(Day 20)
Our first adventure (following breakfast, of course. We eat like hobbits.) was to Kong Lo cave which is located less than 1 km from our guesthouse.
We paid about 100,000 kip to have a guide take us through the cave on a long boat. We had to hire two boats. Dalton and Sam traveled in one, Blake, Arrio, and I in the other. Our guide was, as Blake so aptly put, the Laotian version of Clint Eastwood. He had a rough looking face and smoked tobacco rolled up in a green leaf. He had a slight limp in his walk due to a deformed foot. The guy was pure awesome!
The cave was even awesomer! I felt like we had gone inside the mouth of an enormous dragon. The plethora of stalagmites and stalactites were the teeth, and the cold, humid breeze was the breath. A river went all the way through the whole cave. It was spectacular, to say the least. It was about a 2 1/2 hour journey round-trip.
At the end of the cave exploration, some of the locals pointed out a place where we could jump of cliffs into the water. We immediately and swiftly made our way over. It was only about a 15 foot cliff, but it was so refreshing. The aqua-blue water was cool and soothing to my sun-burned skin. The fall was high enough to be exhilarating, and the sun hot enough to compel me to jump numerous times. It was a grand time.
While jumping and swimming, I remember stopping and thinking for a moment about this whole SE Asia experience so far. It is all so worth it! This experience has molded me and expanded my mind in positive and wholesome ways. I feel like my soul has grown and has a greater capacity for truth and compassion. I'm so happy I made the decision to do this, especially now in my life. This is something I truly needed.
Afterward, I went back to the guesthouse and showered. After my shower, Blake, Sam, Dalton, and I waited on the front porch as Arrio went back to the cliff to grab the pants he had forgotten. (This is not an uncommon thing for us to do on a daily basis as Arrio would forget his brain if his body didn't require it to function). As we were waiting, we watched some of the roosters that the guesthouse proprietors were raising. We got a real kick out of watching these guys strut their feathers around for the ladies. They would fight each other and crow at each other. Each rooster has a unique crow, although it requires astute observation to notice the difference. As most human beings usually do, we began taking sides as to which rooster we thought had the better crow, and which would win in a fight. I chose the one with the most ridiculous crow I've ever heard. This guy had to contort his neck in weird positions to let out his unbearably hilarious crow. It sounded like an alarm clock that needed new batteries. I don't know why I'm writing about this. Let's move on, shall we?
We found lunch at this extremely Ma and Pa sort of place, Laos style. It was one of the most delicious meals I've had yet! It was sweet green curry with chicken and some Double-Black Soy milk. It felt good to know that what we were eating was as authentic as it gets, considering we were sitting in the family kitchen, basically.
After lunch, we explored the beautiful village. Such small homes, such humble people. As we walked through the village, I felt like we were intruding. It was such an intimate experience with the Laos people. I fell in love with them again. A young boy came up to us and showed off his sling-shot skills. He truly was good!
As I ate, yet again, one of the most delicious meals I've had yet (in my life, yet alone on this trip!), I made up my mind that Kong Lo village has been my favorite place yet. We truly were in the thick of things. We had yet another conversation about movies, and retired to bed.
Blake and I woke up in the middle of the night to what sounded like a human being screaming in agony from being tortured. We realized, after careful listening, that it was a pig. I'm not sure what was going on that made the pig scream out in such terrible pain, but it was the stuff of nightmares.
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