Laosy

And, we’re back.  After nearly three weeks of being in the black, we’ve emerged relatively unscathed from Laos.  Our feelings about leaving Laos are identical to those when we arrived: excited and hopeful.  Garrett came down with what we are calling “the Mekong” and Stacey lost control on a zip line and smashed into a tree at 25 mph, suffering only some bruising.  Laos took a piece of our health, our time and definitely our pocketbook.  We don’t regret any of  choices we made during our visit to Laos rather, carry with us the memories of howling gibbons, the slow chug of the diesel motor down the Mekong River, enjoying Paris quality baked goods in Luang Prabang, and mostly, the great friends that seemed to serendipitously fall into our lives. 

Thailand was beginning to pull us deeper and deeper into her embrace.  There is no match to the kindness her people shared with us.  They were patient, funny, hospitable and tolerant of our ignorance about their cultures and customs.  We had become to get a little too comfortable there and decided we needed to start making moves towards our next destination.  This included a marathon of minivans and busses, backtracking much of the route we had already taken.  Mae Hong Son is just shy of the halfway point along the loop from Chiang Mai, Pai, Mae Hong Son, Mae Saring, Lampang and finally, back to Chiang Mai.  The route is very mountainous and requires the road to switchback and forth up and down impossibly steep mountains.  Mae Hong Son had provided a fulfilling cultural experience and our tolerance for an extra day of travel to complete the route was thin.  Laos was falling into our sights.

A 10 hour bus ride back to Chiang Mai and another 4 hours north to Chiang Rai and we were on the door step of the Golden Triangle and the tail end of our time in Thailand.  We found some accommodation in the city center and headed out for whatever culinary adventure we could find.  The night market was in full swing once we arrived.  Following our eyes, ears and nose we found what we were looking for.  The city had a square designated for food vendors, covered seating and a performance stage.  Following one of our travel principles, we patiently assessed the food situation and followed the lead of the locals (or, at least, who we presumed to be the locals).  A common theme among the food stalls was we have come to know as the “Hot Pot.”  This is a selection of raw meat and vegetables served with a pot of soup stock atop a brazier of hot coals.  The diner then selects which ingredient and to which quantity they would like to enjoy.  The cooking process takes 20 to 30 minutes, which allows for some time to enjoy light conversation, the stage performances, and some serious people watching.  Once the soup is ready, it is served into bowls to be shared.  This was so popular between the two of us, we returned the next night and each had our own hot pot.

Chiang Rai had two sights that we could not possible miss: The White Temple and The Black House.  Travel by scooter had become the norm at this point and we rented ours early to beat the tour busses to the White Temple.  The area had experienced an earth quake a few years earlier and the temple was badly damaged.  Repairs were underway to repaint the frescoes inside the temple and there was noticeable damage to the steeple atop the main structure.  The clouds were beginning to break and the temple was already busy by the time we arrived.  The temple was stark white with mirrors placed to accent the sculptures.  The highlight was the bridge leading from the sculptures depicting tormented souls into the temples.  The bridge was guarded by two looming figures holding swords and pointing towards the judged.  The walk across the bridge and towards the temple was a sight that is tough to describe, hopefully our pictures do it justice.

The Black House lies north of the city and we were back on our scooter to make the second stop.  We found our way down some alleys to national artist, Thawan Duchanee’s Black House.  (http://www.thawan-duchanee.com/index-eng.htm)  We were awestruck by the architecture, sculptures, painting and general landscaping.  Once again, I cannot find the words to capture the grandiose nature of his work and will rely on our photos.  

Our time traveling was beginning to wear on us and we decided to spend some time relaxing and decompressing at a nice, relaxing place to regain our composure.  Near the Black House and Chiang Rai University we found Naga Hill.  Complete with a salt water swimming pool, attentive staff and delicious restaurant. Three days flew by under the sweltering sun as we red books, swam and decompressed.

Laos awaited.  The staff at the Gibbon Experience had been slow to return our emails and we weren’t sure if ziplining was in our future or not.  The border crossing over the Mekong River was smooth and we found our way to the Gibbon Experience office.  We booked our tour for the next day and checked into our hotel for the night.  

