I’m just a little bit in
love with Laos. I couldn’t exactly put my finger on it until today, but I think
I’ve found the reason. It’s not the kind, happy people, it’s not the price of everything, it’s not even
beerlao (not that all of those things aren’t great).
It’s beauty. The place is just
stunning, out of this world beautiful. Everywhere I look, there’s a gigantic
river, mountains reaching to the sky, a Buddhist temple drenched in gold, and
green as far as the eye can see.
Today we went to Pa Kou cave, a
place only discovered in the last few years. The Tuk Tuk ride out was horrible
but what we saw made every pothole, every little almost vomit burp more than
worthwhile.
Inside are thousands of little
Buddha statues, placed there by I don’t know who, I don’t know when. It’s
pretty spiritual, I think.
But for me it was the natural
formations of the cave, the surrounding mountains, the seemingly never ending
river which blew me away. You can be struck dumb by the green cliffs in front
of you, before realising there’s another one behind it. Your eyes refocus one
more time to find another and another towering mountain range just out of
reach.
I think the pictures might do a
better job of explaining it, but nothing will even come close to the real
thing.