After my full day of cycling, caving, and hiking, I was expecting to sleep in, but, I awoke at 5:15am for no reason at all. Ordinarily I would just go back to sleep, but after learning from the Organic Farm that volunteers could help with the goats from 6:30-8:30am, I decided to take advantage of my early wake up by heading over to the farm. I got up, got dressed, and headed out on my bicycle to the farm 5km away.
This was a great day! I met two Lao interns who were working and living on the farm for 3 months as part of their degree from the University in Vientiane in agriculture, and they showed me how to do everything for the next two hours that I would work alongside them.
First, we swept out all (20)of the goat pens (with the goats still inside, which proved sometimes challenging and definitely amusing). This took some time, and then it was time to feed all of the goats. I made many rounds grabbing armloads of greens from a big pile downstairs from the second-level goat pens, stacking them into large round and shallow baskets, and hauling them up the ramp to distribute into the many goat troughs. 'Mr. T' is the Lao owner and founder of this organic farm, and when he saw me hauling these greens back and forth, he gave me a great compliment by remarking 'You are a REAL farmer!', with delight and appreciation in his voice. I thanked him, and told him I was quite happy to be able to participate.
Finally, it was time for the milking of the goats, which I had been looking forward to all morning. I had milked goats long ago at the age of 11 and 12 back when I worked on an organic farm back in Massachusetts as part of a summer program, but that was the last time! I managed to milk one goat in the time that it took the other two interns to milk the other 8 or 10 goats, but, I did it! Kind of like riding a bicycle. . . :)
My duties were done from there, but I asked if I could watch one of the interns prepare the milk to make it into goat cheese, and he showed and explained to me the process. I thanked both of the guys, and went to the farm restaurant, where I ordered a mulberry shake, as well as an omelet with mulberry leaves and goat cheese. It was quite the reward after the mornings' work, complete with the fruits of the farm!
From there, I should have cycled back to my guesthouse and taken a nap, but since I insist on wearing myself out on a regular basis, I decided to continue cycling north to three caves that I had heard about. My logic was that I had already done 5 of the 13km to get there, and I might as well take advantage of my progress on the bike ride out. (It did not, of course, occur to me that I could take a tuk-tuk, or, rent a motorbike later on- no, the challenge was there and I could not escape it!)
It was blazing hot, and I was tired before I even began. Nonetheless, I kept plugging on. I finally reached the tiny village that stood in front of these 3 caves of Hoi, Loup, and Nam, and crossed the bridge over the river to get there. Picturesque and sweet! I visited the Elephant Cave just after the bridge that contains a large Buddha, and lit incense and a candle in an offering. As I was doing so, I was approached by a young Lao guy who offered to take me on a tour. I accepted, but insisted that I needed to fuel my efforts with a meal first at the nearby restaurant. We agreed on 50,000kip for the 3 caves, and he waited while I ate.
Again, I had planned on exploring these caves without a guide as I had brought my headlamp this time, but again, I am so happy that there was a guide, or else I would not have gone very far. The Hoi cave was incredibly long and deep, it took us a full hour to go all the way through it and come back. We were chest deep at one point in cold water, with a tunnel mere inches above our heads. There were many moments during this exploring of this damp, dripping, and beautiful cave where I wondered at the safety of this experience, and marveled at my ability to trust a complete stranger in such a potentially scary circumstance. I also let my mind wander to the idea of my headlamp bulb burning out, and that sort of thing. Luckily, all was well, my guide showed me everything the cave had to offer, and our batteries lasted full strength throughout the hike.
Next, he took me to the Loup Cave, which was much shorter (much to my relief, because it is actually quite tiring walking through mostly dark cave tunnels and wading through cold water, especially after a 13 km bike ride and waking up at 5:15am and working hard at a farm for 2 hours! Are you beginning to get the picture?!) When we came out of the cave, we both sat down at a picnic table where a couple had given us headlamps. I was greatful for a brief respite, but after a few minutes I asked my guide 'So, the 3rd cave?' And he said 'Oh yeah- you should pay me the 50,000 now, but you will go to this cave without me, and the guide there will give you a tube for floating in the cave, and I will pay him 10,000 later.' This seemed strange to me. We had said '3 caves, 50,000', but now the guide was saying he wasn't taking me to the 3rd cave, but I was still paying him the full amount. I was also not so sure that the guide at the next cave wasn't going to charge me, or would even understand my english when I attempted to explain the situaiton.
I asked my guide to at least walk with me to the cave to tell the next guide the situation, and he said no. I asked if I could just pay him 40,000 and pay the next guide the 10,000 myself- he said no. We both kept explaining our separate situations to each other, but in both of our cases, it was like talking to a brick wall. We just repeated ourselves, but in more urging tones each time, and with greater exasperation. When I tried one final time, he looked away from me, stared into his cell phone, and ignored me completely. So I started to walk away, and when I did he looked up with anger and surprise and used quite a mean tone and repeated his litany one more time. So, I paid him the money, frustrated and with tears in my voice and brimming from my eyes, and walked away towards the 3rd and final cave. He and the couple laughed meanly, talking in Lao with frustration about me as I walked away, tears falling from my cheeks.
As I headed into the corn fields that led to this 3rd cave, I realized two things: one, that there were many paths leading into this field and I didn't know which one, and also, that I was totally and completely exhausted. Not just from this day, but from the day before as well- I had overdone it completely, and didn't get enough sleep. The tears that were falling from my eyes and sobs that were starting to come up through my body from the previous conflict/misunderstanding situation with my guide were above and beyond what the situation deserved, and this is how I knew I was done. I turned around, and headed back to the small village, back to the bridge, and back to my bicycle. I tried to hire a tuk-tuk to take me back, but he said I would have to wait an hour. So, I hauled my tired body back home on the bicycle in the late afternoon heat, and returned to the Maylyn guesthouse. That night I had a good meal, a Lao-style massage, and went to bed early.
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