Adventure Travelling In THailand Cave Exploring (Part Two)Prepared by Harold Stephens
Travel Correspondent for Thai Airways International
As I mentioned last week, if you’re American it’s spelunking, while the British call the sport of cave exploring “speleology”. The meanings are the same. Last week we saw the caves of southern Thailand. This week we go spelunking in northern Thailand.
For those interested in caves, I might suggest you take a look at Royal Orchid Holidays’ booklet DISCOVER THAILAND 2008-2009 for information about getting around these areas and where to stay. Also Lonely Planet’s THAILAND has some valuable information on caves, and in my book RETURN TO ADVENTURE (amazon.com), I wrote at length about cave exploring in Southeast Asia.
Northeast Thailand has more than its share of caves. I thought I knew most of the caves until recently when a friend arrived from the US and wanted to explore caves in the north. With only a road map to lead us, we took off. What incredible discoveries we made and almost all by chance. We began by following the Friendship Highway north, or Route 2. Twenty kilometers after the town of Saraburi we turned onto a dirt road to Phra Ngam Cave or Beautiful Image Cave, which holds a Davaravati-era image. There are hundreds of other caves nearby, most of them unexplored and unknown. Even the villagers we talked to are unsure of what is there.
What many consider the most interesting cave in Thailand is Tham Pha Thai along Route 1 between Lampang and Ngao. Nineteen kilometers before Ngao, a left turn leads to a small grove of teak trees with an information board and map and a nearby refreshment stand. To reach the cave entrance requires a climb up 283 concrete steps, some broken by roots, past the monks' quarters to the huge arched entrance to the grotto. In front of the entrance stands a white chedi while immediately inside beneath the sunlit edge sits a gilded Buddha. Behind the Buddha rises a colossal stalagmite from a sea of limestone.
The cave is noted for its slithering green snakes which wrap themselves around electric wires or coil up in crevices. The snakes are protected and it's said that they’ve never bit anyone. The first 400-meters are open to the public. The walk ends at a mound of bat guano where a thin column of light streaks down from a jagged opening in the cave roof, projecting the silhouettes of flying bats onto the cavern walls.
The area around Chiang Mai in the north has some spectacular caves. The best known of these is the Chiang Dao Cave about seventy kilometers north of town. We reached the cave just before dark and found the lights had been turned off but, for a hundred baht, the attendant found us a guide and, with a hissing gas lantern, he led us into its depths. We came upon chamber after chamber with Buddha images crammed everywhere. With only our gas lantern lighting our way, shadows leaped out at us and sent chills up our backs. Nagas guarded the passageways and in the dim light they became alive and seemed to follow us as we passed. Other shadows danced along the walls making grotesque silhouettes. After several hours the attendant came searching for us, thinking we might have gotten lost.
We continued north on the road to Fang, past the Hmong village of Ban Hua Toa, and came to the turnoff leading to Tubtao Caves. At the end of the track is a hut and, from it, steps lead to the Light Cave on the right and the Dark Cave on the left. The caves are steeped in Buddhist lore and are said to have been created by the cremation fire of an early devotee.
Doi Inthanon National Park west of Chiang Mai is a major tourist attraction but most visitors miss two interesting sites—the Mae Ya waterfall and Borichinda cave. Mae Ya is on a side road that is paved at the start but becomes impassable to cars; thus, visitors must walk.
The cave can be reached by hiking up the trail past Mae Klang cascade and the Pak Na falls. From the falls it's more than an hour's hike up a steep trail.
A two-hour drive from Chiang Mai is Mae Hong Son, one of the remotest towns in Thailand. Worth a visit are the nearby Tham Pla (Fish Cave) and the larger Tham Lod cave.
Nor should we forget the River Kwai area. The sixty-room River Kwai Village makes a good base for travel and organizes trips to nearby caves. One trip is by boat. On the way to Sai Yok, the river passes the Cave of Tham Kung with some very impressive stalactites and stalagmites.
Cave exploring in Thailand has only begun. Spelunking lamps can be rented at many sites. But for the serious-minded speleologist, or spelunker, only well equipped parties with experience should attempt to explore unexplored caves properly and safely. Caves that are marked and listed on tourism maps need not be less interesting than unexplored ones. They can mark the beginning to an up-and-coming sport in Thailand.
Although there is no complete guide to the caves of Thailand, Lonely Planet's THAILAND that I mentioned lists important caves that can be easily visited. More good sources of cave locations are road maps, those provided by car rental agencies.
But even the best map will not have all the caves listed. That would be impossible. Also, a cave shown on a tourist map doesn’t mean that it is overrun with tourists. On the contrary, I came upon some that hadn't been visited in months. The paths leading to them were overgrown and difficult to find. Others were impossible to find. Also confusing is that caves may have several names.
Occasionally Thais will uncover a cave, put up a sign for motorists to see, and then offer guide service to visitors who want to see them. These caves are not listed in any guidebook or on any road map.
Caves in Thailand don't necessarily mean that they are underground caverns. Many exciting caves are found up high in the limestone outcroppings, many hundreds of feet above the surrounding area. To get through these caves one must crawl and squeeze, not downward but upwards. In some of these high caves, I found myself unexpectedly coming out upon a high ledge on a cliff hundreds of feet above the surrounding area and with great sweeping views of the landscape below.
Next week I am going to take readers inside the Lonely Planet guidebooks. We will meet the founder himself, Tony Wheeler.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q. Dear Mr. Stephens. I am planning to travel to Thailand with my girl friend and want to propose when I am there. What would be the most romantic place to do it? —Jeremiah Bell, Eureka, California
A. Dear Mr. Bell. Take your girl friend to a candle light dinner cruise on the river. If it’s the Shangri-la Hotel’s Cruise ship Horizon, reserve a table up front, and tell the staff your plans. They will announce it publicly to everyone aboard, and you will receive a bottle of wine. With a river of sparkling lights from other boats moving up and down the Chao Phraya River, there could be fewer more romantic places. Then too, your girl friend could hardly resist your offer made at any one of the lovely beach resorts in Phuket and Koh Samui. Remember, Thailand spells romance .—HS
Harold Stephens
Bangkok
E-mail: ROH Weekly Travel (booking@inet.co.th)
Note: The article is the personal view of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the view of Thai Airways International Public Company Limited. | 
