Houay Kalèt

Went up towards the center of the country to do a motorbike loop, where Victor, the french guy accompanied me (even though he did the loop already, he decided to do it again), but since he had to be in Vietnam before the 14th, I decided to take him towards the frontier during the loop and do the other half on my own. The bus ride from Pakse was the longest in my life (they turned a 5 hour ride into 12), so it was also the most productive one I've ever had, watched a movie, called everyone I had to, planned my next steps... and plenty of more things. We arrived to Takhek, and the owner of the hostel, a lovely vietnamese man, was so happy to see Victor again and I also met a dutch guy I had met in Pakse weeks before. So we did the first part slowly, stopping first in a beautiful spot near the river, where we had a beautiful bungalow complex only for ourselves! And the next day we camped in front of a lake in a national park (after having a bit too many beers). On the third day I dropped him at the nearest town to Vietnam, and hoped him for the best (ai was a bit worried because he was quite a disaster, but for my peace of mind he made it with a vietnamese family), and continued on my own until a beautiful town where I slept my last night of the loop. You drive surrounded by limestone mountains, getting the chanxe to stop in beautiful viewpoints and visit fantastic caves. As everything, some sections where beautiful, some other not so much, some where fun to drive and some a bit too long, some caves fantastic and others a bit of waste of money. The last cave though, was absolutely incredible, a boat takes you kilometers and kilometers on a massive cave (biggest I've seen in my life) only with a headtorch (so veryvery dark), while you realise that your life is in this lao's boatman hands (it was a bit more dramatic because I was the only person there and the boat didn't feel so safe, either the amount of rocks everywhere or his illuminating system). on the night before, I slept alone in a beautiful bungalow surrounded by huge mountains and green rice fields, and woke up to buffalos and chickens singing in the garden. Dragon cave was also super nice, I was the only person there, again, and I felt like I was in the horrocrux cave of Harry Potter. After that i climbed a really nice viewpoint (it said trek, but nono it was a climb), and because I made the mistake to do it in flipflops, enjoyed it more time on the ground than actually standing. Finally I was back in the starting point, and got eeady for my long journey to the north, but before, got invited for dinner with the owner and his wife and had some last laughs with them.

🏠 Accomodation: ThongDam Guesthouse (really cheap and nice, hammoks and nice view super close to the cave, and they make very nice breakfasts, the place is run by like a 13 year old which is weird but she speaks a bit of english (I swear I didn't see a single adult during the whole time, she cleaned, cooked, did the check in...), Rent a tent from Phosy Talang (they prepare everything and you can sleep in front of the lake so nice, if not apparently Sabaidee guesthouse is also nice), Thafalang (really pretty cabins, we where there completely alone) , Naga Hostel (supersupersuper nice owner, very nice place to stay in)
📍Essentials: Kong Lor Cave, Dragon Cave, drive near the Nakai-Nam Theun National Park
📢 Travelling tips: tuktuk drivers will try to overcharge your from the bus station because its your only way out, ot should be 20 kips per person, no more.Read more