Day 9: The Mighty Mekong

Tuesday, 10/29/2024

I was up at 6:00am again, but had been restless since 5:00am when I was awoken by two cats fighting outside my window.  I showered and dressed.

I had taken laundry down last night and thought again about having my riding gear washed, but looked it over now that it was dry and was happy with the result. It was not clean, but not coated anymore.  I will clean it later near end of bike trip and of course when I get home.

Went down and grabbed a Coke from the truck that just happened to be opened up and parked right across street, and sat down to wait for breakfast.

They slowly brought out plates of food for breakfast: Fruit, eggs, bread, and bacon.  I also had one of the yogurts the guides had put out that we have always available for breakfast as well.

Once fed, we all gathered up our cameras and other stuff and met up in the lobby.

Our Lao guide Kone walked us down the street toward the river (about 2 blocks away) where we met up with the boat captain on the shore.  We then descended a big flight of steps to a roadway for the ferry, which was unloading and creating a rush of bikes and cars, and then another flight to the dock where the river boat was moored.

Leaving hotel to walk to river (just past the end of the block).

Ferry unloading.

The boat was probably 12-15 meters (40-50 feet) long, having a large open seating area at the bow, the “bridge” next along with entry to the lower covered seating area with a restroom in the back and then a door to the private quarters and engine room behind that.

We cast off and started heading up river at a pretty slow, but steady pace.  The ride up was going to take about 1.5 to 2 hours.  Mostly smooth, only a few boat rocks from waves caused by other boats or occasional rough spots in the river.

Relaxing on the ride (photo by Joe?)

Doing a little video work. (Photo by Joe I think).

Group shot (minus Joe who is taking photo).

The Mekong River.

Recently built high speed rail bridge heading up to China.

It was about 30 km (18 miles) to the buddha filled cave we were heading for, Pak Ou Cave.

At one point, Jerry got the boat owners permission to get up on the roof to do some filming with his 360 camera.  I figured the roof would collapse if I got up there.

Jerry doing his thing.

About 2/3 of the way we stopped at a local village.  This was a tourist stop for “captive” boat tours which was known in the area for its whiskey production.

Our boat at the dock of "Whiskey Village"

We got a quick tour of the small distilling area setup on shore above the dock, more for show than actual production I am sure, and they then offered us samples of the various products (which of course I did not partake of).  The endgame, of course, was to get you to buy a bottle or more.

Many of the bottles were also filled with various plants and animals.

Snakes, scorpions, geckos, and even a huge centipede.  Very sad (and a bit irritating) if they kill these animals just to pose them in a bottle of booze, which I learned from the guide was only done for the tourist trade, the locals did not buy those bottles.

While I will admit they were artfully done and displayed well, the concept is still not something I support, unless they use animals that are found dead, though even that is likely human caused in many cases.

Whiskey with critters in the bottle.

Of course, there were other vendors selling the usual beverages and snacks (which I did buy from) and a huge amount of woven goods (scarves, blankets and other items).  And lots of small trinkets, mostly mass produced in China that I had seen in every market in the region.

Walking along the local market streets.

Also found several dogs sleeping in various places as the day was already getting warm, so time to take dog naps.

One of the local pups, who I woke up trying to photograph him.

We arrived back at the boat which had moved to a 2nd dock just up from the first, and continued the rest of the way to the cave.

Gets more scenic farther up the river.

Pak Ou cave is two caves, upper and lower, along the river bank.   The lower cave is easily seen as a huge opening in the waterside cliff face and you can see some of the buddhas and the shrine and small stupa built inside it from the water.  The upper cave requires a hike to reach.

Pulling into the dock at Pak Ou Cave.

We headed to the upper cave first.   Lots of steps.  Too many steps on this hot humid day.  They should put up a sign saying "Not for old, fat people!" 😁 

Going up, and up, and up.

About a third of the way up, you can detour over to the restroom, which I needed to do, but that is down many steps, then up more steps!  Then back again to the main steps!  Did I mention there were steps?

I also stopped at this point to zip the pant legs off so I was now in shorts.  Too humid to wear pants on this climb.

I reached the top, drenched in sweat, and rested for a bit outside on the large terrace before the cave entrance where a few statues were and a smaller cave had a statue sitting inside it.

Upper cave entrance.

Inside the cave, it goes back about 25-30 meters (80-100 feet) and is filled with a huge number of buddha figures.  It is estimated that both caves combined have over 4000 figures of various sizes.

