The Caves at Chiang Dao

"No light, no guide, no come back." Our smiling guide repeats this mantra to us at regular intervals, each time she gestures at one of the myriad stone passageways leading through the cave complex. We've wandered into the Chiang Dao caves on a friend's recommendation, and after paying a 100 baht fee for a guide armed with only a single gas lantern, we're in the process of crouching, crawling, and easing our way through narrow stone passes into chamber after chamber of absolutely pitch black stones. Each cave is covered in incredible limestone formations, with stalactites, stalagmites, and all kinds of strange rock formations covering every visible surface. Bats, spiders, and strange scurrying insects crawl around in the dark, and as we pass from room to room the claustrophobia starts to set in. You could die in here in a second, with one misplaced foot, and there no way to get you out. The darkness is oppressive, and as we wander from room to room, half enthralled and half petrified, I begin to think about how old and ancient these caves are... The cave network is said to penetrate 14 kilometers into Doi Chiang Dao, a huge hulk of a mountain, and although we only venture a few hundred meters into the caves, you can tell that we barely skimmed the surface. From a website on the caves, I found this local legend:

One legend holds that the caves are inhabited by an Indian recluse who has lived there for more than one thousand years. Another, more complex, tradition tells how a group of hermits who live in the caves once called a meeting of deities and angels to create seven sacred objects. A demon called Chao Luang Kham Daeng Khun Yak was appointed to guard these sacred artefacts which are hidden beneath the mountain. Local people say that if one penetrates deep into the caves, the first thing encountered will be a stream which flows from the pedestal of a golden Buddha. Still further in is the legendary town of Laplae, where may be found the cloth of the gods, a great lake, the divine city of the Nagas, heavenly food, a sacred elephant, and the resting place of the hermits themselves. Here, too, is the great golden Buddha from which the stream springs.

These caves are straight out of an Indiana Jones movie... The air is quiet and moist, random terraces are covered with deities and guardian statues, and there's is a foreboding sense of time that pervades through every passageway. Underground waterways have carved out these caves within the mountain, and beneath the earth, streams flow outwards to fill the temple grounds, where huge fish lurk just beneath the surface. The caves themselves call to mind Tolkien's description of Moria, and as you delve deeper into the darkness you start to wonder what else might live down here... It's not a thought you want to dwell on...

We only spent an hour in the Chiang Dao caves, but they were truly mind-blowing, and we highly recommend them to anyone visiting the area. Very rarely do you get an opportunity to visit something this ancient, mysterious, and steeped in myth and legend. I hope to go back again... Next time we'll have a better idea of what we're getting ourselves into...