Tham Lot Caves:

Though we were all worn out from the morning’s run and the 60km of focused driving, and were eager to get the last 50kms out of the way, we decided to take the 18km detour to go visit the Tham Lot Caves. We must’ve looked strange walking past the gates of Tham Lot National Park, all laden with our large backpacks, while it seemed most people there carried light day bags they brought for a days (guided) adventure. Multiple locals / guides offered their services to bring us through the caves, then warned us that we were not allowed in the cave without a guide and would be fined if we entered. True to their word, a sign was posted on the right side of the gaping mouth of the mountain warning about fines for those without a guide. After watching a few tour groups leave the cave with their leader holding forward the luminous glow of lanterns, we ignored all warning signs and walked in. As soon as it became dark, we flicked on our high-power headlamps and proceeded to explore the first few colossal taverns of rock. We ran across a few more groups on their way back to daylight, and decided we had seen enough and fled the cave without more than a few wayward glances from guides, who were probably too burned out from a day’s work to give a damn that we had a 15 minute gallivant through their impressive cavern. 

Pai Arrival:

Though we only had 125km to drive today, we were warned by the owner of Lakeside Garden Guesthouse that these were some of the most dangerous and twisty roads on the trip, and so to be careful. We took the advice with a grain of salt, and ripped our way through the slalom course of turns which took us through the most pristine of forest/jungle fauna and limestone cliffs. I think Marian may have been concerned at the speed with which I drove, because he made a point of mentioning that we stopped for photos for a while, and still managed to catch up to our friends ahead. I dispelled his concerns by retorting: "yeah, ain't it cool?" Poor guy must have a few more grey hairs after that ride! We arrived in Pai just before dark, and were accosted by a plethora of foreigners wearing festival and hippie clothing (and no helmets on motorbikes). The peaceful nature of the last two cities was lost to this new town - the one that was supposed to be the quite little village. Furthermore, it seemed like Chinese New Year was having a toll on the availability at the guesthouses. Thankfully, our luck prevailed, and I found us a couple of bungalows that we split between the 7 of us. Once our luggage was packed into our two huts (the two couples in the large hut, and the 3 guys in the small), we set out to find food. Our first stop was the night market. It was a little disconcerting to see that the prices of food and trinkets was noticeably more expensive than our previous stops. We ordered our food, and though we were skeptical of the quality and the quantity we received, it turned out to be delicious.