Driving through Loei province in north Thailand, I was heading back to Bangkok when I saw a half broken sign to the side of the road. Half a name followed by 'cave' could be read and a distance of 5 km didn't seem like a major detour. I was hopeful that the old sign no longer attracted hordes of visitors and that the cave might be a hidden treasure!
2 km down the track and the road changed dramatically from a farm track to an unkept 4x4 rocky/muddy forest trail. With this in mind I was sure this would only discourage people further.
We arrived at the car park- a simple clearing in the middle of the forest, nothing more nothing less. A 'walking' sign pointing in the direction of the cave stated it was 400m away.
The footpath wasn't clearly marked but we could guess the direction between cuts of bamboo.
We came to what seemed to be a 'new' sign and a small entrance under a pile of inconspicuous rocks. From the outside, we weren't expecting much and thought it would be a quick turn-about visit.
A short crawl under broken rocks we came to a wooden staircase leading down to total darkness. I had come prepared with a make shift spotlight- a small LED light bar off my vehicle rigged up to a battery.
The photos were taken on a GoPro Hero4 30 second exposure. To light up the cave, during the 30 seconds I slowly shone my light around the cave walls. I shone the light for longer in the deeper darker spots trying to get a balanced exposure.
Many caves in South East Asia and particularly Thailand are considered somewhat sacred or hold ties to Buddhist beliefs. Even today in remote places such as this, monks and sometimes hermits can be found living in caves (pictures lower down in the post). Spirits are also believed to live inside many caves. In the photo below a shrine and Buddhist painting have been marked/decorated on these old stalactites and stalagmites.
With a steady foot, I was able to explore most of the cave. I discovered that there were several chambers, each as magnificent as the other. The cave seemed to get lower at each chamber and it was a hard climb back up.
I hadn't really prepared for a cave visit and didn't have a proper flashlight or head torch. The 3 nights before had been spent camping and I had made a campsite light out of a spare 30 watt off-road LED spot light. It was super bright even if it was a little chunky.
I tested at home before the trip and hooked the LED light bar up to a tiny 9V battery to see if it would run. I expected the battery to only last a few minutes- maybe 10 at max. Surprising it lasted a full 7 hours before it began to noticeably dim. It is something everyone one can do and a great back up to have in the car.
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After leaving the cave I noticed some other trails. I followed them and found that they led to other caves. I am not sure if they all met up inside as I stayed in the main chambers and didn't attempt crawling through the nooks and crannies- there were a lot.
These other caves were smaller but held their own surprises. Ladders had to be climbed to get in. A shrine or meditation 'spot' had been laid out. Some of the items such as food/drink offerings and incense sticks seemed fairly recent but no one was around (unless they heard/saw me coming and hid.
I explored this cave but decided to make a quick exit after feeling 'too scared' haha. To make it worse, I was with my dog who loves scrambling over rocks and sniffing out things in the forests. Rarely is she scared (apart from fireworks) but as we walked down one narrowing tunnel her heckles went up and she showed signs of fear. She gave a cautious growl and decided to bolt for the exit back along the dark tunnel, leaving me alone! I guess a dogs eyesight is much better than a humans eyesight in the day. At this point I was about to run too, but was curious as to what was down the tunnel!
Someone was living in the cave. A small mat and wooden bed structure had been made. A bag of- I assume possessions was also there. I took one photo and turned around and left as fast as I could hearing only my heart pounding as I held my breathe lol.
Luckily my dog was waiting by the exit- hopefully keeping a look out!
Further along one of the cliff side paths were old cave paintings. On first inspection, they didn't look like much but a sign nearby stated they were 2000 years old.
The track to and from the car park offered great views of the limestone mountains- the cave was somewhere inside and I am sure it was a lot bigger than I had discovered.
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When you got your own car for travelling (James) is always wanting to go through a crazy track like this, but amazing what you found something hidden like nowhere.
If there's a track, then it's going somewhere- besides, scratches tell stories!
Secret sign. Indeed...
Nice find, I would've been bricking it too, after finding out you were in someone's pad!
The worst part was only having one light- there was always darkness behind u!!
I'm sad I didn't see your post earlier. I went to Thailand and didn't know about the cave. It looks amazing.
Don't worry, it'll be there next time.
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