Day 13: Konglor Cave

Saturday, 11/2/2024

Woke to my alarm at 6:30am.  About killed myself trying to get to it, no room in the bungalow to walk or move.

Slept okay, was cooler and the fan kept the humidity away.  The bed was firm, but usable and the sounds of nature quieted down as the night progressed.  I was also VERY tired.

Skipped the shower like most mornings and just walked over to use the restroom.

Finished packing and getting my gear on, then left the bag in the room while I went over for breakfast. A simple meal of eggs and bacon again.

I then went for a walk around the grounds to get some photos as it had gotten dark soon after we arrived.  I walked down to the river bank and around all the walkways I could find.

River from down near the shore.

Local plant life along the paths.

More plants along the paths.

Returned to the room to grab my stuff and then went over to reception to drop off the key, then the long walk out to the bikes.

Long had moved them all out into the main lot around the truck to allow more room for him to work.  He had finished his morning checks by now, so just got my stuff setup on the bike, took a few photos, and waited while they loaded up the truck and the others got ready.

We headed out and reached the main road again, then turned up the valley for a short 10 minute ride to the Konglor Cave Park.

Parked the bikes in a clearing under some trees and stood around talking while Tan went over to buy the tickets.

I wandered off to find the restroom and when I returned, Michelle, from last night, had joined us.

We had all invited her and she kept saying she would never get up that early, but right before she left last night, I again told her she was welcome to come hang out in the morning, and I guess she decided to make the effort.  She was staying just outside the park, so was not a huge ride for her.

Tan got her into our group (excluding himself due to space reasons) but did warn her that we would not be doing the full cave tour due to time constraints, only doing the 2 hour instead of 3 hour tour.

She decided to join us anyway and we all waited around till our turn came up.

Kone, the Lao guide, let us know we could go down the steps to the river shore where small long boats would take us the 15m (50 feet) across the river.

Getting ready to board our boats to get across river. (Photo by Joe)

Getting into these narrow boats was a bit tricky.  The sides of the boat were only about 12cm (5 inches) above the water, and they were so narrow it did not take much movement to one side or another to start tipping.  Trying to walk the length of the boat to get all 3 passengers on was a challenge.

The seats were barely 8cm (3 inches) over the boat bottom which had 2cm (2/3 inch) of water sloshing around in it.

I took a boat with Pierre and Tammy, and the boat operator poled us across the river to get to the other side.  A small series of rapids means you cannot enter the cave via boat, so you need to hike up to the entrance.

Once across the river, there is a small trail behind the sandbar that hikes up to a rocky path that will take you into the cave entrance to another large sandbar.

On the other side, starting hike to cave.

Trail hike to cave mouth.

Here we again got into the same kind of boats, only these has motors on them.  They would take us up the flooded passages into the cave.

I got into the boat with Atti and Michelle and we all turned on our lights that we had been instructed to bring along.  The first part of the cave was fully flooded and was not lit at all beyond the headlamp the boat driver wore.

The ride took about 2-3 minutes before we arrived at our stop at a floating dock next to a series of steps going up to a higher rock ledge inside the cave. It was well lit and you could see some of the formations along the ceiling.

We went along the walkway and steps back about 30m (100 feet) from the edge to view the chamber which was good sized and had some nice formations in it.

We then returned back to the dock, and back onto our boats to continue farther into the cave where we stopped at another small beach of a large sandbar.

Once out of the boat we made our way up the sand bar and then started to explore along the wall as there was nothing lit in this area.  We found a trail heading up into the rockier area.

Atti had wandered over to the far edge of the sandbar overlooking the bend in the river that continued on into the cave.

Michelle and I started up the trail and suddenly a huge number of lights came on exposing the massive size of the chamber we were in, going back at least 300m (1000 feet) along the side of the cave above the river.

Atti never joined us, but as mentioned before, his knee does bother him on hikes, so he may have decided to wait it out on the sand bar and enjoy from a distance.

