presumption that I merely had a hangover has some merit, but it didn't
feel like a hangover to me! Regardless, Jackie felt up to some tame
exploring so we all three went to the main attraction around here -
Tham Lod.
Tham means "cave" and Lod means "through" as in 'runs through.' The
name is appropriate because the Ping River runs through the cave. As
far as caves go, this one is as developed as a cave in Thailand could
be. There isn't a cafeteria and electric lights strung up like in
Carlsbad Caverns, but it is close by Thai standards. This place is
swamped everyday with Thai day-trippers coming by mini-bus from miles
around. When we were walking along the road to Cave Lodge, the zooming
mini-buses quite frequently caused us to jump aside; their conception
of a wide berth does not match mine. We went early in the day to try
to avoid the bulk of the traffic and overall, it wasn't too cramped an
experience.
It was great that we all went together because the cave is set up for
groups of three. Every group is required to hire a guide with a
lantern for 150B and we opted to hire a bamboo raft and raftsman so
that we could see all three caverns. (as opposed to two that are
reachable by foot) We were not required and in fact declined to buy
fish food for the cave fishes, but the path as lined with vendors,
mostly small kids trying to say "fish food" in English - not the
easiest task! Before we boarded the raft to enter the cave, our guide
had to get his lantern juiced up. This entailed using a metal soup
spoon as a slide to fill the internal gas pan with fuel from his
similarly repurposed plastic Listerine bottle. Then some pressurizing
pumping and his mantle was aglow.
First and Second Caverns
The first cavern was a short float into the cave; the second was
adjoined to the first by a footbridge over the river. I dont remember
each cavern distinctly so I will just tell you what we saw in both.
Although Robert and I had our headlamps (that stocked backpack is ever
so handy!), Jackie did not. She needed to stay near our guide so she
didn't fall into a sinkhole, but we were all expected to follow like
ducklings. Our guide led us up some wooden stairs to different
formations that either were interesting because of how they
formed/were forming or how they looked, namely what they looked like.
In the first category, we saw: flowstone that sparkled in the light -
formed by slowly flowing water, baby stalagmites - just forming,
columns - formed by a stalagmite and a stalactite joining vertically,
and rimstone dams - formed as dams between stepped pools of water that
resembled stepped rice fields. In the second category, we saw: Hanuman
(an ape god), popcorn, a UFO, a crocodile, and everyone's favorite: a
gnome's boob.
Our guide spoke very little English, perhaps just the sounds of the
names of each of these formations. Sometimes we had to process what he
said and what we saw, so that we could deduce what the formation was
supposed to resemble. I enjoyed asking our guide how to say each of
the formations in Thai, which he also seemed to enjoy providing,
offering the information even when I forgot to ask. But since I didn't
bust out pen and paper in the cave, the Thai names are all but lost -
UFO sounds something like jim beam, but that's all I remember. The
gnome's boob was hardest for him to explain, although it is plainly
obvious what it is supposed to resemble. The had to mime boob and
gnome, which was wonderfully hilarious.
Third Cavern
We got back on a raft to go to the third cavern, a short float
downstream, near the cave exit. I'm glad we rode the bamboo rafts
because riding them was a fun experience in and of itself, silently
slipping through the blackness made the cave seem more vast and
spookier. Also, a swarm of roiling fish followed each boat - hoping
for a baggie full of fish food to be scattered at any moment. I really
don't like how the population of fish is buoyed way past the carrying
capacity of the cave ecosystem, but I can't do much more than
personally abstain.
When we disembarked below the third cavern, there was a remarkable
amount of bird guano splattered on every possible surface. This was
obviously where the swifts roost overnight. We climbed up more wooden
steps, delicately ascending, careful not to touch the handrails due to
the vast quantities black and white globs adorning them. Here was my
favorite part - a giant snake!!! Definitely picture-worthy, I snapped
away while Robert and our guide fled deeper into the cavern. The
actual sight in this cavern is the coffins; there are about three
different burial areas in this cave. We saw the open and emptied
coffins, one littered with coins, which were placed there as offerings
by Thais, called tham bon (merit-making) our guide explained. Rather
he kept repeated the word "tham bon" and we looked it up later to
confirm it's meaning.
While we were busy with the coffins, the snake had slithered around
until it was basically blocking the path out of the cave! Robert was
not happy. Our guide was willing to walk within a foot of the six foot
long beast, but Robert was not. There was some deliberating and
courage gathering before we all made it safely past the snake, which
we learned is called a nuua in Thai. This type of snake, a cave racer
(we presume), is capable of scaling the cave ceiling by pressing it's
body against the stalactites. One of us was disappointed not to get to
see that sight!! They aren't venomous, but they will bite you and it
does hurt, or as Robert puts it, "they have mouths."
Striking out on our own
We were at the cave exit, but we wanted to keep exploring the area
around the exit instead of walk back to the visitor's center. This was
challenging to explain/mime to our guide, as he was tasked with
delivering us safely to the entrance. Finally though, we made
ourselves understood and went looking for a nearby temple. We didn't
find the temple, but we did find a small nook high up a rock,
accessible via ladders, where it seems monks at one time or another go
to stay for the night or a few. There was a wooden cot and bamboo mat,
a few bottles of soda and several assorted monk-colored items. Without
further explanation, it was just a monk nook, but we enjoyed the small
wooden platform outside the nook. We sat there for a while, imagining
it was our tree fort, perhaps that was just me.
Abridged Afternoon and Evening
Eventually we walked back to the lodge for lunch, cards and some mild
babysitting. There is a five year old girl that has the run of the
place and makes single serving friends with all of the guests. She
adopted us for the afternoon, becoming my card playing assistant -
responsible for drawing and discarding and occasionally holding on to
"secret cards." This was dandy until she tired of cards and wanted to
play dress up with the pillows, then she got a bit whiny. We
persevered and eventually she had made a new friend and we were
happily catching up on the blog.
After the afternoon lengthened, we decided to accompany Jackie back to
the cave exit to see the swifts again and stretch our legs. They were
impressive yet again; this time more so for me because I didn't have
to rest my head in Robert's lap because I felt sick. Jackie and I
tried to get a panning shot of the birds, but the light wouldn't
cooperate. Finally their numbers decreased, we wished them goodnight
and set off in the dark to get some food back at the lodge. It's hard
to capture on the blog, but the joy of good conversation cannot be
overstated. We talked to Jackie over dinner and then met a new couple,
Bryan and Eileen, after Jackie crawled off to sleep. Both
conversations were welcome indeed. I will miss the communal atmosphere
of Cave Lodge when we move on.
The one anecdote that I do remember is that Eileen was on her way to
shower when Bryan struck up a conversation with Robert and I. She
decided to stick around to finish her beer, but didn't end up leaving
to finish the task until it was much later and colder out. We offered
her our wisdom about how to get hot water to shower here - let the
water run. The pipe from the heated tank to your room has to purge
before you will get hot water from the tank, "hot" water that was
heated several hours ago at this point. We too were on our way to
shower, which we completed despite the less than toasty water, but we
heard their water running all the way until we slipped into sleep.
Maybe we oversold the "hotness" of the water from the tank! Sorry,
Eileen.
Out of place note: Yesterday when I felt sick and was basically
sleeping on the floor next to Robert in the main house, one of the
women working there asked me if I was feeling sick. I assented and she
asked if I wanted a massage. Here, getting a massage is seen as a
healthful thing to do, not a luxurious treat. Very interesting, but I
declined. I didn't feel up for a new experience just then.
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