The Gibbon Experience started with a 50 mile ride into the mountains to a Hmong village.  A two mile hike into the rainforest and we were to the base camp.  After a quick introduction our gear was issued and we chose our respective tree houses.  The groups hiked further into the forest and we started on our first zip lines.  We clipped onto the lines and headed how the lines.  The afternoon was spent recovering from the hike and enjoying our new accommodations.  As the sun set, the jungle came alive with the sounds of animals and insects.  We sat and listened for hours to the music of the forest.

We awoke to the call of the gibbons, organizing for the day’s activities.  They called back and forth to each other in a building manner that ended with the gibbons screaming excitedly.  This was very special, as very few trips get to see the endangered species.  The rest of the day was spent taking the ziplines across the jungle.  We visited all of the 7 treehouses, each with their own unique designs, views and perks.  While heading down one of the lines, Stacey was coming in a little too fast.  She attempted to brake, but wasn’t slowing down fast enough to avoid hitting the tree at the end of the zipline.  She pulled herself to the platform and we assessed the extent of her injury.  After a 15 minute break, we decided it was just a bad bruise and she kept in good spirits the remainder of the day.  The second day was a short day of ziplining and a return hike down the mountain.  The return song theaw (a truck with benches in the bed and a pavilion over the top) was much smoother than the initial ride up.  After 3 action packed days, the slow boat down the Mekong awaited us.

Two days of the slow chug a lug droning from the diesel motor carried us through northwestern Laos.  This is absolutely the only way to travel from northern Thailand into north central Laos.  We shared the boat with a many travelers such as ourselves.  The trip consisted of two 8 hour days, staying in a small trading town, Pak Beng, along the way.  The abundance of time afforded us the opportunity to talk with other travelers and learn about places we were headed and some places we learned we would like to visit.  Talking with new people from new lands has inspired me to do more of the same when we return to the US, broadening my insights and knowledge about the world we live in.

Luang Prabang was were I came down with the Mekong sickness.  Two days were spent mostly in the hotel room and going out mainly for meals.  The French influence was evident in the architecture, language and culinary options.  Le Banneton bakery became our favorite dinning option in the city.  The quality of the croissants and baguettes was impeccable.  Another highlight was the coffee, easily the best in all of Laos.  The local food in Laos leaves a lot to be desired, so this had become a welcome oasis for us.

Our time in Luang Prabang began to feel a little forced.  We had applied and recieved our Vietnam visas and decided it was time to get out while the getting was good.  Some friends from the Gibbon Experience had gone south to Vang Vieng and we decided to head down there for some tubing, pizza and beers.  The weather was great and we had fun meeting up with some familiar faces.  The landscape was spotted with mountains rising from the river valley and made for some great sunsets.  We had our fill of pizza and fruit shakes and we took a 7 hour bus ride north to the city of Phonsovan.  

The people of Laos were unwillingly dragged into the Vietnam war.  Their country was used by Vietnamese troops to resupply troops to the south, utilizing the Ho Chi Minh Trail.  In an effort to disrupt this supply route, the US military ran a bombing mission in Laos every 8 minutes, 24 hours a day for 9 years.  More bombs were dropped on Laos during the Vietnam war than all of the bombs dropped during World War 2.  These missions were taking place in secret even though the US had signed a peace treaty in Geneva promising not to involve Laos in the Vietnam War.  Of all these bombs that were dropped, approximately 30% never exploded, littering the country with unexploded ordinances that pose a grave hazard for generations to come.  To learn more about the efforts to clean up these remnants of war, visit http://www.maginternational.org/ .

Phonsovan was a quick stop for us on our way to Vietnam.  The area has been a historically important trade route and is home to the enigmatic Plain of Jars.  These monoliths are carved from local rock and resemble a large jar.  It has been speculated that these were used in burial ceremonies and excavation of local sites has revealed evidence to support this theory.  The area was subjected to heavy bombardment in the Vietnam war (referred to as the Indochina war in Laos).  During the bombing, several of the jars were damaged and the 20 foot deep craters remain to this day as a testament to the military actions of the area.  

