Konglor cave via Natane valley

The morning ride on road 12 is wonderful, it is almost too quiet on this road that is a trucking route into Vietnam. The scenery consists of rice paddies and the Karst type vertical mountains as the road winds through the formations. I recognize the turn off to an earlier cave that I visited on the bicycle. I eat at the same cafe again, good food and wifi.

Onwards to Konglor and I see the third cycling family on this trip. I don't get to stop to talk to them. They have three kids, the older boy is probably 13 and he rides his own bike along with his mom, the younger kids are with dad who is carrying a big load in addition. I'm seriously impressed as well as amazed as to why you would do something this involved at this time of year in this heat and smoky air.

The road I would have taken with the bicycle tums out to be far hillier than I thought and Natane valley is at least 5 degrees Celsius warmer than the rest of the country. It's baking hot Arizona style and nary any shops with water. It wasn't such a bad call to switch to the scooter, although still doable on the bicycle, it saved a lot of time.

The Konglor cave impresses more than I thought it would. There is something about going into a river cave coming out of a mountain and to re-emerge into the daylight 7 km further at the other end. The boat driver knew his stuff and there were a few rapids to negotiate. I took a swim at the other end before we returned through the cave.

While riding I decided to bring the scooter back to Thakhek tonight and jump on a sleeper bus to Vientiane and take the bullet train to Luang Prabang for three days of exploring in this central northern area of Laos. The bicycle is sold and I'm well on my way back.Read more