Konglor Cave

Konglor Cave

No, there won’t be a post about Vientiane. The only reason I travelled there was to catch the direct bus to my next destination. So Vientiane was just a one night stop, I didn’t see much of it, just the night market and the Patuxai, the Arch of Triumph as the bus passed by.

Here our group of three separated. Rahel flies to Hanoi, Mei catches the night train to Bangkok. I stay in Laos, continuing my journey down to the south. I was heading to the more and more popular  Konglor Cave, that is still not overloaded with tourists.

There is a daily direct bus from Vientiane, that leaves at 10 AM. As there’s not much info on the net about the bus, or about how to get to the bus station, I decided to spend the night with sleeping instead of investigating further and I chose the transfer offer of the hostel. At a certain point all of us in the minibus thought, that we missed the bus, but after some calls the driver arranged, that the bus picked us up on the ‘highway’ instead of the bus station. The next surprise came, when it turned out how direct is the direct bus. Kong Lor village - pinterjuco.huWhen we got closer to Ban Kong Lor, the village closest to the cave, we had to change and get on a songthaew, or better to say tuk-tuk. (Here is laos the tuk-tuk is not for 2-3 people, it is more like the thai shared taxi, 10-16 people sit in two rows, facing each other.) We were so many, that a third bench was put in the middle for the extra people. At this point I didn’t know, that I get more of this experience.

It was getting dark when I arrived, but I planned the cave for the next day, so there was nothing else to do just relax, have good conversations with other travellers and enjoy the evening of good food and nice company. Most of the people arrive by bike, as the cave is one of the main attractions of the Tha Khaek Loop, the several hundred km long circuit starting and ending in Tha Khaek, a little bit more south from here. It is usually done in 3-4 days. I didn’t want to do it alone, or with random travel buddies who I don’t really know, and as public transportation was also available, I skipped the loop.

The cave was opened to the public just a couple of years ago. Because of this – and because of the difficulties to get here – the number of visitors is relatively low. It is 7.5 km long and you can cross it with a long tail boat on the Nam Hinboun river. Nam Hinboun river - pinterjuco.huThe waterlevel is low now, but it was still okay. The valley is surrounded by beautiful limestone karst mountains, providing a picturesque background. From the village I just walked to the river, bought the entrance ticket and the ticket for the boat. Luckily I arrived together with the French Adrienn and Hawaiian Matt at the gate. Why is this timing important? Max. 3 people can sit in the boat, and if we team up, the price is divided among ourselves. The freshly formed international team got into the boat and we started without waiting in any queue. The cave is huge. It is eating the light, and as there was barely anyone, we could enjoy the dark or the stalactite surrounding us, no head torches coming in the opposite direction disturbed us.

At a certain point the cave is so rich in stalactite, that we can get out of the boat, and spend some time around these nicely lit up beautiful forms.Konglor cave - pinterjuco.huKonglor cave2 - pinterjuco.hu

There is a little excitement as well. Because of the low water level, the water is channeled with sandbags to make the navigation easier, but there is a section where the rocks are out of the water forming a tiny cascade. Here we needed to help our guide to pull up the boat to continue our journey. Who hoped to keep the shoes dry, was a little disappointed. My decision to wear flip flops was good, but when the water level is higher, the stronger current could get them.

At the other side we had a 10 minutes break and headed back to our starting point. Nam Hinboun folyó - pinterjuco.huWe got out from the boat at the cascade again, and hour guide was taking the boat down alone, before we walked down on the slippery rocks to get into the boat again. From here all we needed to do was to marvel the view curve after curve and listen to the relaxing noise of the engine.

The river slows down at the entrance of the cave forming a nice pool for swimming. It is great, even if the water is a little too cold. I figured this is the only section of the river where tourists can swim.Konglor cave entrance - pinterjuco.hu I also checked the river closer to the village, but all points shown as beaches on the map were busy with the locals washing clothes or bathing, or the water buffalos passing time. I did not feel fitting into these groups.

The cave is not a full day program, but the valley is really nice for relaxing a bit, and the cave itself is definitely worth the two days detour from the well travelled North-South path.

 

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Prices

  • Vang Vieng – Vientiane minibus: 50.000 LAK (6 USD)
  • Vientián – Ban Kong Lor local bus incl. transfer in the city: 120.000 LAK (14,5 USD)
  • Entrance fee to the protected area: 2.000 LAK (0,3 HUF)
  • Boat trip for 1/2/3 ppl: 110/120/130.000 LAK (13,5/14,5/15,5 USD)
  • Head torch rental fee: 5.000 LAK (0,6 USD)