We were happy to move on to Vietnam and find some western creature comforts.  The bus ride took us through the mountainous passes between Phonsovan and the border.  Our bus lacked heat, but none of the migratory Vietnamese workers seemed to mind too much.  13 hours later we had arrived in Vinh, Vietnam with Hue just a short train ride away.

We apologize for the brevity of this post, as several factors contributed to us not posting the past 2 plus weeks.  We hope to have more entertaining and informative posts to come.

2K blog views! and a quick note...

Thanks to viewers like you that continue to make this blog a success!  We are thankful to have friends, family and general audience members to read about our exploits here in Indochina.  I hope you have found our stories interesting, funny and perhaps, inspiring.

We are in north central Laos in the country's second largest city, Luang Prabang.  We applied for our visa to enter Vietnam next week and look to head south to Vieng Vang to do some climbing and chill by the river before heading to Phonsovan, our last stop in Laos.

Our activities since our last post have included ziplining through the rainforest, waking up to the calls of the endangered black gibbons, a 2 day slow boat cruise down the Mekong River and eating at the best French bakery in all of Laos.

Stay tuned for a post of the White Temple and Black House of Chiang Rai, Thailand as well as a story about our time in the rainforest of Northern Laos.

On the Slow Boat Down the Mekong River, Laos

Mae Hong Son of a Gun

Leaving the Cave Lodge was bitter sweet. It was a really interesting experience being there and we met some people we will never forget, but it was time to move on.  Our next stop, Mae Hong Son.  We shared a ride with our new Kiwi friends to the Sapong bus station.  I’m not sure if “station” is the correct word.  It was more like a tiny storage unit with a lady at a desk and some benches out front.  We were told our bus would be there in 30 minutes and away we went. 

The bus ride to Mae Hong Son was about 2 hours or so.  The entire trip was through the mountains and it was one sharp mountain curve after the next.  Luckily I took some Dramamine and passed out. It was hard to sleep as our bodies were being thrown to the left then to the right.  It felt like some strange dance the bus was forcing our bodies to comply with…clap clap clap clap clap to the left y’all now to the right y’all now let me hear you scream!! 

We arrived in Mae Hong Son with no idea where we going to spend the night or what direction we should go.  It was decided that the first coffee shop or cafe with wifi we find, Garrett and I will stop and find a place to stay.  The wifi at the coffee shop was less than helpful so we decided to walk towards “the lake.” I put “the lake” in parenthesis cause it’s more like a pond. It’s small and on it sits a large wat.  As Garrett and I bake in the sun on our long walk with packs strapped to our backs, an American , expat, gentleman on a scooter stops to talk to us.  The next few hours were a whirlwind.  This gentleman helped us find a reasonably priced guest house, a scooter, and then took us on a tour of the area. He taught us about the area, where to eat, what to see etc.  He was very kind to us and we are thankful to have had someone help us out with the details.  Don’t get it twisted, we have done really well so far on our own figuring things out but it’s occasionally nice to have someone who has lived in the area for 20+ years helping out. 

We left our new friend and headed up the mountain on our trusty scooter to the Pha Sua waterfall. 

Garrett and the large bamboo

It was beautiful and peaceful. We spent some time taking pictures and reflecting a bit then decided it was getting late maybe it’s time to head back to the room and grab some dinner. We were recommended a restaurant called JiJi’s. (pronounced gigi’s).  A sweet woman appropriately named Jiji owns the place and cooks delicious Thai food that is reasonably priced. Her teenage daughters help out with serving and taking orders.

DaDa the Dog at Jiji's I almost took home

The street around the lake turns into a marketplace every night with very affordable food venders.  You can pretty much get anything you want from dried fish on a stick, to spring rolls ;) We wanted to sit down, take our time and enjoy our meal, 5 baht (about 15 cents USD) pork spring rolls were usually for dessert on our walk home.  

