Adventures in Paradise: Sirens Call

Into the dark we travel by day
Small boat rides smooth the entire way
Nervous and clam but more than a bit scarred,
To the depths of the earth we all dared
Our back to the light we venture within
And soon a dark untold begins
Only by torchlight glow can we brave to see
The vast nature, impressive enveloping me
Shadows dance and I hear the slightest of cries
With the wind it is carried, the gentlest of sighs
Did you hear that? I ask to myself and the others
It is nothing, I'm told, my mind is just bothered
Uneasy I strain to hear it again,
Everything in this cave is strange and insane
What monsters lie in wait beneath the boats bow?
What creatures in the shadows can see what I don't know how?
Again the call I hear clear this time
Calling a name from a depth that can only be mine
How crazy I am! Ignore and it will go away,
But more and more the voice can not be held at bay
An unknown splash here and there, even a tap on the shoulder
Instead of fear now I am growing bolder
Never before have I been in cave so deep
I am simply dreaming things from lack of sleep
So soon as the voice came it fades away
When we see the virtues of the light of day
Relieved, I am but in the back of my mind
I am still haunted by that voice I can not define
We still must go back through that dark passage way,
But for the moment swift sun takes my mind away
Before I know back to the darkness I go
The wind turns cool inside as it lightly blows
With current this time, I trust the dull humm of the engine
To drown out those sounds that I must have imagined
To my dismay I hear the song in the distance
I can no longer ignore my mind that is hopelessly listless
The call is so sweet, a music so soft
I want to help her and touch her, she drowning, she's lost
I will find her, I can not simply put this off
I will give the siren my love it is all I can offer
I whisper in the air 'come here I want to save you!'
She says that is what she has wanted me to do
I will walk off this boat I will drown and sink
I will search every crevice and not even blink
So soothing is that voice to be without I could not bear
This is the deepness of the depths of my despair
The end of the cave and the light of the world will come soon
I reach out and call 'come or I will be doomed'
Her presence is felt through my body so I delight
I feel for here is someone that I should never fight
A deeper realization I come upon and it will always be
That she is my soul and intern she is me
I found her in a cave and will never let go
The soul of mine is a treasure that only I could know.

Did you like my poem?
I know it's a bit long and I haven't written in a long time

Well we made it to Kong Lor cave and it was(literally)a huge pain in the ass.
Hours of painfully hard seats, be it bus, songtao, boat or even tractor were endured to see the cave. And I am glad that we went. The cave was pretty neat, we choose to go by boat which was rewarded with really friendly villagers along the way and stunning scenery. It was the longest cave we have ever been through at 7.5km and the boatride on the river that goes through the cave was interesting. Often we had to disembark and walk because the river was so low and we ran aground or because there were small rapids that the boat was carried over. We went to a village on the other side of the cave and through the cave is the only way to get to the road for them so they are very cut off but very friendly and loving and curious of my digital camera. I absolutely loved the people here and the surrounding scenery was so spectacular to see with all the huge limestone mountains and the scenic clear river that the villagers bath in and do laundry and fish. Unfortunately it is also where the sewage goes and it smells bad at times where their is 'sludge' build-up EEEEWWWW! It doesn't help that many water buffalo lounge in the water and add to the problem.

Yesterday we had a hellish day of travel to Pakse where we are now. It started with a two hour boat ride (think canoe) then an hour ride on the back of a tractor because it had rained hard in the early morning and made the roads slick so the songtao that was supposed to pick us up didn't show. Then another hour to the junction of highways on a packed songtao (if you have forgotten a songtao is a pick-up with two bench seats in the back and a roof). Then we caught the local bus that goes to Pakse which was a huge mistake because first of all they over-charged us hugely and there was nothing that we could do about it and for the first few hours we didn't even have a seat but a plastic stool in the isle! When we got a seat finally we found them so cramped and uncomfortable I wanted to cry. And it was hot. The most frustrating part was that the bus would go for 20 minutes then stop for just as long. We endured close to 12 hours of this just to be dropped off at a guesthouse not of our choice at 1am that was a dump. I absolutely do not want to travel by bus more than I have to anymore!
But now we have to go only four hours to Si Phan Don or four thousand islands where we plan to relax for a while and see irrawaddi dolphins and the famed beauty of the area.