Khou Kham is a smaller town about 40km away from Kong Lo, the biggest tourist draw in the area. We slept in and spent the next 20 minutes trying to get breakfast at an unreasonable hour. Apparently the many restaurants were merely a facade and sleeping was more important. Nowhere more than anywhere else did I fully appreciate the Laos ethos, the customer can always wait if there is a nap to be had. I quite admired them. We set off down the road, prepared to be disappointed by yet another cave, on a road that knifed straight through the mountains.
When we arrived we saw the Israelis, pleased to note they were still in one piece. There were numerous signs as we entered the village offering homestays, which seemed like our last opportunity to experience the Laos way of life first hand. Pulling into the car park beside the cave a sleeping man suddenly leapt to his feet when he heard us mention homestay and he showed us to his sister’s house. We were invited to enter the house, whereupon everyone promptly left, leaving only the mother of the house and the giggling children. We smiled and nodded while lunch was prepared and then smiled and nodded while they watched us eat. Our host was unable to understand our list of Laos words so we had to manage with only hello, thank you and rice. We got on famously.
We escaped to get on a boat through the cave. Kong Lo is the longest cave in the world and it put my faith back in caves. We were led down to the entrance, kitted out with headlamps and life jackets, that adventure Tim donned with enthusiasm. Our little wooden boat came round the corner equipped with a puttering outboard motor. We climbed in and the light from the entrance dropped almost immediately. Soon the cave was pitch black and our little headlamps only made a tiny dent in the oppressive darkness surrounding us. We got an idea of the dimensions of the cave as the driver swept his light ahead. As we sped into the darkness, careering confidently round blind dark corners it was the first time I felt that the money I’d paid for the trip was well-earnt.
We stopped about halfway and were lead up a specially lit walkway to see some impressive examples of stalag-tites and mites by our little guide. Our driver was waiting on the other side, having hailed out boat up a little set of rapids. The lights were switched off halfway down the stairs and as I followed Tim down I found our little guide holding my hand. Trying not to cheat on Tim we ended up clasping hands like the queen and one of her adoring subjects, very strange. We charged on, the immensity of the cave in the darkness with the cool breeze almost convincing you that we were speeding down a river at night.
After twenty minutes, but far too soon, we arrived at the other end. We popped out the other side into lush greenery outside and bright sunshine. After the brief obligatory refreshment stop we headed back in. Unfortunately we’d caught up with a large group of Americans and our solitude was ruined. Thankfully our driver didn’t seem to like their company either and our return trip was a thrilling ride as he set out to over-take as many as he could. As we docked and said goodbye to our friendly guides I immediately wanted to do it again. As it was still reasonably early we whiled away sometime before heading back to the homestay.
As we climbed the stairs and positioned ourselves on the floor, the rest of the family left again. After a meal of bran broth and instant noodles we went for a walk. Tim found the football field and organised the rabble into a game, while I tried to set up a cheerleading squad with significantly less success. As it grew dark we returned and settled down to watching the family watching Thai TV. There were no cultural displays, like what Bruce Parry gets, but I feel maybe we were experiencing the true life of poor Laos people, Thai TV.
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