin, Texas who gave us some lessons about cave evolution. The cave wound deep into the karst through narrow tunnels that eventually opened up into expansive caverns slicked with astounding mineral deposits. Going was slow since the caves were pitch black and we only had one working head lamp, but it was incredible to see, and felt good to overcome claustrophobia, scotophobia, arachnophobia and acrophobia in one fell swoop. After emerging from the cave and descending through papaya tree lined trails, we had lunch with the Austinites, swam a bit in the river, and learned about their fantastic trekking in northern Cambodia. We were joined by two young Lao girls who curiously perused the color pictures of our "Lonely Planet: Laos". We searched through our bags and came across a couple Cadoozles (the world's premier mechanical pencil) and gave them each one and some paper. They were pretty happy and went on drawing chickens and writing their names and doing basic math. (Later our friend Laura told us she had heard Lao kids love getting writing utensils almost more than anything else, so it was perfect). We played for a bit until we reluctantly left them behind at the lagoon to finish our ride. The landscape was magnificent, and as we passed through small villages, kids in every yard would run toward the road waving, smiling and yelling hello. In the country everyone says hi. We rode past several blasting zones where men harvest parts of the karst to process at the cement factory nearby (the one pictured on the 5000 Kip bill) and for use in road construction. Women were bathing in sarongs just across the road from the blast sites' dusty fires. We ended up biking a big 40 km loop around town and returned dusty and smiling in time for dinner at 'My Friends'.

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Photos

Sarah and local commuters
The whole loop we only encountered one truck, but that's not to say there's no traffic- but most of it is motorbikes and tractors.

climbing in the Tham Phu Kham
Blue Lagoon Cave

Wave-like mineral deposits
on the cave ceiling

The scariest part
because you can't see what's below you!

This cave was pitch black
The only light in these shots comes from camera flashes

This water buffalo was very happy to hang out
with us while we ate our lunch.