Limestone Forest: To start the day, Peep and I left Savannakhet early in the morning for the ride to Khammouane, the next province to the north, and stopped at its capital city, Thakhek, to meet with our guide for the day. Our major destination for the day was to Tham Kong Lor (Kong Lor Cave), which was a couple of hours drive away. On the way there, we stopped at an overlook of the Limestone Forest, a collection of limestone peaks in the Annamite Mountain Range. We had stopped here on an earlier trip, but it was nice to take a break from the drive and get some pictures.
Tham Kong Lor: Continuing on from our stop at the Limestone Forest, we eventually arrived at Ban Kong Lor (Kong Lor Village), the main entrance to Tham Kong Lor. The Kong Lor cave was created by the Hinboun River, which runs 7.4 kilometers (4.6 miles) though the mountain. We rented a boat and driver for the trip upstream underneath the mountain. We were there in the middle of the dry season, so the water level was low enough that we had to stop several times when the boat was grounded on the bottom of the river. Peep and I had each brought flashlights so we could see the interior, much of which was visible due to the low water lever. We stopped at the Had Xay Luang (White Sand Beach) and walked around some before finishing the trip upstream.
After emerging from the other side of the mountain, we eventually came upon Ban Natan (Natan Village). The locals here know the cave as Tham Natan, named before it was realized that the two caves were actually one and the same. However, since Ban Kong Lor is more accessible, it is most commonly referred to as Tham Kong Lor. After stretching our legs in the village, we jumped back in the boat for the much quicker trip downstream.
Tham Nang Ene: After our tour of Tham Kong Lor, we jumped in the car and headed back toward Thakhek. By the time we arrived, it was getting late in the evening. There were several other caves in the area, but we only had time enough to see one. Since we had already seen the Buddha Cave on an earlier trip, we decided to instead see Tham Nang Ene. We pulled into the parking lot just before closing time and the cave operators kept the lights on for the duration of our tour. The interior of the cave was lit with many florescent lights of differing colors. After some experimentation with my camera's settings, I was able to get some dynamic pictures.