The next day we decided to head to Ban Rak Thai also called Mae Aw near the Burmese border referred to by the locals as China town.  Obviously it’s not China, however it is an area on the Thai/Burmese border where refugees from China who were fleeing communism were given land by the Thai government.  It was a very long, scooter trip through the mountains for about an hour-hour and half. 

You enter Ban Rak Thai through a very traditional Chinese looking entry way with Chinese writing.  The road comes down into the village and there are tea shops everywhere.  There is a lake or pond (now I don’t know which is which) on your right hand side and it’s lovely.

Ban Rak Thai Lake

We went to the tourist center where all the tea shops were lined up.  Each tea shop had tons of different varieties of tea including; morning, green, oolong, jasmine, white and about 50 others.  As a huge fan of all fruit dried and sweet, I couldn’t help but notice these large jars of dried and sometimes sugared fruit. As I was looking at these jars and my mouth watering, a young woman came over and started giving us free samples of everything.  Cherries, kiwi, dates, raisins, ginger, you name it!  We walked further into the shop and a kind woman immediately came over with tea samples.  Garrett and I drank so many different tea samples and fruit samples we were wired on caffeine and sugar. We bought some tea and jumped on the scooter to continue exploring the area.  There was a lovely little resort with individual bungalows built into the side of a hill so we decided to go up and check out the grounds.  We noticed on the grounds of the resort, there was a pineapple farm and about 100 covered jars. 

Pineapple Wine 

We were wondering about the jars and the cost of this lovely resort so we went to the office to ask and we discovered the resort was not within our budget and the jars were full of pineapple wine. This was the Lee Winery.  They make mostly sweet fruit wines and Garrett and I had sampled these during our stay in Pai.

We thanked the lady putting labels on the bottles and decided to drive around the back roads to see what else this lovely area had to offer.  Garrett and I have a tendency to start down a road that eventually ends up turning from sleek paved road to a bumpy, ditch filled road.  As we are heading up one of these roads, we see a large blue sign written in all Thai.  Garrett turns his head slightly and says to me,”That sign probably says, welcome to Burma.” We both laugh and he continues driving up this dirt path until sure as shit…we hit a wall with razor wire covering it and a sign that says BURMA!  We both nearly peed our pants over how funny those 3 minutes were. I guess Garrett can read subconsciously read Thai. We still laugh about that and its about a week after. 

This will be noted as the first time we hit the Burma border but certainly not the last.  I think overall so far we have accidentally reached the Burma border 3 times. But we’ll save that for a little later in this post.  

After we took plenty of pictures, we headed out of China.  As Garrett and I often do, we wondered into a small village to check it out and accidentally found ourselves heading into a National Park.  We drive in through a shop area and find ourselves on this beautiful lake.  Maybe it was a reservoir.. yikes I’m all confused.  Regardless, it was very pretty. There were small cabins you could rent overlooking the lakevior. and a bamboo dock where you could rent a guy on a raft to paddle you around.  We decided to stop for lunch at a cute outdoor cafe on the lakevior. 

Black Swan

After lunch, we continued on our scooter through the park and actually saw a black swan!  I’m actually a bit embarrassed that I thought black swan was a thrilling movie with Natalie Portman and Mila Kunitz and didn’t know these swans actually exist.  It was beautiful and rare and this picture below doesn’t do it justice.  Ok I’ll admit I’m glad to have Garrett with me to teach me all about this nature stuff.  I’m not saying I’m a dummy, I do have a college degree (Art). As if that makes a difference, but you should hear some of the crazy questions this city girl asks Garrett on the daily. “What purpose do ants serve?” “Do you think the ants scream when I kill them? because I do.” “Can those tree climbing frogs get out of that hanging piece of bamboo?” “What kind of animal makes that sound?” “Is that a gecko that just pooped on my back?”  Yep… He’s my resident nature guide.

