Several Tourists know, that Laos is a popular tourist destination. It is famous for its attractive scenery and ornate temples, though not many persons venture below the surface and discover that what is underground is perhaps even more spectacular. The wondrous Tham Khoun Cave is so beautiful they don’t look real at first, which is maybe why locals have faith that spirits inhabit the underground wonderland.
These photographs are captured by John Spies, a photographer who believes in real natural beauty, and would like to take pictures of the sheer magnificence of the vast, yet intricate, underground wonderland. Tham Khoun Cave, usually famous as “Xe Bang Fai River caves”, feature imposing stalagmite made of mineral deposits.
More than 9 miles of magnificent passages and wide expanses of water make it really one of Lao’s hidden treasures. Although there’s even a lively forest thriving at the upstream entrance to the caves, the lush green color contrasts with the massive white and orange banks of terraces flowstone that decorates the walls.
Visitors are able to kayak through the waters or explore adjacent chambers on foot. The cave is only able to be safely accessed during the dry season from Nov to April, and during this time the water is crystal clear and deep with a rich green hue. For some grander shots, a team of four equipped with powerful LED lights and walkie-talkies helped to light-paint this massive cavern for this long exposure shot.
Therefore, in 2008, an expedition, co-led by veteran caver John Pollack, lead to the secretive caves being mapped and photographed for the first time. What the explorers discovered about the infamous cavern was a vast river cave, which means a cavern with an active water source flowing through it. All about the cave is big-from its towering entrances to its phobia-inducing spiders, which can be a big 10inches across.
A blue-tinted glow from outside illuminates the entrance chamber of the caveA cave explorer amongst giant stalagmites in the Stairway to Heaven area of the cave. The cave is formed by the Xe Bang Fai river, a major tributary of the Mekong
American cave explorer Dave Pierce marvels at giant cave pearls which grow like pearls in an oyster with concentric layers of calcite slowly building up year after yearEnormous banks of terraced flowstone decorate the walls of the cave in many places. This slowly growing mound of white and orange calcite is one of the larger deposits along the river passageGiant Gour in the Oxbow area of the cave is 196 feet long and is probably one of the world’s largest rimstone basins. The pool is filled with water during the wet season.
Hidden secrets Massive formations abound in a newly discovered fossil section of the cave, 50 meters above the river level. This is one of several higher passages that lead to jungle sSunlight streams into the mist-filled fossil passage near the sink of the Xe Bang Fai River. This section supports a verdant garden of ferns and other low-light plantsSuphaporn Singnakphum stands amongst lush low-light plants in an underground garden in a huge fossil passage that adjoins the inflow entrance of Tham Khuon Xe
The Giant Gour in the Oxbow area of the cave is 60 meters long and is probably one of the world’s largest rimstone basinsThe subterranean passage of the river is spectacularly decorated with calcified formationsThe upstream inflow entrance of Tham Khoun Xe has a verdant forest inside a huge collapsed doline. It is possible to kayak from the resurgence to here and back in one full dayThis gigantic section, which is also not yet open to tourists, is one of several higher passages that lead to jungle-shrouded entrancesVisitors to Tham Khuon Xe can rent canoes or kayaks and paddle upstream to view the stunning calcifications on the cave wallsWater painting with kayaks and submerged LED lights near the downstream entrance of the caveWater painting with kayaks and submerged LED lights near the downstream entrance of the cave
