From Luang Prabang we headed to Thakhek for another motorcycle road trip.

This time the route is cleaner and easier than Ha Giang, so we simply rented a bike for the three of us.

Since we started pretty late, we skipped the first small caves and headed straight to the Song Souk waterfall. It was 40+ degrees and the hot air was burning our skin even while riding. There was one small shower and we stopped for lunch but it wasn’t enough to cool the air. After some time Leo and Mary both started to feel dizzy with insulation. They had to continue with wet towels on their heads. When we reached the waterfall, it was barely a stream and the water was about 30 degrees. But it was deep enough to swim and jump so it was still refreshing. That’s where we met Jonas, Dani and Flo, three German tourists also riding the loop. So we continued with them.

We reached Thalang in the evening and after some guesthouse shopping we settled for the more comfortable Phosy guesthouse (the only one with AC)

The big storm broke in the night and it was finally much cooler the next morning. Also a lot more grey.

Continuing the loop, we stopped by some stone Buddhas carved on the side of the road, and then at the Dragon cave. Slightly disappointed to not find the dragon but the cave and the viewpoint were beautiful.

That’s when we lost Flo in the battle 😢. He started to feel very weak and sick, suspecting food poisoning. He couldn’t continue driving anymore so we dropped him off at the nearest guesthouse to recover.

By the time we reached the Cool Spring, it was already 4pm and we had another two hours of driving to get to our guesthouse in Konglor. Jonas and Dani didn’t want to drive at night so they continued to the guesthouse. We really wanted to see the spring so we went for a quick dip.

The cool spring is true to its name and the water is as cold as it is clear. The place reminded us of the Cenotes in Mexico; clear blue-green water in a sort of sink hole. Best spot of the loop if you ask me!

Of course we reached Konglor after nightfall. In the night I have no choice but to remove my glasses. All the bugs are attracted by the headlights and come crashing into my eyes. At some point I felt like Han Solo in Star Wars, flying the Falcon at the speed of light (about 40kms/h in our current space-time) except the flashing rays of light were bugs flying past us (these things really hit you hard by the way!)

The next morning we tried to start early to avoid running out of time again. By 8am we were visiting the famous Konglor cave; the highlight of the loop. A gigantic cave that you visit by boat, stopping in some lit up rooms along the 8kms across the cave. On the other side is a small village where women hand-weave scarves. We spent some time trying to figure out how they managed such intricate motifs and designs.

After the cave, we stopped for gas and there boom!💥 Jonas and Dani got a flat tire! Thankfully the garage was just next door. It took 30 minutes to change the tire and get back on the road. In the meantime the garage folks offered us some refreshing light beer with ice cubes.

Instead of doing the typical 3 days loop, where the 3rd day is mostly rushing back a 200kms on the highway, Jonas and Dani had decided to take one more day and come back on the same route. We had planned for only 3 days to be back on time for Leo’s interview with his backup school. But we figured that our friends option was a good idea and we could always do the interview from a restaurant on the road. Plus we could go back to the cool spring!

In spite of our efforts to start early, it was already too late to visit the viewpoint near Nahin (😿) so we drove straight to the cool spring. It was as cool and beautiful as yesterday and the weather was much better. There we found Flo, well rested and in much better shape!

Of course we stayed too long at the spring and again we had to fly the Falcon in the night sky of bugs, back to Thalang.

On the fourth day was Leo’s interview at 2pm. Mary had found a nice quiet restaurant not far where we could stop for the interview, so we chilled at the hostel until 12 and then headed there. There was only one minor detail to take care of; we were out of cash and needed to stop at the ATM first.

But the ATM wasn’t working. So we drove to the next one, that wasn’t working either. So we drove to the next one, that wasn’t working either… now it was past 1:30pm and we were 45mins away from the restaurant. We still had no cash and nowhere to go for the interview.

Mary sat in the shade under a tree by the side of the road and thought we could just do the interview like this, but it looked pretty jungly and with trucks driving just behind her back it was very noisy!

Across the street was the village school. So without asking anyone, we just rode our bike across the playground and squatted an empty classroom. A few curious kids came to us to take selfies and I tried to explain we just needed a quiet spot for some time.

The kids on the playground were pretty loud and I had to mute the microphone most of the time but in spite of the conditions, the interview went quite well.. until my phone overheated and stopped! I wiped it with a wet tissue and managed to reconnect after a few minutes. Eventually, when we asked when/how we’d be informed of Leo’s admission, she said it was ok with her, Leo was admitted 🥳. Best news of the day, at least the backup is secured!

After the interview we found yet another ATM and at last, that one was working. We were hungry and Mary still wanted to try her restaurant, so we rode all the way back up to Nakay. At that point the storm broke and the rain poured. I started laughing, imagining us doing the interview under the tree in the rain!

After “lunch” it was already 5pm. One more time we were flying the Falcon all the way back to Thakhek, with a mix of rain and bugs slapping my face and trying to pierce my eyes! We reached exhausted and went right to bed.

As I’m writing these lines, we’re in a bus for 8 hours, to Pakse, our next destination, and my knees are encrusted into the seat in front of me.

I’m having a popular snack in Laos consisting of a patty of sticky rice, dried in the sun and then fried. By some mysterious natural chemistry, it then tastes like popcorn 🍿. At every stop, people board the bus to sell all kinds of food; giant sticks with grilled meat, quail eggs, lotus seeds…