Anyway, the next day we decided to take a break from sightseeing and we grabbed a couple of Chang tall boys and headed to the lake/pond thingy so Garrett could work on his Blog entry and I could do some sketching.  As we were walking around the lake to find a spot to sit a gentleman  approached us and asked us where we were from.  It was clear he was an American and he seemed delighted to strike up a conversation with some fellow Americans.  His name was John Carter.  JOHN CARTER!!!! Garrett and I immediately turned to each other and mouthed…The Terminator.  He was a very interesting gentleman from Crescent City, CA.   John and Garrett talked a lot about the Pacific North West.  John shared with us that he was in Thailand for Medicinal Tourism.  He needed some dental work done and in the US, it was gonna cost him $20,000! Here in Thailand he was able to get the same work done for $5,000 plus the price of his plane ticket about $800.  We had a long talk about his procedure and US medical/dental costs amongst other things.  After a hour or so and a Chang each, Garret and I walked to get some Khao Soi.  We read online that this place had the best Khao Soi in the city.  Needless to say, this will turn out to be the end of Garrett’s relationship with Khao Soi.  

Our final day in Mae Hong Son had to be my favorite. We started the day by taking our scooter to see the Karen long neck tribe.  Now, Garrett and I both had a bit of hesitation about going to see these people.  We felt that it is a “human zoo” and that these people are being exploited.  They are Burmese refugees given Thai land however, it is our understanding that they are not allowed to work.  We showed up to the village after a Karen woman on the back of a scooter who clearly was getting dropped off from wherever she lives offered for us to follow her. We passed by several elephants giving tourists rides on the road going into the village. When we arrived we were asked to pay an entrance fee… I mean donation to the village and we were handed a piece of paper that had a small explanation of the tribe.  We were then told we could enter.  We walked in and it was just vender after vendor of the same stuff. Then, We started to walk over a small bamboo bridge and there was a huge elephant standing next to the bridge.  I was sooooooo excited by this. I wanted to see some elephants while I was here but I wanted to be sure it was a more humane experience than the elephants we saw on the road.  This elephant was named Meadow and she wasn’t chained up she was just chilling.  You could buy fruit and feed her so sure she was being exploited a bit but she was being loved.  I didn’t feed her but I sure gave her a lot of love.

Garrett patting Meadow

Meadow my love

  














We continued to move through the village and it was literally storefronts built onto the sides of huts all the way down the ally. We met a Karen woman in her 20’s that helped explain some questions we had.  We learned that the women start putting rings around their necks as young as 5 years old. And that some of the women don’t live at the village and some don’t keep the rings on full time. We thanked the woman and decided to check out some other sights that day.

  We were both a bit deflated after that experienced but we kept going forward.  We started making our way towards the Fish Cave and saw a sign for another Karen village. We followed the sign and after the road turned into dirt, we had a feeling we were on the right track.  We decided if this tribe was as commercialized as the last, we wouldn’t stay.  Just as we were turning to follow the signs to the village, just in front of us… The Burmese border.  This was the third time we hit the border. This time, a guard instructed us to turn and he was not to be messed with. We turned and continued down the dirt road until we arrived at the village.  This was the real deal.  We were the only tourists there and these people certainly didn’t seem to expect any visitors.  We met some of the kids and one let me hold her very little puppy.  The road in was so difficult I’m sure tourists don’t visit on a daily basis.  Garrett and I spent some time visiting the village and we felt so much better as we were leaving.  Sure they had a few stands set up trying to sell stuff but it wasn’t close to the same magnitude.  We left the village and had every intention of visiting the Fish Cave until we arrived and were told by some guys from Boston that it wasn’t worth the entry fee.  Plus, Garrett and I had seen thousands of fish in the caves near the Cave Lodge.  We decided to head to the hot springs and when we arrived the spring pool was closed for cleaning. Strike one.  We then heard about other springs on the opposite side of town and when we arrive they were also closed. Strike two. We headed back to the room for a shower and back for our final meal at JiJi’s of course.   Oh and our typical after dinner spring roll. 

Bye Bye Pai, Hello Cave Lodge!

Chiang Mai had begun to feel like any other city: hustle, bustle and nights that blurred into days.  The next leg of our journey had the mountains in our sights, a welcoming and familiar respite from the pace of the city.  A quick tuk tuk ride to the bus station and we were well on our way north to Thailand’s northern most provence.  The attendant at the ticket booth spoke well enough conversational English to offer us a ticket to Pai, which didn’t leave for another 2 hours.  

