Day 1
Wake up in Thakek after yet another interminable bus ride. We plan to do a 4 day motorbike journey in a loop from Thakek up to Konglor cave and back around.
Neither of us have a motorbike license, nor have we driven a bike for that matter. But if 7 year olds can drive them, how hard can it be? Paul ate something bad yesterday and can’t really leave the bathroom. Decide to postpone our departure.
While he rests, I organize our motorbike, then take a run around the town. Get chased by a dog. See Thailand across the Mekong River. So close, but we won’t actually visit Thailand for another month. Wander through a market. Dripping sweat, and dressed in my running gear, I get some strange looks from the women selling skin whitening products and vegetables. There’s really not much else to see in Thakek.
Spend the remainder of the day at the guesthouse, where a French guy continues to walk around covered in blood from a motorbike accident. He isn’t helping my confidence. I wish he would clean himself up.
At night, I hang out with some people at the guesthouse, and learn that Israelis eat watermelon seeds the way we eat sunflower seeds. The stranger thing is that black watermelon seeds turn white when baked.
Soon, we turn onto a dirt path, and nearly come off the bike, but manage to stay upright. Paul is doing a good job driving. I’m super panicky, but try to focus on the incredible landscape- tree covered limestone pillars all over.
The first 15km of today’s ride are smooth, then the pavement turns to a bumpy dirt road that continues down the plateau. Bumpy roads mean sore bottoms. Especially for the passenger. Later, pavement resumes, and the road winds its way through rice paddies and up hills with impressive lookouts.
Jakob is definitely German. He drives f-ing FAST. It feels reckless, then exhilarating. I’m actually starting to feel comfortable on the bike. Then we crash.
All the villagers are partying (we think it’s a religious festival but no one speaks English). There’s music, dancing and karaoke.Knock on the door of one of the homes, and are shown the very thin mattress on the floor of the living room that the three of us will share tonight. Good thing we are a family now.
The woman serves us ramen noodles in lemongrass broth, which we eat sitting on the floor. Lights out at 9:00. We lie on the floor listening to the party music, which never stops.
Head to Konglor Cave. There is one section that we can walk, but the rest can only be navigated by boat. 
We hire a boat to take the three of us through the 7.5km long cave on the river. It’s pitch black in the cave- we are driving in utter darkness. Only the beam of light from the boatman’s headlamp and his knowledge of the river prevent us from crashing into walls or the rocks in the river as we snake through the twisting cave.
I really don’t want to get back on the bike today, but I don’t really have a choice, plus I don’t want fear to rule me. I keep telling Paul to slow down. Agree to meet Jakob back at the guesthouse in Thalang since we are driving much slower today.
Feeling more comfortable on the bike again. We visit Tham AEN cave, which has lots of colored lights inside. Also go into Tham Pha Inh cave, which has a shrine inside. After Konglor, though, the small caves aren’t as exciting.
We are filthy after 4 days of riding. Dust covers our clothes and skin, and there’s red dirt caked in the prongs of my rings, making them look rusty. Unfortunately, we have a night bus to catch, so a shower will have to wait.
We all enjoy some well deserved beers. Meet two people who didn’t fare as well as us- they needed stitches and had to pay a local to take them to a hospital. As nervous as I was at times, I’m really glad we did this trip. I never thought I’d do something like this, but it turned out to be one of the highlights of our time in Asia.