Destination Laos: Part 24 Caves and Waterfalls

Pak Ou Caves - disappointing, nothing special, the morning boat ride down the Mekong was fun though (2 hours going - just to see a cave!, and another one and half back), chugging down the muddy and languid waters of the Mekong, wondering if there were any monstrous catfish or head-sucking nagas (seriously, locals tell tales of drowned corpses with shrivelled heads sucked clean) prowling its depths. The water was brown, the boat didn't look all that safe, tendrils of mist still clinging on to the thickly forested mountains on both banks on a chilly December morning, with the occassional farm and people working on them. It got me thinking about the nagas quite a lot.

Above: Nagas and monstour catfish lurk (probably. A result of a wandering mind as does occur when one has to seat on a small seat for 2 hours on a boringly cold December morning.)

Saw the (in)famous speedboats headed downriver - crazy fast, but probably crazy dangerous as well. Why else do you think they hand out crash helmets to passengers in a country where attitude towards transport safety can be described as cavalier at best? It makes me wonder.

The Kuang Si waterfalls were much better - and I shall let the pictures do the talking. Caught a glimpse of the "mascot" of the park on the way back - Phan, who just ambled over to where we were and sat down for photos. He's a tiger, by the way.

The park, in which the falls are located, is scenic, with benches and rest areas. Really atmospheric waterfall, spectacularly landscaped, as if one was uprooted from the tame surroundings of the park and transported into deep unexplored tropical jungle. Multitiered, cool turquoise pools fed into a river, and lush vegetation surrounding it. The only flipside to an awe-inspiring sight was the crowds. But what did i expect yea? When some place gets discovered, and some place as beautiful as this, you'd expect people to follow. Would have been amazing discovering this for yourself, say trekking through the jungle, stopping dead in your tracks and just going wow.

Tiger tiger burning bright - Phan poses for a photo