Vang Vieng Part 2 – Caving & Tubing

Our second cave of the day was called Cave Hoi and was quite different from our first cave explorations. This cave was formed by water running through the mountain, from the very pinnacle to the base. The water formed a huge tunnel through the base of mountain where 50 years ago (before deforestation in the region changed the water route) water flowed in a river. Now the cave system is almost completely without water except where it is bisected by a small stream running almost perpendicular to the old river path. We were unable to explore the entire thing as it is 2 km long, but what we did see was amazing. This cave is another limestone feature, but in this case, the river that used to run through it left something behind. Embedded within the limestone, projecting out into the main portion of the cave are huge clumps of small pebbles lodged within hardened earth and rock, reminiscent of a dried riverbed. In addition, the ceiling of the cave is composed of similar material, but with larger rounded river stones. We meandered our way through the cave, slogging through the crisscrossing stream at one point until we came to a bend in the cave where the stone floor changed to a stone strewn mess that we had no desire to navigate.

It was around noon when we emerged from this cave, so our guide led us about 1 km back down the path we had already trekked until we reached a small river where a bamboo structure was built extending over the rushing water. Lunch was provided with our tour, fried rice, kebabs, baguette, and fresh pineapple. We tried to take our time eating, but were actually famished from our trekking and caving adventures and fell on our lunch like ravenous wolves. As soon as we were done eating our guide came over and informed us that it was time to “swim to the water cave.” My eyes darted to the river that was rushing by at a very fast pace. I was sure I had misheard him. We looked at our guide again and asked, “Uh, swim to the cave? Not tube to the cave?” “No. Swim.” Okay…That seemed a bit extreme, so I was sure it was simply a language problem. Soon, however, he returned with a headlamp attached to a large battery that is worn around the neck, which he informed us was waterproof. It became obvious. We were going to swim through the river to the cave, which would be filled with water. Talk about an adventure!

Zenia decided swimming through a cave was just too much, so she stayed behind on dry land, while Kevin and I got loaded up with headlamps and proceeded to enter the rampaging river. To assist with our battle against the river currents we had a rope that we used to pull ourselves across the worst portion of the river. Our guide was quite emphatic about holding onto the rope with two hands or death would surely follow as we were swept downstream. He constantly shouted, “Two hands! Safety first!” As we moved away from the shore into the cold water I understood his instructions and grabbed onto the rope with no thoughts of letting go even if aliens came down in a spaceship over my head. My feet were immediately swept behind my body so that I lay horizontally along the top of the water, dragging myself sideways to the opposite side. The force of the water was incredible. It felt as if a thousand hands were dragging against every inch of my skin and clothing, trying to pull me away from the relative safety of the rope. We expected to reach the other side, but the rope did not reach the other shore, instead coming to an end about 10 feet away where it ducked into a crevice in the rock, leading to the interior of the cave.

The cave itself was filled with water (indeed, it’s called the Water Cave) and due to the high water level, which pushed us up toward the narrow top, only about as wide as twice the distance of my shoulders. We swam sideways through the cave, carefully holding on to the rock walls with one hand, while looking out for spiders and other creatures with our eyes in the handholds. The cave was very similar to the others we had seen, but made more interesting, perhaps, by the fact that we were swimming to see it. We only swam inside for about 5 minutes until we were forced to turn around and return to shore due to an increase in currents in the cave, which made swimming inside too treacherous for my state of mind. It was a difficult process as the cave was so narrow and you could only kick your feet in a small area directly under your body or else you would be kicking the rock walls. Standing back on the shore felt exhilarating, as if we had truly conquered something by swimming in that cave and it only occurred to me at that moment how truly stupid it was to swim into a flooded cave. Now that I look back on the experience I’m glad I did it, but probably won’t be doing it again for fear of death. :)

After we all emerged unscathed from river, we set off on a return journey to the Nam Song River where we would begin our tubing. As we walked down the path Zenia and I took stock of our appearance and were amazed to see that even though I had just been thoroughly drenched in the river I was still just as muddy and Zenia was only slightly more so. Evidently the water here is less powerful than the mud. We walked through muddy fields until we reached the river where we viewed one more cave (more of a cavernous room cut out of the side of the mountain) and then loaded into a wooden boat for a quick trip across the river. The river was so powerful at this point that the only way to get a boat across was to aim it upstream, run the motor as hard as possible, and drift to the other bank where you will arrive in a relatively straight line across the river from where you started. It’s quite an amazing current and a bit disconcerting when we considered the fact that we were expected to sit on a small tube and float downstream for 4 km or so.

We managed to make it safely to the opposite side, however, and got a tuk-tuk ride downstream to the area where the tubing starts. We were outfitted with lifejackets, handed a tube, and told to get moving. The process of entering your tube on the water is an interesting one and worth noting. It’s a very awkward process getting into an inner tube at first. You must start by finding a fairly calm area of the river where you tube will not be pulled away by the current immediately. Then, you drop the tube into the water, turn around so your back faces it, and allow yourself to fall backwards, hopefully aiming with enough precision that your butt falls into the center, legs across the edge of the tube and back propped against the other side. While this does not sound like a difficult process, it can be quite tricky and I can now attest from personal experience that there is simply no graceful way to do it. Once you are in the tube, your next job is to get yourself out into the current so you can begin your trip downstream. This involves paddling yourself backwards, arms restrained to a large extent by your lifejacket and the edges of the tube so that you look like a beached whale. As soon as the river catches your tube it is simply a matter of not running into the shore and enjoying the scenery. Luckily our guide was in a kayak with us and able to take care of the first requirement, which meant that we were free to enjoy our surroundings, which were incredible – mountains rising on either side of the river to soar majestically overhead.

We stopped at one bar along the side of the river, a process that involved catching a rope thrown out to us from the shoreline by locals and then waiting to be hauled in against the current. Zenia and I enjoyed our time relaxing and people watching before we set out on the river once again, this time finishing our trip down the river at Vang Vieng where we returned our tubes, said goodbye to our guide, and set off for our hotel for a much needed shower. At this point I had accumulated enough mud to appear the color of milk chocolate and was in desperate need of shower. Nothing has ever felt quite as good as that shower after our long day as rivers of mud washed off my skin and clothing. We spent the remainder of the evening exploring the town of Vang Vieng more and watching Friends while eating dinner with our reunited party (Vanessa, Ellie, Chris, and Lorena). It was an early night that evening as we were all quite tired from our long days.

This final trip was undoubtedly a success and I believe it was the best way to spend our final weekend in Laos.