Thakhet Loop: Kong Lor

Day 4: January 14th, 2025 – Lac Sao to Na Hin – 55kms – Phamarn View Guesthouse

Day 5: January 15, 2025 – Na Hin – 0 kms – Phamarm View Guesthouse 

Ruth: For much of our trip we have been cycling against the prevailing wind, but Lac Sao was the turning point and I am looking forward to some tailwinds. After spending two nights up at 600 meters in colder weather we made our final descent down to Na Hin, which sits at the intersection of the road to the well-known Kong Lor Cave. It’s windy here, but we are warm again. 

We stopped at the Dragon Cave enroute, and also passed by a town that is known for making boats out of bomb casings. Our descent to Na Hin was through a 5 kilometre section of roadwork where they are repairing the road after numerous mud slides. 

Day 5: Kong Lor Cave

I was a bit nervous at the idea of traveling in a boat through a 7.5 km cave. That was even before I heard about the spiders the size of dinner plates, and the rapids! 

Our ride through this cathedral ceiling river cave involved a few stops where we could get out at particularly amazing formations.  We also had to get out while our captain negotiated our boat up stream through some rapids. I had no idea when I filmed this process that we would be running through them on our return journey. Wowee! Remember: this is in the dark with headlights only. 

This was a day off our bikes so we arranged transport to the cave and back from our guest house about forty kms away. Well worth the 500,000 kip ($35 CAD) we paid for it. 

These videos come closer to describing this amazing experience than I can.  What the videos don’t capture is the excitement of flying through the darkness, past fallen blocks and through shallow water and minor rapids, all at a fair clip.