Electric Caves, Official Stone Throwers and Unspoilt Paradises
Vang Vieng, 2nd May 2002
As the other guys had already been in Vang Vieng for a few days,
they decided to head over to Vientiane this morning, but I chose to
stay behind so I could do a bit more exploring. In order to make the
most of the experience, and to get some much needed exercise, I
hired a bike and spent the day exploring some of the caves that Vang
Vieng is famous for.
Unfortunately, after a long, sweaty cycle, the first cave I got to
was closed. Why? Due to a power cut! That may sound strange,
why does a cave need electricity to work? Well, in fact, the cave in
question is the most visited one in Vang Vieng and it has electric
lights fitted inside so that visitors can make the most of looking
around the inside.. However, no electricity meant no lights, which
meant no tourists allowed today.
Not to worry, there are plenty of other caves around. So after a 10
minute cycle through quiet green fields, I reached a plain and
simple looking bridge, the only way to cross the quiet but rambling
river before me. Of course, even though it was the worlds 3rd most
unsafe structure, and I was in the middle of nowhere, it was a toll
bridge. So after paying a pretty reasonable 2000Kip, I pushed
my bike carefully over the rickety bamboo bridge.
I soon came to a turning with a sign pointing through a very dry
field. After following pointers along a very bumpy & twisty path, I
reached the entrance to the area. I handed over 5000Kip, and a quiet
Lao guy led me along a long path to the first cave. It was very
small and pretty unimpressive. The only thing of interest was the
sparkling gold on some of the rock. I think it's fool's gold though.
I'd only paid for 1 cave, but the guide pointed up the path anyway,
and after a short climb, the guy at the cave let me go in anyway.
This cave was larger, deeper and a bit more interesting. I wasn't as
good as the one in Mung Ngoi though.
I spent some time in the cave, enjoying the refreshing coolness of
the air. After cycling through the high, beating sun outside, I was
covered in sweat and I needed the cooling that the caves offered.
After recovering a little I jumped back on my bike, and started on
the 6km to the next cave. The road was ridiculously bumpy. I don't
think roads can get that bumpy naturally, so there's only one
possible explanation. The Lao government has created a special
division, like the police or fire brigade, but where a group of Lao
people go around making huge, official pot holes in the roads. And
there's also a sub-division, the stone throwing team. These guys
cover the roads with lots of annoying stones just so that cyclists
really get annoyed!
On the way, I caught up with a French lady who was going the same
way along the pot-holed road, so after a quick chat, we joined up
for the rest of the journey.
After a long, winding, hard cycle, we reached the caves and were
delighted to find a beautiful, fresh-looking stream. By now, I was
boiling hot & covered in sweat, so in a blink of an eye I'd jumped
of my bike, grabbed hold of a convenient rope swing & swung right
over the stream, tarzan-style, before letting myself plunge into the
ice-cold water. Ahhhhhhhh.
I spent the next hour or so swinging on the rope swing & swimming in
the stream. This river was almost perfect, it's how I imagined most
streams to be before pollution struck. The water was a fantastic
clear blue, that I could easily see through. Below the surface
countless fish could be seen busily swimming around. There was no
rubbish or pollution and life was flourishing. The whole area
was a fantastic little spot with a small green field and some picnic
tables, a great spot to spend a few hours.
After a quick bite to eat, the French lady & I took the short climb
up the cliff face to see the cave. This cave was slightly more
`cave-likes' & impressive. After some careful scrabbling, we came
upon a Buddha statue, completely gold and in the common `reclining'
pose. After taking in the sheer size of the cavern, we climbed back
down and took another quick dip to cool off from the climb.
After a while we headed back to town. Stephanie decided to go to the
long, scenic way, but my butt had had enough of the bumpy road, so I
wanted to take the quickest way back.
After returning the bike, I gratefully downed 2 fruit shakes and
relaxed for about an hour. In the evening, I decided to grab dinner
in a place showing a few movies. After watching Austin Powers 2 &
half-an-hour of Mission Impossible 2 (this really is what
backpackers do!) I decided to call it a night.
On the way back to my guesthouse a storm started to brew. It's a
strange but nice feeling. Walking in the dark with the wind howling,
gentle rain falling and the air charged. Just before the rain got to
bad, I reached the comfort of my room...
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