The purpose behind my traveling to this rather off the beaten track destination was to visit the not so famous cave here.There were plenty of compensations for the journey,the meandering road through the karsts was a scenic wonderland and the bus terminates at the rural Lao village of Kong Lor where the locals live as they have always lived,tilling the land,tending the crops surviving another day.They also run a few basic guesthouses for us tourists to sleep in before and after visits to the cave and to my great delight they unaffectedly provide a window into rural day to day Lao life.
It's a straight forward walk of a kilometer to the river bank and the entrance to the cave where you pay your entrance fee and your boatman and hire a headlight.From here another short walk over the bamboo bridge and and down into the mouth of the cave,which almost unbelievably remained undiscovered until 1995.The boats,long narrow skiffs powered by a long tail motor, crewed by a bowman and and skillful driver whisk you straight into the pitch blackness at high speed and it becomes immediately apparent why life jackets are provided.Often during the nearly 8 kilometer journey it is necessary to disembark to assist in pushing and manhandling the boat over extreme shallows and through rapids.With no warning you go from high speed to a sudden, grating stop as the boat hits the pebble bottom.In fairness to my two young companions,Jonas and Dennis from Germany,I have to admit I was sometimes allowed to remain in the boat during these manoevres ,perhaps in recognition of my being more hindrance than help or in deference to my advancing years.
There is is also a place to leave the boat and walk through an eerily lighted area of some of the best cave formations I have ever seen.In parts this magnificent tunnel cave through the base of a mountain is so high the torches beam disappear in the inkiness and so wide as to be almost a lake.The hazards are numerous,other boats,partially submerged rocks,low ceilings and jagged projections.At some point I lost my flashlight,whilst adjusting my camera and perhaps like nighttime mountain journeys it becomes a blessing that you can't see.
At the far side of the cave it is possible to go ashore for a drink and snack from the riverside huts the enterprising locals run.There is a village not far from here of great interest to anthropologists because of its isolation and it is possible to do Homestay here.
After a refreshing drink,in my case a beer to steel my nerves for the return journey we reembark for the second leg of the adventure which was as exciting as the first.
Jonas and Dennis were on a tight timeline and if possible did not want to spend a second night in the village of KongLor,so by virtue of two long and painful Tuktuk rides and one propitious encounter with a pair of rogues delivering new cars to Pakse we were able to make it to Savannakhet at about 9 that night.
Kong Lor.
Mouth of Tham Kong Lor.
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