We looked for some breakfast near the bus station, as we had a 4 hour bus ride ahead of us and didn’t want to show up to Pang Mapha bus station hungry.  As we walked away from the bus station we were hassled by tuk tuk drivers wanting to take us to old town (tourist area) of Chiang Mai.  It took some head shaking to wade through the entrepreneurs until we located exactly what we were looking for, a local woman cooking a pot of stew over a charcoal fired pit.  Two orders of Khao Soi and we were deep into bowls of wide rice noodles, chicken, and liver all boiled into a savory broth.  We had found ourselves seated among the local bus and taxi drivers killing time between their shifts.  After a few exchanges of broken Thai and English, we departed our newly adopted den mother for our bus to Pai.

The “bus” was best described as a mini
van with 4 rows of seats.  Our driver did the best he could to fit our bags into the vehicle, avoiding the luggage rack above.  The 1,860 turns and bends of the Mae Hong Son loop lie before us.  Along the trip, Garrett blogged while Stacey watched a recent episode of Saturday Night Live.  A twisting 4 hours later, we arrived in our new home for an indeterminate amount of time.

Looking out the mini van window, we knew our stay in Pai wouldn’t be long.  The streets were lined with signs written in English offering trekking tours, elephant riding and whitewater rafting trips. Goods only tourists purchase spilled into the streets: “traditional” bags crafted by hill tribes, flowing pants with Thai designs printed on them, T-shirts with funky pictures describing tourist life in Pai, etc. 

We located a local map and headed down the street towards our bungalow.  After crossing a bamboo bridge over the Pai River and weaving our way down a dirt alley through bungalow-style tourist cabins built on sticks, we found our destination, Pai Country Huts.  The receptionist was kind and showed us to our bungalow and Stacey quickly filled the hammock on the porch.  We were both tired from the trip and we decided to relax the day in the bungalow and strolling the streets.

Our effort to get to know Pai was diminishing by each step down its streets.  We were disappointed by Tattoo parlors offering “traditional bamboo tattoos,” alluring reggae bars, and restaraunts serving burgers, pizza, and french fries in the land of delicious local food.  It was official, Pai was the Thailand version of Cancun Mexico and we had found ourselves in the middle of spring break.  

Many of the attractions of Pai lie beyond the city’s limits.  Some of the top sites on our list were the Pai hot springs, Pai Canyon, and the white Buddha statue we noticed on our way on our way into the valley of Pai.  After a lazy morning, enjoying the free Nescafe, we headed into town to grab a scooter to head for the hills.   Our last cup of instant coffee made us late enough that we missed the last scooter rental for the day.  The tourists in Pai must have known these necessary means of transportation sell out early…. it was time to hit the pavement.  

The Pai hot springs are barely a walkable distance from the city center.  We decided to head that direction and see how far we could get.  The signs to the hot springs lead us across the river and up the hill to the north of the city.  We walked along the road bordered by rice fields and jungle.  Families were harvesting rice in the same fields as their ancestors, working as an efficient team with clear divisions of labor: cutters, stackers, threshers, haulers.  

We followed signs to the white Buddha, making our first stop on the day.  Most people ride their scooter to the highest set of steps and walk up the final 200 or so steps to the statue… not us, as we were lacking a motorized mode of transportation.  Up the first set of stairs we climbed, and climbed, until we reached the monastery.  The top of the stairs was guarded by two statues with menacing faces and swords in their hands, I can only imagine to keep the evil spirits worse than the likes of us.  This was the first temple where we started to begin to notice the Burmese influence.  After enjoying the wat and monastery, we headed up the second set of stairs to the white Buddha.  The area appeared to still be under construction, with much of the stairs still exposing rebar from the concrete.  The white three headed dragons and the Buddha at the pinnacle of the stairs presented a completely different image.  We considered ourselves fortunate to practically have the entire area to ourselves.  The platform around the statue presented the city of Pai and the surrounding area beautifully.  From our private view, rugged mountaintops stretched above the grazing pastures, fruit orchards, rice fields, and tourist bloated city below.  

