Tham Ting: Houses Buddha images, tranquility

Pak Ou Caves or better known as Tham Ting, located in Pak Ou village, Luang Prabang province. A discovery of thousands of Buddha statues, which have been venerated for centuries, now opens its doors everyday for tourists to explore its tranquility.
According to Lao Thiao Lao facebook page, many Lao people have been here at least once in their life when visiting Luang Prabang and if you haven’t, what are you waiting for?

Tourists visit to explore tranquility inside Tham Ting.

Cruise up the Ou River to visit Tham Ting, the cave is packed with magnificent carvings and sculptures of Buddha in varying sizes. 
Many tour operators make daily trips on the Mekong River to Tham Ting, often stopping for other interesting sights along the way. 
The boat trip takes about 1.5 hours, heading upstream from Luang Prabang, and this is a great way to get a glimpse of the lifestyle along the river. It’s also possible to travel most of the distance by vehicle and make a short boat crossing at Pak Ou.
The lower cave is the most popular and widely photographed. It’s more like a small opening in the cliff-face rather than a cave. Ever since Buddhism was introduced to the area, local people have been bringing statues and placing them inside this cave as a way of making merit. 
There are thousands of Buddha statues in this cave and they make for quite a spectacle.
The staircase to the left of the lower cave leads you through the forest to the upper cave. During Lao New Year in April, the Royal Family used to travel to the cave, along with many monks and local devotees, to pour water over a sacred Buddha statue as part of their Pi Mai celebrations. 
There isn’t much to see inside the cave but there is a stunning doorway with ornate metal work that is well worth the walk.
The cave can be reached either by boat trip to the point where the Nam Ou River meets the Mekong or by road to Xang Hai village, where you can also witness the villagers making ‘Lao Lao’ (fermented rice liquor). Visitors can sample the drink and purchase locally made handicrafts. 
Most visitors en route to Pak Ou stop at the ‘Lao Lao Village’ Ban Xang Hay, famous for its whisky. The narrow footpath-streets behind the very attractive village is  also full of weaving looms, colourful fabric stalls and a few stills producing the wide range of liquor’s sold.
How to go Pak Ou Caves 
By river. The trip to Pak Ou Caves takes around two hours from Luang Prabang and you can go with a tour agency, or buy a ticket from the boat dock. It’s also possible to reach the caves in an hour by tuk tuk, though you’ll still need to cross the Mekong River to reach the Pak Ou cave.
By road, Ban Pak Ou is 30km from Luang Prabang’s city centre , around (150,000K round trip) by tuk-tuk, then take a motor-canoe across the river (20,000K round trip). 
The cave is open everyday from 08:00am to 17:00pm. Note: you can pay on site for the entrance fee.

By Times Reporters
(Latest Update Febuary 22, 2020)