Wat Thamkhaoluang
Cave Temple
Thailand is famous for their many temples. It is no surprise that they even have temple situated in a cave. There is a famous one near Hua Hin but it requires some hiking and we were just... not up for it.
The Phraya Nakhon Cave temple looks absolutely magical in photographs. I guess it is a worthy prize after long hike.
Kalau tak salah, memang ramai yang habiskan masa sehari suntuk di Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park sebab ada banyak tarikan lain di sana selain daripada Kuil Gua Phraya Nakhon. Lagipun, untuk dapat gambar yang menarik, pengunjung perlu berada di sana pada waktu yang betul. Bila? Silakan buat research sebab saya pun belum sampai lagi.
Berbalik kepada kuil di Tham Khao Luang. Kami singgah di sini semasa dalam perjalanan pulang dari Hua Hin menuju ke kota Bangkok. Sebenarnya ada sebuah lagi tempat popular berhampiran iaitu Phra Nakhon Kiri tapi matahari dah meninggi dan kami cuma punya tenaga untuk melawat sebuah kuil sahaja.
If you have the time, consider stopping by at Phra Nakhon Kiri which is a temple complex on top of a small hill.
Getting there
Tham Khao Luang is about 2-hour from Bangkok. I won't say it is a must-see but it is quite an interesting place if you are already in the area. We hired a private van to go to Hua Hin and we stopped by on our way back to Bangkok.
There are ample parking spots and a small parking fee. It's mostly to keep the monkeys away from your car. Oh yes. There were monkeys everywhere.
Untuk sampai ke atas, boleh ambil songthaew atau berjalan kaki. Boleh tahan penat tapi kalau rajin, apa salahnya.
There were songthaew waiting near the parking to take visitors up to the main area for THB15 per person. Once you're done, you can just take any songthaew to bring you back to the parking.
From the area in the picture above, you will have to climb up some stairs to reach the cave. Then, you'll have to walk down pretty steep stairs into the cave temple. We were glad that we took the songthaew up the hill.
Nampak tangga di tengah gambar di atas? Kena panjat tangga sedikit dan bila sampai di atas, kena turun tangga pula untuk masuk ke dalam kawasan kuil macam gambar di bawah ni.
Apa je ada kat sini?
Macam biasa, dah namanya kuil mestilah ada patung Buddha dan sebagainya. Buat peminat alam semulajadi, boleh cuci mata dengan stalaktit dan stalagmit gua yang boleh tahan cantiknya.
But what makes this temple unique is actually the natural opening on the roof of the temple. Natural light bathed the draft of incense smoke, creating a surreal view where many visitors took some creative and pretty surreal photos.
Gorgeous isn't it? However, please bear in mind that this is a place of worship. Don't make noise or do some lewd or disrespectful poses. People are praying nearby!
Tak kisahlah nak pose macam kena culik alien atau sedang mandi cahaya pun, mohon hormat pengunjung lain yang sedang beribadah. Jangan la jadi macam ada group ni yang terkinja-kinja lupa diri dekat mana.
There was some renovation going on while I was visiting but I could still walked around into the many areas in the cave. Aside from the main area, there were 'rooms' housing more deities and saints. Expect to spend about an hour here.
Tempat ni sesuai untuk sesiapa yang minat nak tengok keunikan kuil dalam gua. Tapi memang tak digalakkan kalau rasa tak mampu nak panjat dan turun tangga.
