Rt. 12 caves, Part 2

I got up at 8.30 and ate again at the Sabaidee restaurant. I wanted to rent a bicycle today and visit 2 caves I missed yesterday. It proved difficult to rent a bike. Tha Kek is the first place I've been in Laos that isn't stocked with foreigners. I like that but it does mean certain things can be harder to find due to less demand. I finally found a bike at the tourist info office but it had a flat. I waited for the guy to go out and get a new tube. The bike only had one gear but road okay and the seat was soft. The first cave I went to was about 3.5 km from town. It's called Ban Tham and has a huge entrance on the sheer cliff of karst. There was no one around and no entrance fee. The cave had a gigantic opening but wasn't very deep. There were many buddhas and places to worship. I took a different trail back to the main road. Along the way I discovered the local shooting range. I couldn't hear the gunshots from the cave but as I road past and got further away, the sound of the shots carried around and bounced off the karst and sounded surreal.
I got back to the main road and had to ride back towards town, the trail led me too far. I took the turn off to Pha Pa cave but then it was 8.5km on a dirt road to the cave. The road was okay and I was making good time. I even passed a tuk tuk on the way. I arrived at the cave 30 minutes later. This cave was discovered by a local who climbed 15m up a vine hoping to eat the bats he had seen coming out of the cave. What he discovered was a cave containing 229 bronze buddha statues. Experts believe they are about 600 years old. There is a concrete staircase to the entrance now. The cave was quite interesting even without the buddhas. It wasn't very large but was filled with many other modern artifacts of worship besides the buddhas. 2 locals spen the day in the cave keeping the rules and selling flowers and items to be placed before buddha. The main rule that affected me was that no photos were allowed. This was a pity, this was a cool and unique cave but I guess it will preserve them better.

Outside the cave was a clear lagoon with a river running into the cave. Swimming was not allowed but I could take a boat into the cave for 50 cents. I hired the boatman and he paddled us into the cave. This was really fun and even more so when the cave became really low and narrow. We went in till the river allowed. It continued but was very tight. Near the cave were various vendors selling food and drink. This was mostly a local place and I didn't see any other foreigners. I had some soup and then started riding back. I dropped off my bike at the tourism office around 5. I was tired and dirty. I washed clothes and myself and then relaxed. I ate another delicouse bbq dinner. My next plan was to take a bus to Tham Kong Lo, a river that runs 7.5km through a cave. It's possible to take a boat all the way through. Now we're talking!