Into the Abyss

  Ban Na Hin, Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Monday, October 20, 2008

5. The Cave Mouth

Through reading Lonely Planet, you feel this is quite a well trodden route, however it is nowhere near as popular as Northern Laos and we are both very glad we did it. It is both set to develop and a far cry from any major backpacker haven.

 The drive to Na Hin took us through flat plains alongside the Mekong before turning off and going through magnificent limestone karsts scenery and dense jungle giving way to glimpses of the spectacular valley below.

1.Na Hin Karsts

Our reason for coming here was the Tham Kong Lo (Cave), a seven kilometre cave carved through the limestone mountains by the Nam Hin Bun River, while attempting to get off the main tourist track. Along with the cave we hoped to take in a jungle waterfall but were put off by having to take a guide and the relatively hefty price. The guide was a new requirement after an Australian (the previous month) had been lost in the wilderness for 11 days and was then flown to Vientiane, Bangkok and finally Aus! Luckily we didn't have to make any decisions as the heavens opened and we escaped to our bed and sleep.

That night we met up with the 5 other tourists staying at the guesthouse, all wanting to see the cave.

10. The group of us that went

They included a French couple, a kiwi couple and a Taiwanese man. We decided to all go together and left the next morning minus the Taiwanese man who had lost his passport! At the cave there were only 3 other backpackers, before an organised bus of 12 older, richer tourists arrived.

We sat in the back of a modified small truck with benches along the side and a roof called a sangthaew, driving through magnificent karsts scenery, surrounding verdant fields and farmers houses suspended on stilts, sporadically lining the road. Before reaching the cave we had a 1km boat ride up the river. The boats were wooden with a metal plate and a removable motor attached to it. Each boat had 3 tourists, a driver at the back and an oarsman at the front. One minute you are travelling serenely down a river and the next it disappears into the hill side. Then starts a 7 km long, at times 100m wide and nearly as high natural tunnel - or an hour long awe inspiring wonder trail! All light seems to be eaten up and we felt very insignificant as we journeyed through, stopping at one point to view an offshoot with beautiful stalagmites, stalactites and complete columns. It has ruined all future caves for us as we are not sure any others will be able to compete for sheer volume and spectacle. Though none of the boatmen spoke English they were really good, stopping twice to let us look around and take photos.

The light at the other end (so to speak) at first seemed like a beacon, but in reality was very harsh and a disappointment that the wonder was ending. We followed its course and then out the other side. Luckily we only had a short break on land where if you were organised you could eat a picnic before returning via the same route into the amazing wonder. I can't imagine Alice went through anything nearly as spectacular to reach wonderland! Though the infrastructure is being put in place, it was noticeably free of the usual tourist trappings. Once through again it started to drizzle. By the time we had reached land it was pouring and the beautiful landscape was hidden from view.

This will definitely be a highlight in our trip. Probably because it was an adventure and something we couldn't find out much information about before we left. It definitely didn't disappoint and showed just how awesome nature can be!

For anyone reading this, and wanting to do the cave, you catch a bus from Vientiane for Lak Soa (they leave at 5, 6 or 7 am) and ask to get out at Ban Na Hin. Alternatively get any bus going South to Savanakhet or Pakse and get off at Vieng Kham - junction where highway 8 meets highway 13 and then take a Sangthaew to Na Hin, there should be one every hour before about 5:00pm. From Ban Na Hin you can catch a sangthaew to the cave and then back again.