I was feeling pretty sorry for myself this morning.  I was hoping my cold would be mild enough to ignore but it seems to have set in.  So to cheer myself up I did a bit of birding in the bush behind our digs, picking one lifer in Red Avadavad (Amandava amandava).  Although common across much of their range, in Thailand, they are described an uncommon to rare resident. 

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It was mid morning by the time we left for Bueng Khong Long.  The road was a lot busier that we were expecting and some subsequent reading up on the Naga Cave explained why.

The cave was apparently only discovered in 2020, which seems implausible to me, and is known for its intriguing rock formations that resemble a giant snake.  This ties into local legends of the Naga serpent about which much of the recent Mekong River celebrations have been.  The cave seems to have become a hotspot for local Thai tourists.

Bueng Khong Long has become the gateway to the cave and has exploded with guesthouses and restaurants,  most of which have turned out to be very busy.  With October being the intra-semester holiday month in Thailand there are probably more visitors than usual.

We eventually found a place to stay and then took ourselves down to the nearby lake to do some birdwatching to pass the time until we could check in.  Despite our room being cleaned and ready, the staff were quite adamant we could not use it until two o'clock. 

We plan to head to the national park and cave tomorrow depending on how I'm feeling.