We departed the statue and descended down the stairs back to play our part on the tourist stage.  Our stomachs began to talk back to us and we happily listened after smelling the frying of garlic.  The Sunset View Restaurant greeted with us with a grandmother/ grand daughter duo.  We were pleased to be out of the beating sun, but happy to retain our view.  The menus were barely in our hands and we had chosen our meals.  Stacey ate the best tom yum soup (coconut/ lemon grass/ vegetable/ chicken) and Garrett ate the best pad thai (fried rice noodles/ vegetables/ pork/ brown Thai sauce) in the country… hands down.  We pleaded with our host to give us her secrets, to no avail. She offered us her cooking classes, at a cost, of course.  Everyone in Thailand is happy to share their culture, for a price.

After bailing on the 3 mile (one way) walk to the hot springs and attending the night market, it became apparent we didn’t belong in Pai.  The Cancun-like-lifestyle is not why we left our family, friends and employment for… this was a trip to experience Thailand for its culture, nature and philosophy.  Bye Bye Pai.

The Pai bus station is in the heart of the city.  Our decision to leave was reinforced with the loads of tourist pouring out of the buses wearing baggy flowing newly bought “tourist pants” (photo to follow).  Luckily, we caught a last minute minivan down to Pang Mapha.  The attendant at the ticket booth informed us the bus would arrive any moment and to stay close in order to not miss its arrival (better than the 2 day advance notice the minivans usually request).   The minivan driver assigned us our seats and we were both asleep after a few minutes of travel.  

The bus braked and turned through each of the 1864 twists and turns of the Mae Hong Son Loop.  Sleep. Sweat. Tense. Grip. Brake. Stop.

Piling out of the bus, we were thankful to not be suffering the torture of the bus no further.  Immediately, we notice the hand painted sign pointing the way to the Cave Lodge (www.cavelodge.com), our home for the next three nights.  We grabbed some lunch at a local cafe, absent of english menus, white people and hot water. Our meals were at the top of the charts and we graciously thanked our hostess for some of the most flavorful and spicy food either of our forks had ever touched.  

Two motorcycle taxi drivers, donned in red vests, swept us up the valley to the Cave Lodge, located on the Myanmar border in the town of Tham Lot, Thailand.  A traditional Shan (local natives) lodge greeted us.  Teak timbers, teak plank floors, bamboo tanks and bamboo woven walls framed the communal space we would spend much of the time we were at Cave Lodge.  The kitchen servicing the guests was conveniently located adjacent to the lodge that contained the fire pit, swing and seating.  We took full advantage of their 8 am to 8 pm hours, enjoying the Thai dishes prepared by the Shan cooks.  

Arrival day was on par with any. Arrive… chill… relax… drink Chang… catch up on emails… FaceTime and collect beta from fellow travelers (and whatever we can squeeze from our hosts).  We connected with some good buddies back home via FaceTime, renewing our sense of adventure.  Our hostess showed us our way to our bungalow and we were set.  An early dinner and early bedtime primed us for the day to follow.

Nescafe burned our mouths while the sun burned the fog from the valley around us.  We had decided to check out the Tham Lot cave ran by natives.  We walked down river from the Cave Lodge to our subterranean destination.  Now, I have been in a few caves in my day… but nothing what Thailand has to offer.  We hadn’t even planned a visit to the Cave Lodge before overhearing from a fellow American about how awesome the area was but, now we found ourselves entering a cave that has been utilized by local people for 2,000 to 5,000 years:  Tham Lot Cave.  The river flows through the mountain and the cave is accessed via the river.  This incredible geologic feature is breathtaking in its beauty and uniqueness.  Our guide lit her lantern and lead us to the entrance.  What happened next was beyond description. 

 

Caves. Darkeness. Spiritual sensations. Flowing water.  These elements combined to deliver an experience that proved unparalleled anywhere I’ve yet to visit.  We departed the cave… our appetite whetted for future caves in the local area.