The site is still a holy place and some important events are still held here, though no longer as important as it was to the old royal families over the previous few hundred years. 

The cave is not well lit, but you can see enough to admire the work and get a feel for how it must feel for someone of the Buddhist faith to visit.  Photos are difficult though.

Inside entrance to upper cave. (Tammy for scale :) )

Some of the Buddhas inside (Screen capture from video looked better).

I left the upper cave and went back down all the steps almost to the river, then walked over a bit to go up another, much smaller, set of stairs to the lower cave.

This cave is more of a collapsed section of rock then a traditional cave, but does go back into the rock in areas, so could have deeper chambers.  This area has a large, main terrace with a small shrine for anyone wishing to stop and pray, then a few other levels that get you in among the figures more.

Lower cave

I did not go up any higher as it was crowded, too hot and humid, and really did not see any point.  I tried some photos, most of which are unlikely to turn out since I was using a high zoom lens in dark conditions and will likely be blurry.

I then sat in the light breeze for a while before heading back down to the boat, which I noticed most of the group was already on.   Joe and I were the last ones in the cave.

The boat trip back was a bit quicker as we were going with the current and did not stop, so only took about an hour to return to Luang Prabang.

Once moored, we walked back to the hotel to drop off the excess cameras and then met up in the front of the hotel where we had our sandwich lunches again.  Odd with all the food places in town, but either was a cost saving effort, or just had to use up supplies before they went bad.

I then sat and caught up on social media using the wi-fi at the hotel lobby.  I tried to tether my phone to the work phone to test it before I fully gave up on the SIM card and it did not work for some odd reason.

It was already saved as I had done it just 4 months ago in the UK, and I even deleted and set it all up from scratch again, but no luck, I couldn’t get an IP assigned.  Possible the roaming plan or service does not allow it?  Oh well, will just use wi-fi and still skip the SIM card.

I returned to the room to cool off some and copied over last night's voice notes to the journal and wrote the first half of the day’s entry too, so now all current in written form.

After cooling down I will go out and walk around to see if I can still find a cloth to wipe my visor with.

I left the hotel after maybe 30 minutes and walked over to the other side of the main road to get a better view of the temple that was across the street from the hotel.

It was part of a museum as well, but really did not feel like visiting and they do not always let you in with shorts on either.  I climbed up some steps to a platform along the base of the large hill across the road and got some good photos from that vantage point looking over the 1.5 meter (about 6 foot) wall that surrounds the temple and museum grounds.

Haw Phra Bang Temple.

I then walked over next to the wall and just held the camera over the wall to get some more photos and even tried a few videos with the camera on the selfie stick, though not sure those will be that good.

The hill also has a temple on it, I could hear its drums quite often, but was not interested in climbing the steps to get up there, just to find it cost money or would not allow me in with short on.

Once done with the temple, I walked down the street to find a shop.  Not far down I heard Joe call my name and saw him sitting on a raised patio at a restaurant/bar across the street, so walked over to join him for a bit.

We sat and talked for about 30 minutes and I had a cold tea.  Joe bought the drink as I was going to leave before him, said I could buy him one later.  He also mentioned seeing a pharmacy down the street that might sell what I wanted.

I never found the pharmacy, but did enjoy walking along checking out the shops, but careful not to show too much interest in a anything to not waste their time if I do not really intend to buy anything, especially in the more craft-oriented shops where they might even be the creator of the works.

Passed several other temple complexes, but did not go far enough to reach the one I had marked on my Google map known for some really old buildings that was on the same street.

Also saw a few interesting things in stores, unique looking food places and even an old 4 door Citroen Traction Avant that was owned by a hotel (maybe used as a hotel limo?).

Neat old Citroen at one of the fancier hotels.

I eventually turned around to head back to the hotel.

I returned to a shop I had seen earlier that looked mostly like a cosmetic and beauty shop, but thought they might have some kind of cloth, but did not and even the packs of wet wipes were huge, too large for carrying on a bike.

I headed back toward the hotel, stopped for a few drinks at the shop right next door, and then dropped them off in the room and laid down to cool off some.  Internet was still down in the room (It had gone out earlier in the day), but does work in the lobby.

I saw the wireless AP on the wall outside room was flashing red; think it's in error state, probably needs a reboot.

I decided to go down to the lobby, stopped to tell the desk guy about the issue, then sat there with a few of the others who had same idea working online.

