The five of us walked down the side of the main road towards town. The wet air was full of flavours and my mouth alternated between very dry and wet as waves of nausea brought bile up the back of my throat. The internet café was now across the road from us. I opted out of entering the warm, malodorous café and told Marc I would meet him at the restaurant up ahead. He asked for me to order him a chicken sub and gave me 5000KIP ($1).
When I arrived at the restaurant Jacob's Ladder was playing on the TV screen. Though the movie was much too loud and it's subject matter far too deep, I sat near the screen to ward off any possible conversations. I reeked of alcohol and could barely enunciate my food order, so my fear of a prolonged conversation was probably unwarranted.
Marc must have seen me holding me head up, staring at the place mat. I was greeted by a boisterous "Oh buddy!! That bad eh?" and a warm clap on the back. Marc sat down, grinning ear to ear. "Soo, Hanna's hot eh? But man she has a hate on for you!"
"Ya" I managed. "Think she secretly likes me?"
"Not now!" Marc chided, "Give it another day or two, but if she can't forgive you for sitting on her super expensive, ridiculous sunglasses on a crowded bus in a third world country then she's probably not worth it, man!
God, what are we watching?!" Marc had noticed the horrors of the movie.
Lunch arrived. It was delicious. It seemed such a paradox to be out here, in the middle of Laotian speaking nowhere and to be fed the most delicious French baguettes of my life.
Marc's impish smile returned after our sandwiches. "So, I got an idea. It starts with cherry wine (to straighten you out) and ends with checking the large cave out at the other end of town? Waddya think buddy? Good idea?"
Obviously I was going to say yes. The plan had the right sloth to excess ratio and I immediately caved.. so to speak.
We pulled out our well thumbed Lonely Planet and looked at the description of the cave. We had been to several the day before and they were all spectacular. Some had amazing stalagmites and stalactites, others had iridescent blue waters. But all had a sense of adventure and all were 15 degrees cooler than outside.
Jacob's Ladder was seriously creepy and with a plan to set forth, we gulped the delicious, sweet wine and re-entered society, albeit it's fringes. We hailed a Tuk Tuk and were off. We arrived at an obfuscated entrance to a local park. The Tuk Tuk driver waved us off and when we asked for clarification on where to go he pointed in a very general direction behind our confused faces and raced off.
We both agreed that the driver seemed a little too eager to get back to waiting around in town but turned toward the forest and looked for a path. This was one of the first times that we had been alone in Laos, or Thailand and for that, it was unfamiliar, and therefor unsettling.
There was a path, or maybe more of a trail and it took us to Nam Song River, the river that eventually flowed past the town. If we couldn't find the cave, or another ride back we could always float down the river. When we reached the river, an old rope bridge greeted us and urged us to think better of continuing. We both gave each a look to see if the other had any more sense and seeing none, continued....
