Lynn's Trip to Thailand part 8: No Place for Claustrophobes

As usual, I will quote the material and then comment on it.

Unaware of what was in store for us, we signed up for the cave tour. We were told to wear good shoes and to expect to lie down - all sage advice. Nobody else had signed up so we had the van, driver, and guide to ourselves. Everything seems to be a long drive from the town, so we settled in to watch the scenery. Again, the cliff sides were magnificent and the entrance to the cave was right up against a great wall of streaked and striated limestone. Water running down the surface creates all the stalactites and mites on the outside, so the formations are like drapery, twisted columns and waterfalls of grey and yellow stone.

I had thought Lynn might be going on this trip to the Tiger Cave temple, but from her description, this cannot be the place. It may be the generic cave tour described in this website as being a little grotty.

We got into a low plastic rowboat with room for about 6 people. The entrance to the cave appeared like a long open mouth into which we ducked as we entered. The ceiling was low and irregular and you really had to watch your head. The river soon opened into a vault. We were helped onto a small landing where a well lit path led down and into a number of ornate chambers. Colored lights set the formations apart from the grey walls and it was nice to see that the natural ceiling had been so beautifully preserved. I've been to places where vandals have broken off many of the small, hanging bits - which is such a crime!

Lynn is quite correct that breaking of pieces of the stalactites does tremendous damage to cave formations. In Arizona, my family has been to the famous Kartchner Caverns, where we learned that tourists constantly touching the stalactites damages them. At Kartchner they have gone through great effort to allow tourists to see the caverns while still preserving them. Obviously with the picture of Lynn and Katie with their hands on the stalactites, they haven’t heard of this.

This cave, it turns, out is a shrine. After we had gone for perhaps 50 yards, another great vault opened up. In the center was a large limestone bulge about the size and shape of a 40 foot boat. Rising up from one end of the shape were 3 huge phallus-like projections around which were hung various wreaths, necklaces, and other adornments. Offerings, figures, tiny shrines, and other signs of devotion decorated the mound and we were told that this is where you come to pray if you want to get pregnant - and if you are already in the family way, to pray for the birth of a boy.

The big shock here is that Lynn doesn’t make some kind of snarky comment about the male-oriented culture.

Our guide, Kip, told us that this was such a sacred place that at one time a male member of a tribe would be ritually sacrificed after a big ceremony in order for his spirit to keep the place safe. Nothing like sacrificing a male member... in order to protect the male member.

I had to read this one twice to get it. The male member being protected is the phallus-like projection. My on-line searching did not find any evidence of ritual sacrifice in caves in Ao Nang, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. However, I find it interesting that almost every time I have been on a cave tour in a different country, the tour guide brings up ritual sacrifice. I wonder if it was a popular place for it, or if that's just something cave tour guides like to say to tourists. Lynn's guide’s name is Kip. Her driver to the Krabi town market was Kop. I wonder if these were their real names or if Lynn is just having fun with us. If another person shows up with names like Kap or Kup or Kep, we’ll know for sure.

Back in the boat, we were then instructed to lie back and make sure we were absolutely flat. Dolly Parton would have had problems in this space. We moved away from the landing and suddenly the ceiling came down to the level of our faces. The boatmen paddled as they stooped; one in front, one in back. Kip was behind me and he held my head in his hands. At first this was an irritation, but after a few minutes I appreciated the support. For what seemed like an endless time, we crept through the tiny space.

First a penis joke and with Dolly Parton we have a breast joke. Lynn is in a strange mood with this one. Perhaps it has to do with having her head held in someone’s hands. It may have affected her brain or other body parts.

Hanging projections were close enough to lick and any motion changed the position of the boat enough to make us hit hard. The air was hot and humid. A flashlight lit the way and the sound of dripping water, moving paddles, and breathing was all you could hear. This trip was certainly not for everyone! They said the tunnel was 60 yards long, but it seemed to take forever. I was glad to see light and the great exit vault at the end. We had gone through a path travelled by millions of people for centuries, through a sacred place… and we lived to tell the tale. Next time I'll ask to see the postcards!

It sounds pretty fun to me, but I like caving.

After this, we went to the hot springs - another spectacular natural phenomenon. A series of rounded pools sloped down into a larger pool, fed by a cool stream. What a paradise. After this was another natural spring with more spectacular limestone channels through which warm water flowed in a steady, clear stream into a great sandy pool. No wonder these people don't travel! Why leave such a place??

Lynn is making a lot of presumptions here: People in Ao Nang don’t travel because where they live is a paradise. Look at this website talking about one man’s trip to Belgium and what does he find there? Thailanders.

The hot springs Lynn visits could be this hot springs, however, the description here says, “When you get a bit too hot, simply jump into the river below to cool off. The nearby crystal pool is a lovely place to swim and it has a natural water-slide, which is lots of fun for the young and for the not-so-young too.” I would think Lynn would mention a water slide and a river below, if she saw one. Of course, the reason Lynn might not have seen them is because she is getting bored.

It gets boring after awhile. Phenomenon after spectacular sight after visual wonder after lunch after dinner... and the weather stays hot and clear. Some of the earliest humanoid fossils have been found around here and one wonders why they spread past this peninsula!

This website agrees with Lynn at least about the fossils:

Some anthropologists, however, have argued anthropoids originated in Asia, based on even older fossil finds from Pakistan, Myanmar, China and Thailand.

So Lynn likes the place, but finds the spectacle to be boring, and yet still wonders why any people would have left the area. Hum! If only Lynn could link together her own thoughts.

I just have the elephant ride to tell you about and it won't take long. You climb onto a platform, get onto a flat seat and ride around a path for about 20 minutes. The trainer or whatever he's called sits on the elephant's neck and with his feet and a metal hook, prods the animal to go right or left. It's a bumpy ride and I felt more than sorry for the elephants. The best part is when they pee - it's a wondrous amount of liquid. We also enjoyed watching them eat. We fed them bananas and it was neat to see something stuff a banana into its mouth with its nose.
Well, that's probably enough for today. Tonight we pack once more....and the adventure continues. LJ

I knew we weren’t going to mention elephants without some mention of prodigious amounts of urine. Having gone to a circus before, I agree with Lynn here. Elephant urination is very impressive in its quantities. The description of the elephant trek here sounds a lot more exciting than the one Lynn describes, which doesn’t mean they aren’t one and the same. “The elephant trek takes the visitor through untouched primeval jungle, unlike all other elephant trekking in southern Thailand…”