Moving Impressions

Atejade: 05.02.2019

Alabapin si iwe iroyin

We have spent three more days with some beautiful impressions that we want to share. The first one was a trip to the Wat Phou temple, built during the Angkor era and one of the main attractions for tourists in Laos. It is located about 40 km from Pakse, which posed a medium-sized challenge for us because all the offered trips there seemed too expensive (day trips ranging from 40 USD to over 240 USD). Therefore, we decided to rent a scooter, which worked out well and only cost 8 USD.

The temple is located on a mountain and offers a wide view of the plain and the Mekong River. You climb up old stairs lined with silvery Frangipani trees to reach the actual temple. Sitting there, you think: this is how it was intended, and it warms your heart.

Yesterday was a long travel day, during which we traveled 330 km north in a bus for nine hours. Now we are in a nice small town called Thakhek for two nights.

Today, we rented a scooter again because all the offers for tours came with exorbitant prices. There are many caves in the nearby limestone cliffs, and we visited the Tham Nang Aen cave first, and it was fantastic. Luckily, our ticket included a boat ride. The cave is huge, and the entrance area is lit up in somewhat kitschy colors, but the size is incredibly impressive. But the best part was the boat ride: a young Laotian paddled us in a small rowboat on an underground river through absolute silence, singing all the while. After about 20 minutes of awe-inspiring amazement, we walked for another half an hour through the cave, up and down hills, along huge stalactite formations. It was beautiful. We were both deeply moved by the magnificent impressions.