The Tha Khek Motorbike Loop

22 - 26 January 2015

We woke up the next morning full of wonderment of what a 7-8 hour public bus ride will be like.  We have seen many torn-up buses driving around here with people hanging out of the door and just can't imagine what 7-8 hours will be like riding one of those.  But first...I want to show you some of the French colonial buildings around Pakse.  It looks a lot like the buildings in New Orleans, except for the crazy outdoor electrical wiring:

We stayed in this hotel 1 night. Our room was the far right with the rounded walls.

A look down main street.

Actually...many of the towns here in Laos have similar French-style colonial buildings...kind of cool.

Next the big surprise of the day...the bus we got on was actually really nice:

The only negative was the never ending Laos karaoke that went for the entire trip, although it did get interrupted by the vendors that boarded the bus at every stop:

After all was said and done, the 7-8 hour bus ride turned into 9 hours mostly due to us sitting at bus stops waiting for who knows what, but at least the seats were comfortable and eventually we were able to ignore the karaoke and get a lot of reading done. 

Next stop was to check into our hotel which wound up being one of the nicer places we have stayed in a while.  The only downside was that we were only staying one night:

Nice room with really nice beds.

DAY 1

The next morning, after a way comfortable nights sleep, we headed to the motorbike rental shop to get our bikes and hit the road.  Here is the Tha Khek Loop we are riding.  Most people ride it counter-clockwise, so of course we are going to ride it clockwise.

The first 65 miles was a basic highway with little scenery, but as soon as we turned east...that's where it became beautiful: 

We pulled into our hotel around 3:00 and were the only people there.  By 9:00 PM there were about 8 other people doing the loop as well: 

View from our room.

Other bikes parked along ours.

Total Miles Day 1: 93 miles

DAY 2

The next day we left the hotel around 8:30 and headed to the highlight of the loop, Kong Lor Cave, but first the 30 mile ride there:

And now Kong Lor Cave:

To explore this cave you get on a boat for a 4.3 mile ride along a windy river through a really high limestone cave.  About 1/2 mile into the ride you get out of the boat and walk down a path showing off some of the caves formations.

Then back on the boat for 3.7 miles of darkness until the exit comes into view:

When we exited the cave the scenery was spectacular:

Then we pulled up to a village where some of the residence were selling food, drinks, and weaving:

Children of the village.

Back on the boat for the return trip up the river and back into the cave:

Walls of the cave rushing by.

Exit!

The 30 mile ride back to the hotel was just as nice as the ride there:

We arrived back at the hotel in time to grab a quick snack before heading out to the Cool Springs.  We rode about 15 miles up and down a mountain road and then turned onto a dirt track for 3.5 miles across a savannah and over a bridge:

Until finally arriving at Cool Springs where I took a dip...and yes it was cool!

Back on the road in time to catch sunset just before pulling into the hotel for some awesome dinner and a good nights sleep:

I can't get enough of the Mekong Fish!

Total Miles Day 2:  93 miles
Total Miles completed:  186 miles

DAY 3

The next morning we woke, had breakfast, checked out of the hotel, and said goodbye to our new friend, Hauke from Germany:

Our home for the past 2 nights.

Hauke Kramer, our new friend from Germany

The plan for today is to continue the loop and stop at a guesthouse on the Nam Theun River.  We heard this place can fill up fast, so we wanted to get there in time to get a room.  The biggest obstacle standing between us and the guesthouse is that 18 of the 75 miles we need to cover is a dirt road...so let's get started.

As soon as we started going up the mountain the fog got thicker and thicker.  Luckily it was only really bad at the very top, so we kept on going...until we crossed a bridge and looked down to see boats made out of drop tanks left in Laos during the Vietnam Era:

During this stop I was able to get pictures of the fog:

Then came the dreaded 18 miles of dirt.  It wasn't just a dirt road.  We also had to ride through construction sites.  When I say construction sites, I mean that there was front loaders dumping rocks into dump trucks in the middle of the road without any flag crews or anything.  We had to time it right to pass in between "dumps".  Here is the damage done during these 18 miles...I am completely covered in fine red dirt:

 But look at this beautiful road we now get to ride for the last 20 miles of the day:

After riding a bit further we entered this really, really cool area with trees growing out of the water.  We decided to get to the guesthouse and check in and then come back out here for pictures, so here are some of the better pictures taken when we returned to this cool landscape:

Oh..and by the way...here is our bungalow for the night at the low price of 50,000 Kip ($6.25 US):

Most people stay across the street at Sabaidee Guesthouse, but we were worried that it would be loud there at night with all the typical backpacker types partying the night away, so we stayed here instead...but that didn't stop us from walking across the street and hanging out there a bit:

Hanging out at Sabaidee Guesthouse drinking a beer.

View from Sabaidee Guesthouse.

We didn't stay out partying with the other backpackers since we decided to get up early so we can return the bikes by 10:59 AM so we didn't have to pay for another day.  So after a couple of beers and a pretty good dinner we walked back across the street and went to sleep.

Total Miles Day 3:  75 miles
Total Miles completed:  261 miles

DAY 4:

The next morning our plan was to be on the road at 7 AM, but first we went back to Sabaidee Guesthouse for a freshly baked chocolate croissant and then we hit the road.  It was a little chilly, but what a beautiful morning:

We were making pretty good time, so we decided to stop and see Xieng Liap Cave.  We were worried about missing the sign for the cave, but luckily some local entrepreneur kids yelled at us as we passed it, so we turned around and the kids parked us and told us that they would take us to the cave.  One girl stayed behind to watch our bikes and two boys led us through a field, through the jungle,  and into the cave:

Tim squeezes through.

Cave opening.

Guides leading Tim across the water.

When all was said and done we gave each of the kids 10,000 Kips ($1.25 USD) each.  The most excited was the girl who probably never gets money for "watching" the bikes, especially since she inside her house when we arrived back at the bikes, but giving her the money was worth the smile we got in return.

We arrived back in Tha Khek around 10:30 AM and returned the bikes...now we need to find out what time the bus is tomorrow to Vientiane and find a hotel room.  

Total Miles Day 4:  62 miles
Total Miles completed:  323 miles

We went across the street to a tour guide and he said the van to Vientiane wasn't until tomorrow morning, but we can go to the bus station and wait for a local bus heading that direction.  He said there wasn't a schedule, and if we went we might have to wait a few hours, but they show up pretty regularly until around midnight.  I was game, but Tim was looking forward to spending the day chilling out in town and in the hotel room.  After some discussion I convinced him that the best thing to do was head to the bus station and if a bus didn't come within 3 hours we would get a hotel.  So...off to the station and as luck would have it, there was a bus to Vientiane siting there.  Ten minutes later we were off to Vientiane for a easy 6 hour bus ride.

After 6 hours of...you guessed it...Laos karaoke, we arrived in Vientiane, found a hotel, had a quick dinner, and went to sleep.  Oh...here are some interesting pictures I took at the bus station in Vientiane of what they load on top of the passenger buses:

Yes...that's a motorbike on top of the bus along with other luggage.

Food & supplies. Is all that stuff on the ground going up there as well?!?