Following the ancient road

Hello,

Last night after we left you we went and booked a kayaking and caving trip for today and then retired to under our misquito net (brought from home) in our bungalow. At around 2am the most wicked storm rolled in with super loud thunder and tropical monsoon rains, go figure eh?

I (Tyson) woke up a bit after 6 am to see the limestone karts across the river half shrouded in mist. I decided to get up and take a couple of pics from the veranda by the water. After that I decided I'd get some better pics from the other side of the river and set off on a little walk that ended up being 1.5 hours long. I would have been longer but I didn't have a watch and we had a trip booked for the day, and Sara was only half awake when I left and I didn't want her to worry. My walk was nice with a light rain falling, that took me through the village on the other side of the river, up a lane and through some rice paddies. I enjoyed the stroll and I'm looking forward to renting bikes tomorrow to further explore the valley.

After showering and eating breakfast (the pineapple here is to die for) we made our way to the pickup stop, and jumped into the back of a half truck half tuk tuk with 8 others, 4 USA, 2 Germany, 1 Tiawain, and 1 Ireland. We drove approx. 30 minutes north and ended up at a gravel pit beside the river.

The kayaks were two seaters, with open tops. We were given a dry bag for our stuff, life jackets, and a brief introduction to the rules of the river and how to paddle. Sara and myself ended up in a kayak together, go figure. The river was milk chocolate brown in color, very comfortably warm and swift moving. Tyson was in the back, Sara in the front. WE DIDN'T EVEN FIGHT!??? We were a good team, not even falling out, unlike one boat that seemed to tip every hour, sometimes in dangerous locations, but they ended up okay. The river was high, but last week had been 5-10 feet higher yet (telling via the bushes lack of leaves along the shore. However even today many bushes were underwater and there were very few eddies along the shore. The river was moving fast enough to make it difficult to paddle against the current and make any headway. There were some rapids along the way, in which Sara got soaked, but it was really really fun (her words not mine). We just lined her up down the middle and paddled hard. Most were just breaking rollers, but there was 2 actual drops. Inbetween the rapids the river was moving quick enough that we didn't have to paddle, so we usually laid back enjoying the lush green scenery with the massive limestone krats.

We stopped for 2 caves, the first was the elephant cave because a limestone stalictite (bottom) had been made to look like a elephant, go figure. The cave was large and not deep. The second cave was after lunch (grilled beef and veggies with rice and a baguette served on a banana leaf) and Sara can explain it.

The second cave was pretty cool. We got out of our kayaks and headed into the jungle for a quick jot to the cave. A misquito bit me on the way and it didn't make it alive to tell the tale. Anyways we had to keep our life jackets on because we had to swim into the cave because there was a spring in the cave. It was dark and cold (well colder than the river water) but it was really cool. We couldn't go all the way through (the cave goes 2km) because of how high the water was. It was said that this is the cave were they Lao refugees came to hide during the second indochina war. It was a little creepy not seeing much and hoping for no leeches to snag on to you (not sure if they were even in there). The staclites (sp?) were huge we wish we would have brought our head lamp.. dang. Next time.

After the second cave, wait sorry.. before the second cave we were peacefully floating down the river when we started to hear really bad techno music... and thus the peace ended. We came to a rope swing bar... basically a party central spot (with about 8 other party central spots along the way.. we only stopped at this one) where we got out of our kayaks and could rope swing into the water. Tyson and I really didn't enjoy the atmosphere of a lot of drunk people and loud music (we are old now) and really that isn't our travelling style.. but some of the others wanted to rope swing so we stopped. The reason why all these stops are along the river is because you can get a tube and ride down the river to stops and they will pull you in. One of the guys who had been here 5 times already and owns some shares in tourist stuff here said that these all sprang up within 2 years and he perdicts in another 5 years the whole river will be like this :(... It really ruins the scenary and peace.. we think. Also someone died like 2 weeks ago tubing down the river when it was really high... water and alcohol really shouldn't mix. Anyways we were safe and our guide was good. No need to worry mom.

After the second cave we just floated down the river swiftly and relaxed. Then we came to the end. We were both tired and it was 4:00pm so it was hot and we are a tad burnt even though we put sunscreen on 2 times and it is spf 30 that indicated how how hot the sun is. We retired back to our bungalow and Tyson had a beer and read his book and I attempted to read and fell asleep for a nap. Then we went for dinner.

Tomorrow we will either rent bikes or walk around the country side.

Sara and Tyson