Review of the experience of climbing the Naga cave ✨✨
First of all, I have to say that I personally wanted to go to Tham Nakha before the first wave of COVID, but I never had the chance. That day, a member of my team told me that he wanted to go to Tham Nakha. I didn't hesitate and invited my other friends to go with me. We gathered 5 devotees. This trip took us a long time to prepare, almost 3 months.
🍀How to prepare before traveling☘️
🏩 Book accommodation-flight-car
- Book a flight from Bangkok to Udon Thani, round trip, 500+ baht/person
- Book accommodation for the first and second nights in Bueng Kan city (The One Hotel)
- Book accommodation for the third night in Udon Thani city (De Princess Hotel)
- Book an Xpander car
Total expenses for 4 days and 3 nights, 2,500 baht per person
*Book accommodation through the Rao Tiew Duay Kan project, got a very good price*
Note: We booked everything even though we hadn't booked a queue to go up the cave yet. But to be sure, you should book a queue to go up the cave first.
📱Booking via QueQ
At first, the park opened for booking 15 days in advance. We blocked the calendar to book on December 27th. We waited to book and practice typing shortcuts because many people reviewed that it was fully booked since 00:30.
But then on November 21st, the park announced that the advance booking would be changed from 15 days to 60 days, starting from November 22nd at 00:01. [Follow the news via Tham Nakha, Pu U Lue Racha, Phu Langka Bueng Khong Long]
Advice: You should exercise, practice running, practice walking a bit, and prepare your body. Personally, I go running every morning before going to work. I run around the canal for about 6-8 kilometers. Since I booked the queue, I have the motivation to run every day.
🎒Prepare before going up the mountain
- Clothes 👗For me, I dress politely, in comfortable fabrics that dissipate heat well. It would be good to prepare a sun hat because the top is an open area that gets full sun. Most importantly, don't forget gloves. You'll definitely use them. For those who want to bring a jacket, if you think you can handle it, you can bring it up. But we saw many people hanging them at the clothes drying point and picking them up when they went down. 555
- Shoes 🥾 Recommended sneakers. Before going, check the glue on the shoes first. Some people's glue came off while going up because they hadn't worn them for a long time (I warned you).
- Food, drinks 🍕 Bring at least 2 bottles of water. You should bring some sweet drinks to sip on the way. You can also bring food upstairs to eat. We focus on easy-to-eat food that gives energy, such as sticky rice with pork and bread (after eating, take your trash downstairs to throw away, or ghosts will come to haunt you).
- Smelling salts, candy, fans 🍭 Or if you have a chronic disease, I recommend bringing medicine with you (the guide will actually have medicine with you, such as muscle relaxants and smelling salts. If you really forget to bring them, you can ask the guide).
- Bathroom 🏡 You should use the bathroom properly because there is only one bathroom upstairs. Note: It's not very clean. I recommend going downstairs to use it instead.
🏕Let's go up the mountain
📍Pin the GPS to Tham Nakha or Tad Wiman Thip Waterfall only. If you pin Phu Langka National Park, it will take you to Nakhon Phanom. 555
- When we arrive, we can buy tickets at the ticket counter. The park entrance fee is 30 baht per person.
Things to prepare to show the officer
1. ID card
2. Proof of at least 2 vaccinations
3. Proof of booking via the Que Q app
Note: Once you have booked, you can go up no matter what time you come, but it should not be later than 2 pm because if you go up after that, it will be dark before you walk down the mountain and it may be dangerous for those who are not familiar with the path.
- For those who did not book a guide, the park has volunteer guides to lead the way up. You can contact them directly (a guide is required because it is quite steep and very dangerous. As for the guide fee, it depends on what you give. We think most people will have a number in mind before going up, but when you get down to the ground, the number tends to increase. We are the same.)
- Distance up the mountain 1,200 meters
- Hiking time 4-6 hours, depending on each person's physical condition. Some people take longer.
🙏🏻We started at 11:00. Before going up, the guide asked us to pray to the forest spirits and the mountain spirits so that our ascent and descent would be smooth and safe. Then we walked past Hin Tao. We started to feel the steepness. There were points A-L. The condition of the way up is mostly stairs. The way is quite steep. There are only some areas that require rope climbing. Points A-E, I recommend walking slowly. Don't go crazy. 555. The younger sibling who went with me, when we reached point C, couldn't take it anymore. His blood pressure was high. He kept crying that he wanted to go down. While we stopped to rest, it was the same time that the people who went up in the morning came down. There were continuous voices of encouragement. Keep fighting! Keep fighting! ✌🏻 Just a little bit more (I know it's a lie, but I was willing to be tricked. 555) The guide took good care of us. He kept encouraging us and fanning us. People walking by gave us aromatic herbs to chew. After a while, our symptoms started to improve. Everyone helped build us up to give us the strength to keep walking. I recommend that people with chronic diseases walk up slowly. 5 steps, stop 5 steps, stop. It will save energy. It's a bit slow, but we'll definitely get there. We spent almost 1 hour building us up at points C and D. Hehe. But it's okay. Consider it a break. #ThamNaka