Laos — Tour — Tham Ting (Tam Ting)/Pak Ou (ถ้ำติ่ง) Caves, Laos — upper cave
Visiting the upper cave
September 2015
Getting to the upper cave from the lower was quite a slog up some steps.
The walk to the upper cave was nice, as I saw some beautiful butterflies and a couple of lizards.
There was a carved wooden frieze at the entrance to the upper cave (see the photo below), and as I entered the cave, I was offered a torch. You will need it in the caves as there is no artificial light. I declined the use of a torch as I had my own.
As I entered the cave, a plaque said restoration work was done in 1932. An inscription stated that a monk had repaired the belly of the Buddha sculpture just after the Second World War. Additionally restoration had been carried out thanks to a five-year Australian and Lao Governments' conservation project starting in 1992. The work removed six tons of fallen material, rebuilt the masonry structures, recorded and catalogued the sculptures, and carried out repairs.
The cave extended for over 50 metres and was very dark at the rear — hence the need for the torch.
On the left, as I entered, was a carved wooden water channel and miniature house for the ceremonially washing sculptures of Buddha.
Although difficult to see in the photo below, there is a swan at one end of the water trough and a dragon at the other.
Further in the cave, I found groups of sculptures ranging from 10 cm to 1.5 m in size. An information plaque said that the cave once housed a large seated figure of Buddha.
The cave was dark.
And there were so many statues to see.
And there was some rather odd artwork on the walls of the cave.
As I left the dark cave, the hot sun of Laos seemed very bright, and I had to be careful as I picked my way down the stairs back to my boat.
Finally, I arrived back at the Mekong River and saw my starting point, Ban Pak Ou village, on the far bank.
Several boats were waiting to take visitors back across the river at the water’s edge.
I found my boat, and we headed back across the river.
Getting in and out of the boat and on and off the jetties was difficult. It was all very shaky and unstable.
Quite a bit of money had been spent on the facilities at the Tham Ting (Tam Ting)/Pak Ou (ถ้ำติ่ง) Caves, and sadly the facilities were now in decay.
When I arrived at the caves around 9:20 am, I was the only tourist in the lower and upper caves. A few more tourists arrived around 10:15.
The upper cave was better than the lower cave, as I found it had a more serene atmosphere. Sitting in the dark in the cool of the cave, listening to the locals chatting at the entrance, and the sound of boats going up and down the Mekong was very relaxing. But, I did scare two tourists who walked into the cave as I was sitting there in the dark and were shocked when I turned on my torch and said hello.
Despite paying an entrance fee, I was asked for a donation as I left the cave entrances.
I left the caves at 10:30, and by 11 am, I was back in the village.
Foursquare: Tham Ting (Tam Ting)/Pak Ou (ถ้ำติ่ง) Caves