We continued up the marked path and marveled at the formations around us on the ceiling and floor, and even some on the walls.  Soon Jerry, Joe and Kone caught up to us and we continued as a group toward the far side of this area.

As we reached the end of the trail, it moved down to the river again where a boat was waiting to continue into the cave,  But at this point Kone let us know we had to turn around and head back out as we reached the end of our tour and would not get to see the upper parts of the cave.  I will have to come back someday maybe.

We had to back track along the route we had just taken to reach the boats on the small beach again.

This time we took the boat all the way back to the main entrance sandbar.

Coming back to the cave entrance on the boat.

Atti got out and took off while Michelle and I went a bit slower and explored the formations on the ceiling near the entrance.  The guy who would pole us across the river was there and seemed impatient that we were not moving as fast, and finally just walked onward when we stopped because Michelle had found a group of bats on the ceiling with her really powerful flashlight.  I had her illuminate them while I tried to photograph it, though not sure it will turn out very good.

Bats, but camera did not focus well in low light.

We left the cave and walked down the path to reach the boat, got across the river and back up the steps to the main area and our waiting bikes.

After we all returned, we stood and talked a bit and said our goodbyes to Michelle, who then rode off on her scooter while we all got geared up and ready to head onward to our next destination.

We rode back down the same road we brought in yesterday till we reached the village near the end, we then took some shortcut trails through the village on some rough sections to the main road.  We then hit the highway and headed up over the next pass.

Heading back toward main highway.

This was a very scenic route, but about 30 minutes into the ride we came upon a continuous line of parked trucks and cars heading up the hill.  We passed in the other lane until we reached near the front of the line where both lanes were now filled with cars and trucks.

We filtered between the cars to the very front, and as we guessed, the road was currently shut down.

They were doing some major road works and clearing a landslide that had happened the previous week, so the road was shut down in both directions every hour or so to work, then opened to let traffic through, repeating throughout the day.

Roadblock for landslide construction.

Michelle had commented that she had hit this road work the other day when she came from the other direction to reach the cave, she had waited an hour before they let traffic through.

We ended up waiting about 30 minutes, but finally they told us it would open soon, so we all got geared up and back on the bikes. It was sure to be a chaotic race of bikes and cars as soon as they said we could go.

Yep. That was what it was.  The road was mostly rough dirt over patches of broken asphalt, and large loose piles of rock and dirt around the edges, plus road work equipment scattered about.

All the bikes took off first, and in moments we met all the bikes coming the other way, and both sides using the entire road.  Shortly after the cars came and then the trucks and busses, though by now lanes had formed up again, though many parts of the road were still only 1 lane wide.

We soon made it to the undamaged road on the other side and started to work our way down the hill, passing all the stuff waiting to go up hill, including a big bus broke down with a flat tire, creating another obstacle for those going uphill to get around.

About halfway down we were in a series of sharp hairpin corners and and in one curve we met a large semi truck coming up the hill.  Then suddenly, some asshole in a minivan comes tearing around the far side of the truck, completely blind to any oncoming traffic, and nearly hit the lead rider Tan, and Jerry who were at the very front going down.

Joe was almost in the mess as well, while the rest of us were back enough to have time to slow without panic. What an ass.  We filtered around the mess, but made sure to block the van as much as possible, and continued on our way.

The rest of the route down was good and even had some fun with the twisty sections.  We then pulled off for fuel and would stop there for lunch as well.

Lunch stop.

We ordered drinks at the Café Amazon (a large chain in SE Asia) located in the motor complex while the guides made our usual sandwiches on the patio of the café.  While waiting, I went off to use the restroom.

I do want to make one observation here about the men's restrooms around the region.  In many areas, you will find the restroom split into two areas, a room with stalls and toilets, and then around the back side of the building an open or partially enclosed area with the urinals.

Unique restroom build common here.

Was a bit odd the first time I saw it, basically just standing outside with only a small roof, but actually found I liked the setup as time went on.  You were outside where there was still a breeze, not inside a hot, humid room with stale air.  The odor that typically comes with less maintained men's restrooms was hardly noticed since you were outside with a breeze, and was better light as well, at least in the daytime.

