Pak Ou Caves and the Return Home - July 25 and 26

This morning we packed up our bags to leave at the hotel while we traveled up the river two hours on a slow boat to see the Pak Ou Caves.  I know it seems risky for me to get on a boat, but rivers seem the only water travel still possible for me.  And I'd read that while they caves weren't necessarily worth the trip, taking a slow boat down the Mekong River, the lifeline of Laos, was.  Unexpectedly, Julia felt queasy on the boat, but I felt fine. The slow boats float right along the surface of the water with the driver in the front and the motor in the back, and our boat could fit six passengers.  The views of Laos from the river are beautiful - both sides of the river are lined with hills covered in lush vegetation.  It was also interesting to see the villages going about their daily life, washing clothes, fishing, etc.  And, my favorite site was boys at play, jumping out of trees to our surprise as we passed.

Our boat stopped first in the local village Ban Xang Hay, nicknamed "Whiskey Village" for the moonshine produced there.  We skipped the samples they offered and continued into the village to see the weavers at work.  It is uncomfortable being an outsider in a small village but they were clearly waiting for us to arrive (it is a stop all boats make every day).  I had been attracted to some of the textiles I'd seen in markets, but these were clearly actually handmade right in the village.  I was running very low on kip (the local currency) but an older woman in the back edge of the village got my attention by naming her price in dollars.  She sold us four small weavings (larger than scarfs, smaller than blankets) for $10 total. 

We went to get back on the boat to continue down river to the caves but our boat was gone. They put us on a different boat and then told me I had to get on a separate new one, which for some reason I did (even though Rachel told me that seemed like a bad idea), separating myself from the girls with me holding the passports and the money.  Thankfully a tour guide on this new boat I had entered could sense my dismay and had the boat circle back around and get the girls.  A few minutes down river, our boat stalled and the driver needed to empty water out of the engine.  It turned out to be no big deal but in the moment I had images of being stranded in the middle of the Mekong River - and was so happy we were all together.  

Where the Mykong and Ou rivers meet, our boat pulled up with the others outside the Pak Ou caves, the lower one visible from the river.  The caves are full of Buddhas that are damaged in some way so were brought here by local people over hundreds of years.  While the lower cave lets in some sunlight, the upper cave is pitch black, requiring a flashlight to see anything.  It is also a pretty steep climb up stairs to get there. While again it wasn't raining, we were drenched by the time we reached the top.  Did you know wrists could sweat?  Every inch of us did.  The upper cave is full of even more Buddha statues and far fewer tourists willing to make the trek up.

Our boat ride back to town took half the time with the current behind us.  We arrived ready for lunch and ended up back at the fancy 3 Nagas restaurant for a delicious meal of traditional Lao food followed by another scoop of their delicious coconut ice cream.

After we had just enough time to go to the major temple in town, Wat Xieng Thong, built in 1560 and situated as a gateway to the city where the two rivers join.  It's reputation for outstanding beauty did not disappoint; even after a very short visit Julia declared this her favorite temple of the trip.

large funeral carriage 

tree of life mosaic

We then picked up our bags and took a tuk-tuk to the airport to begin our long journey home.  Our first flight got us back to Bangkok by 7:30 pm, plenty of time to go through immigration to enter Thailand, go back through immigration to exit Thailand, and wait for our departing flights. Julia's trip through Japan left Thailand at midnight while Rachel and I didn't depart for our trip through Hong Kong until 3:30 am.  My grand vision of us hanging out by the gates together was thwarted when they wouldn't even let Rachel and me check in for our flights until midnight.  We were stuck outside the security area with hours ahead.  So, we made the most of it.  We found a massage place and all got 60 minute massages and ate dinner before sending Julia on her way.  Rachel and I tried unsuccessfully to get some sleep after we got through security.  We had two hours to sleep on our flight to Hong Kong and then another four hours to kill at the Hong Kong airport before the long flight home.  Jim had scouted out the best places to sit at the Hong Kong airport a few days earlier, so we knew just where to head.  Thankfully (and with the help of Dramamine) I was able to sleep a good portion of the long flight so didn't feel too wrecked when we arrived Wednesday morning, earlier than we had taken off.   We waiting at SFO for Julia to arrive from Japan.  She had had an 8-hour layover in Narita, so went into Japan and had another set of adventures to report.  All in all, a wonderful trip!!!