The Cave Lodge offers rafting, caving, hill tribe and general local sight seeing tours.  One such tour caught our eye was the sunrise tour. For a nominal fee, we could drink coffee and watch the sunrise over Northern Thailand.  Our alarm clock went off at 0500… helping us make the bus by 0530.  At first, we could easily discern the foggy valley below, but the cameras weren’t capable of bringing the light to lens. The dawn broke and we found ourselves in the golden hour.  Light streamed across the Karst topography below.  Our fellow morning tourists were awed by the view before us, hushing the casual conversation that filled the 20 minute ride to our viewpoint.  We listened to the sounds emanating from the jungle below, mostly the birds greeting each other for the start of another day.  The fog held in the valley well past our departure and we descended back down the road towards our humble abode.  

An adventure awaited us.  200 caves dot the area and we chose the “Sacred Well Cave” as our destination.  John Spies, owner/ operator of the Cave Lodge, instructed us to follow his hand drawn map… we eventually wished he would have offered more than advice, such as a machete.  We headed out after our morning coffee (another cup of instant Nescafe) down the road towards Soppong and the farm field we were to walk through.  After about 5 minutes of walking, John stopped on his way down the mountain.  “Do you want a lift? I’m  headed down that way and could drop you off where you need to leave the road.”  We graciously accepted and hopped in the back.  The spot he dropped us was a nondescript section of road, we surely would have walked right past.  He wished us “Good day” in his charming Australian accent and disappeared down the road in the jungle.

We walked up the dirt road through corn fields and rice fields that had already been harvested.  The corn must be used to feed the livestock, as the Thai diet includes very little of this familiar crop, aside from the occasional grilled corn on a stick.  Following the map, we meandered up and over rice and bean fields until we came to the point where we entered the jungle.  We walked up the valley between two steep cliffs and through the underbrush of the jungle.  The path crested a hill and lead down into a 25 acre sinkhole.  The path became more and more obscure in the 15 feet solid wall of banana plants, bamboo and all sorts of thorny brush.  The vegetation had grown so thick we couldn’t see the cliffs above and we became a bit disoriented.  The path had all but vanished when we saw some lumber haphazardly strewn in the woods.  This sign of human presence was the clue we needed to choose a direction.  

The bamboo crowds much of the competitive vegetation out of the forest by creating a thick canopy that prevents nearly any light from reaching the forest floor.  The path opened up and we switchbacked up the hillside to the base of the cliff.  We walked up and around some boulders and the cave began to present itself.  We had successfully found the Sacred Well Cave!  The limestone dripped from above and created stalactites that hung from above.  The cave resembled a great gaping  mouth with a dark hole waiting to devour us.  Stairs had been chiseled into the soft clay down the entrance of the cave.  We walked slowly down the ramp and into the cavern over 100 feet tall.  Flowstone, columns, stalactites, stalagmites and other features surrounded us in the darkness.  

We walked back into the cave about 350 feet to find a left hand turn the abruptly ended in a confined space and wall.  Having seen much of what the cave had to offer, we turned around to search for the rimpool for which the cave was named.  Rubble filled the center of the main room.  Garrett guessed it was likely from a collapsed room.  A vertical hole presented itself as we walked around the boulders.  We shined our lights down the hole and decided the 15 foot depth was too much of a risk to take without the proper equipment and so far from help.  One last quick look around the cave and we located the “Sacred Well.”  The water was about 8 inches deep and the pool was 18 inches long by 10 inches wide.  Supposedly, the well never ran dry and magically refilled itself.  Locals have been purportedly been using this water source for 5,000 years to meet one of the most basic of human needs in a very arid section of the mountains.  The water did not look clear enough to interest either of us in drinking and we decided it was time to head out of the cave.

The jungle was just as thick on the way out as it was on the way in.  We followed our path out through the jungle and found some stinging plants on the way out.  When we broke free of the forest and entered the bean field, our legs were covered in welts, scratches and mud.  The sun shone forward on the path down from the mountains back to the comfort of the Cave Lodge.  We were thankful to have visited the cave but we were relieved to have escaped the jungle with a few minor scrapes and welts.