Explored and mapped by the Northern Lao-European Cave Project, the 13.4 km long Tham Chom Ong (Chom Ong Cave) is currently the second longest cave in Laos ([2009]. With aid from a German Development Agency, the Tourism Office of Xay district (Oudomxay province) has now developed Tham Chom Ong for tourism. A guesthouse has been built in Chom Ong village offering basic accommodation.

The cave can be visited on an adventure caving trips lasting around four hours. The day long trip involves a one hour walk each way from Chom Ong village to the southern cave entrances. The route passes through the local countryside, skirting the rice fields and involves several shallow river crossings, .

Chom Ong Cave is the source of the Nam Kaang River but the guided tour follows a dry, fossil passage above the cave river for 1,600m. This large passage has chambers between 20m and 35m wide and contains many cave formations. The trip is not suitable for the average tourist, visitors should be reasonably fit and not afraid of getting dirty.

Laos Cave Project.

Written by  Dave Clucas.

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