Ban Gnang is the small town at the entrance to Kong Lor Cave. A huge cave that has a river running through it for more than 7 kilometers. I'll discuss the cave in tomorrow's post. Today's post is about the trip from Nam Theun to Ban Gnang.
There were some rough roads on this day of riding, but I recaptured the photo bug on this day's ride and have over 50 photos of the trip. Included in the photos is the one I've used as my profile pic for my whole time on the blockchain.
I left Nam Theun in the morning, but looking at my Facebook post from this time, I had considered staying an extra day in Nam Theun. I had liked it there and it was supposed to rain that day. I had left my rain gear in my main backpack in Thakhek and didn't want to spend the day soaked. The weather wasn't too bad and I started on my journey.
Immediately after leaving Nam Theun, I spent some time next to the lake created by the dam. All of the dead trees looked kind of surreal on the still water.
I stopped to take a photo of this tree with a big nest or fruit in it. I'm not sure what it is.
A big stretch of the road was under construction when I went through it in 2015. It's probably all finished by now. I kind of lucked out with the weather. There had been some rain, but not enough to create a ton of mud. The water was good for keeping down the dust.
After the sun dried everything out, it got dusty real fast. Luckily I was close to the end of the dirt road and got back on asphalt soon after this photo was taken.
This gate was pretty impressive. I don't recall if it went to a temple or a park or something. I don't have any photos of what's inside.
Many parts of Laos gave the impression that the country was getting ready for a big influx of population or tourists, but they hadn't arrived yet. In some areas there seems to be too much infrastructure for population that exists in the area. I guess they're planning for the future.
Some of the roads looked like they were made to accommodate big housing developments that never happened.
The jagged mountains made an awesome backdrop for most of the day.
Here's a gratuitous scooter shot. It's not a real scooter blog post without at lease one of these photos.
I did a little bit of mountain driving, but not much. Probably not more than an hour or two in the mountains.
When I left the mountains, I came into a decent sized town. This new temple was under construction.
A cow was hanging out at the new temple.
I was a little concerned by all of this backed up traffic. I wasn't sure if there was an accident or construction ahead. Since the scooters were passing everyone, I skipped ahead of all of the cars and trucks.
It wasn't an accident, it was a procession. I pulled off the road and gave them room to pass by.
A procession of a different sort crossed the road a few minutes later. This is where my profile pic comes from.
Soon I entered a valley that was filled with farm lands and surrounded by jagged mountains.
In some areas, the ground was absolutely parched. In other areas it was burned (intentionally). In other parts it was lush and green. I assume that they rotate their planting so that they can harvest during different seasons.
It looked like it was mostly rice being grown, but there were other crops as well.
While on this stretch of road, I saw two locals pushing their scooter in the opposite direction that I was driving. I stopped and asked if they needed gas. I had a water bottle full of gas that I offered. They shook their head and one of them held up a broken chain. I scooted up and patted my seat. One of the guys got on and I drove him down the road a mile or two to buy a new chain.
I had offered other people rides and everyone refused. After seeing so many injured tourists, it's no surprise. I still don't know if I helped out by giving the guy a ride, or if I just made his friend push the bike on his own.
Eventually I made it to my guesthouse. I'm pretty sure it was SpringRiver Resort & Restaurant at the time of writing, Google says rooms are $11. That sounds about the same price that I payed when I was here. The view was of the river was lovely! The river was crystal clear and it was a super peaceful area.
I don't remember much about my room, but I'm sure it was standard for Laos. Nothing great, nothing too bad. Awesome for the price!
While there, I met some other people riding the loop and we agreed to meet up in the morning and share a tour of the cave. Since the tours are by boat, it's better to group up and split the cost.
I went out that night to find a restaurant and beer. The farmland was particularly tranquil at dusk. I remember almost getting lost as I made my way back to the guest house after dark.
In the morning I met up with my new acquaintances and we took the cave tour. I'll see if I have any decent cave photos for tomorrow's post. Don't get your hopes up. All of my low-light photos are terrible.
I hope you'll join me tomorrow for the cave tour and the continuation of my trip on the Thakhek Loop!