Bit later Joe returned and I heard him asking about the laundry and the guy went to check and started bringing the bags of clean clothes up, so I waited and got mine and paid for it.  It was priced by weight, so probably good I did not clean the riding gear.  For my clothes the cost was $2.

Went up to the room to put clothes away and also started to pack up a few things since we will be leaving again in the morning.  My riding gear is nearly dry now as well with only surface dampness and all external, so no issue.

I decided to just use my small micro fiber bath towel I had brought in case we had any place without good towels, so far not an issue, to clean my helmet and camera as I could get it wet to clean with and it would dry quickly.  It also has its own case to store it, so even if a bit damp, it will not get anything else wet.

I put on a few things to finish charging and then did a few more updates in the journal while the fan on the wall helped cool me off.

Dinner will be at 7:00pm tonight, so still have 1.5 hours to use up, so thinking I will go walk along that street market again as it was just starting to set up.

Maybe find a few more souvenirs to take home if they are small and durable enough to pack in my bags.  I do need to try and spend all my Laos Kip so I can avoid having to exchange money at the border again when we finish in the country in a few days, and so far, had spent very little as we had not had much to see or do outside of ride and eat the already paid for food.

I walked over to the market and down the long street of vendors, noticing that very few of them were in the same place as the night before; must be a first come setup situation.  The street runs at least 1 km (2/3 mile) with vendors down both sides and even some on a few small side streets heading off that road.

I found a place selling the little waving arm good luck cats you see in Asia, a very small one, about 5 cm (2 inches) tall and solar powered.  It was only about $5, so much cheaper than the ones I saw in Vegas earlier this year (and did not buy), so decided to get one, and it comes in a small plastic case to protect it good as well.

Solar powered good luck cat.

I then found 2 magnets for $5 that are the Laos flag, but slightly different shape, be cool to put one on the fridge back home, maybe gift the other?

I was hoping to find a shirt that had something Laos related on it, and finally found one at a store with the Laos flag, but they did not even come close to my size and from the pants I bought in Vietnam, I think sizes run a bit small here as well (they were bit tighter than I wanted, why I have not worn them since that 1st day).

I did recall another shop closer to the hotel that had some really nice shirts, but also more costly I am sure, but went there anyway and found one the I really liked and they had in my size.

It was $15, so twice the cost of the other stores, but still less than a shirt would cost back home.

I then took all my stuff back to the hotel and then hung out in the lobby till it was time to head over for dinner.

Tonight, we walked over and down the alleyway we had parked the bikes in which I did not recall having anything else in it.  There were the back entrances to building next to the hotel and the hostel at the end of the alley, and a bar next to it that I did recall seeing and turns out the bar also had a good-sized restaurant attached to it as well.

Bikes all parked up along the wall in alleyway.

This place was nice and the food was good, though we got a bit less quantity this time.  Must be bit more costly here.

After dinner I wandered back up to the main street to just walk around for no reason and bumped into Pierre and Tammy at the now open pharmacy (not the one Joe had mentioned, this one I saw, but was closed earlier).  I looked to see if they had any towel or cloth, but they did not.

A few minutes later I caught up to them again at an ice cream cart on the street.

In a unique serving method, the guy flattens out the liquid cream on a smooth cold plate so it hardens up, then using a scraper, rolls up 5 cm (2 inch) sections about the size of a roll of US Quarters, puts 4-5 of those in a cup and serves them.  You then stab and eat the ice cream rolls with a small stick.  It looks like a lot, but is in truth only a small amount of ice cream, served in very different manner.

I then walked into a small souvenir shop after that to look around, but just the usual mass market junk.

On way back to the hotel I found Pierre and Tammy still eating their ice cream when I stopped to look quickly at something I saw in a shop that looked like a cloth, but was not.

While I was in there Pierre and Tammy had moved over to another food cart where I joined them.

This one had some odd egg looking things and small coconut pancakes.  You got five pancakes in a leaf bowl for 50 cents, so I tried them as a desert and they were really good.

I then returned to the hotel as my feet were done by now.  I did stop for more tea as I had drunk the others earlier, and it was warm enough that I needed to keep hydrated here.  I will likely use one tonight, but will take other on the bike tomorrow instead of water for a change.

I sat in the lobby for a bit (internet still down in the room) to do some last of the day internet checks and talk with many of the others doing the same, then went to my room.

I took a shower as I was still quite sticky from sweating all day, then finished the days journal entry.  

Tomorrow, we resume our riding, the first part on some rough road, but then we are supposed to hit good roads heading south, though nothing is promised.

Goodnight!