Day 316 - Blue Lagoon 1 and Phu Kam Cave
Sunday, May 19th, 2019
Today we wanted to go tubing on the river, but by the time we decided to leave the hotel, it was 2:00pm and way too hot. It is hard to plan when everyone is tired and we start the day so late. Gregory suggested going to the blue lagoon since we were wearing our swimsuits and it was so hot. He started the negotiation with a tuk-tuk while I walked to one of the many tour offices to ask how much would it cost us to take us. Apparently, there are three blue lagoons. We negotiated a ride to Blue Lagoon 1. The guy from the office told us to wait and he disappeared. Minutes later he showed up with his VIP tuk-tuk. It was so funny to see him as the booking office man and the tuk-tuk driver and he also showed us his guest house behind the office. Now that’s what I call an entrepreneur!
The ride was 20 minutes. We had to pass a toll bridge. He wanted us to pay the toll but Gregory just told him that it was included in the price that he had charged. When we made it to the lagoon, we paid the entrance fee of 20K kip, around $2.50 each. Not bad for a beautiful lagoon and an impressive cave. The only bummer is that it was pretty busy and they had the music quite loud. [Gregory's note: I think there was 1 speaker plying Lao music and you could barely hear it from most of the lagoon.] We decided to climb to the cave first to avoid the heat and the crowds.
The climb was steep and a little bit challenging but fun. The nature around us was amazing. We went in and we had to be careful on the slippery rocks. Daniel was happy with the headlight that we rented and he kept pointing out the stalagmites and the stalactites. It was beautiful and impressive. Sunshine stopped and said that she didn’t want to go any further. She waited for us outside. We continue spelunking until we made it to a huge cavern where we saw a reclining Buddha with some offerings.
Gregory and Daniel decided to follow the arrows deeper into the cave. I went back to where the Buddha was to wait for them. It was dark and slippery and I was not interested in finding bats and spiders and who knows what else! It took them a while to come back. I told them that Sunshine was probably worried about us. We spend an hour and a half in the cave! We finally came out, found Sunshine, and made our way down very cautiously. The steps were only wide enough for one person at a time so we had to step aside for people climbing up. We spent another hour in the lagoon. Gregory and Daniel thought the water was freezing. It was cold but refreshing for such a hot day. The kids played with the swings over the water. When we were leaving, we met two Lebanese guys and a German girl. Very nice but unfortunately our ride was waiting.
We enjoyed the ride back in the tuk-tuk, not the bumpy road but the amazing view of the limestone mountains all around us. After the driver dropped us in town, we went out for lunch-dinner to a nice place where food was good but it took forever to bring my dish. Maybe it wasn’t that long but I was starving! Afterward, we went to K-Mart [Gregory's note: no, not that one] to grab snacks for dinner. I knew no one would want to go out at night.
We went back to our hotel, rested, watched The Beach which was filmed in Thailand. Good movie with Leonardo DiCaprio.
The ride was 20 minutes. We had to pass a toll bridge. He wanted us to pay the toll but Gregory just told him that it was included in the price that he had charged. When we made it to the lagoon, we paid the entrance fee of 20K kip, around $2.50 each. Not bad for a beautiful lagoon and an impressive cave. The only bummer is that it was pretty busy and they had the music quite loud. [Gregory's note: I think there was 1 speaker plying Lao music and you could barely hear it from most of the lagoon.] We decided to climb to the cave first to avoid the heat and the crowds.
The climb was steep and a little bit challenging but fun. The nature around us was amazing. We went in and we had to be careful on the slippery rocks. Daniel was happy with the headlight that we rented and he kept pointing out the stalagmites and the stalactites. It was beautiful and impressive. Sunshine stopped and said that she didn’t want to go any further. She waited for us outside. We continue spelunking until we made it to a huge cavern where we saw a reclining Buddha with some offerings.
Gregory and Daniel decided to follow the arrows deeper into the cave. I went back to where the Buddha was to wait for them. It was dark and slippery and I was not interested in finding bats and spiders and who knows what else! It took them a while to come back. I told them that Sunshine was probably worried about us. We spend an hour and a half in the cave! We finally came out, found Sunshine, and made our way down very cautiously. The steps were only wide enough for one person at a time so we had to step aside for people climbing up. We spent another hour in the lagoon. Gregory and Daniel thought the water was freezing. It was cold but refreshing for such a hot day. The kids played with the swings over the water. When we were leaving, we met two Lebanese guys and a German girl. Very nice but unfortunately our ride was waiting.
We enjoyed the ride back in the tuk-tuk, not the bumpy road but the amazing view of the limestone mountains all around us. After the driver dropped us in town, we went out for lunch-dinner to a nice place where food was good but it took forever to bring my dish. Maybe it wasn’t that long but I was starving! Afterward, we went to K-Mart [Gregory's note: no, not that one] to grab snacks for dinner. I knew no one would want to go out at night.
We went back to our hotel, rested, watched The Beach which was filmed in Thailand. Good movie with Leonardo DiCaprio.
For pictures please click here
https://photos.app.goo.gl/2s53XXHTUPPMWBDw8
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