We eventually got back on the bikes and continued with a few stops along the road to rest or take photos.  We turned off onto the another highway heading south at this point.

View at one of our short stops.

Short stop along the route.

This road had an area I had seen on the map called the Flooded Forest, which I thought would be interesting, and the road ran right along it, so I kept my eyes open.

I soon noticed a large lake and as expected several tree trucks were visible sticking up out of the water in along the shores and even farther out.

It did not appear that the guides were going to stop, so I started looking for some place to pull over for a few photos at least; I did not want to just pass by.  I found a spot with some good views, did my photos and then went a bit further and stopped again.

By now I was quite a bit behind the group with only Tan bringing up the rear, so since the road was a good one, we poured on the speed (75+ mph or 120+ kph) for several minutes carving corners to catch up.

Carving corners!

Finally caught up with the group and soon after we crossed a large bridge over a section of the lake.  This was the original crossing point over the river which created the lake after a dam had been built in the last decade.  This created the flooded forest. (Google Maps images do not show the lake, so not that old)

We stopped on the bridge and hung out for a few minutes, then we took off again.

Riding onto the bridge.

From here the road was mostly a nice route, and we made good time till we reached the place we would stay tonight on the edge of a small town that did not have much in it.

Roads better for a bit and views are improving.

Riding the highways (Photo by Joe?)

The hotel complex was quite large, but also looked abandoned?

There was no obvious registration area, no people around, no cars anywhere.  We rode up and down the place a bit, and did finally see a few people who appeared to work there.

We stopped while the guides went off to find someone to help us and we spent some time taking photos near an old rocket on display.  We then got the entire group together for a shot and had the hotel staff take the photo.

All 7 riders and all 5 crew.

We finally got the keys for the rooms, then had some trouble finding the road back to the building our rooms were located in.  It was under construction, so we had passed by it the first try. 

The rooms were built in a long row, some with lower and upper levels, the lower level half below the ground.

All of us had rooms in the upper levels, or in buildings elevated, but with nothing under them.

Found my room and it was VERY basic, and kind of run down. But the TV, AC and other electronics were very nice and new.  The entire place seems to be going through some kind of renovation and updating, but the buildings and interior furniture was showing signs of age and use.

My Room (taken later in the evening after dinner).

The very basic room.

We learned that this place had been a resort, then years back it was turned over to the NGO’s that were there working on the UXO removal teams.  That group had recently completed building their own compound, so this place was now being turned back into a resort.

But right now, it seems they still have work to do, and the place is not well known or heavily used yet, but maybe someday it will recover.

I did my usual unpacking and getting batteries charging routine.

Then I did laundry in the sink and shower as I still needed clean clothes.  I used one of my straps I had brought along to rig up a clothes line outside on the patio between the railing and a chair.

The wind was blowing quite strong, so hopefully it will dry the clothes better.

I then took time to sit outside and work on getting the journal current before I went inside to use the toilet.  But the toilet wouldn’t flush, seemed like it might be clogged up? Great!

The tank was not filling up automatically so I took of the cover and messed with it some, but could not see anything in the sediment rich water. (Definitely not good water here).  I finally got it to fill and then it flushed normally, though I was almost at the give up point where I would have gone to find help.

About this time, I was told dinner was ready in the dining hall just up the hill a bit.

Was another night of the same old foods we had been eating for 2 weeks now.  Getting a bit tired of this, but we will soon be going back into more populated areas where we might have other options.  When I am on my solo part of the trip, will be eating other cuisine.

After dinner I worked more on the journal and moving clothes around a bit to dry.  Then spent some time updating stuff online.

I finally brought the clothes inside, still lightly damp, but hoping being in the AC the rest of the night will finish things.  I thought about leaving them out, but a few things might have blown away once dry as I had no good way to secure them to the line and wind was blowing quite hard.

Did my end of night organization and then went to bed.

Goodnight.