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Story
& Picture by : Jon Bugge.
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These fluid formations produce
staggering natural art-forms
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In a province
more famed for it's pepper and it's durian, there
is a surprise. Sedimentary rock, in the form of
limestone, is found in large areas. This is not
something new, as is testified to by the behemoth
factory that dominates the skyline along National
Route 3. This carbuncle produces cement, using limestone
as a key ingredient - cement is arguably the most
environmentally damaging construction material to
produce.
Limestone, although providing cement, also offers
something more aesthetic: karsts. This refers to
the often-jagged outcrops of limestone, which protrude
with near vertical walls to craggy summits. They
can exist in either terrestrially or aquatically.
In either environment they produce spectacular caves.
Cambodia's karsts are no exception.
The three main areas of these formations are: Kampot,
Battambang and Stung Treng. Within Kampot |
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province there
are a myriad of caves with distinct features: around the
provincial town and Kompong Trach. Even within the province
of Kep there are several systems.
Referred to as the "Cambodian Cave System",
this karsts phenomena in Kampot was listed, by the Karts
Waters Institute as one of the top ten most endangered
karsts ecosystems in the world. This report was filed
at the start of 1999. It also sadly points out that: "No
organizations have publicly expressed an interest in protecting
these caves."
The three major challenges facing these unique cave complexes
are: limestone quarrying, calcite removal and guano collecting.
Calcite is used to make very strong mortar - traditionally
made in Kompong Trach. The guano is used as fertilizer
but removes an important energy source from a limited
source within the caves. |
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Phnom Kompong Trach
This hill is located in Dom Nakantout commune, Kompong
Trach district. The cave system here has a myriad of entrances.
The towering hunk of rock, that is Phnom Kompong Trach,
rises like a gray skyscraper amongst the green plains.
Inside the hill is riddled with passageways and caverns.
A lunar landscape surrounds these outcrops, the gray rock
with the occasional makeshift shelter made from a lean-to
of dead palm leaves to fend of the unrelenting sun. This
is the limestone extraction. Hundreds of women and children
smash boulders into uniform sized pieces to meet the needs
of the ever-expanding construction industry.
Inside these passageways there are a plethora of formations.
Rainwater over the years has carved its way into the heart
of the hill, eating, eroding, gouging and solidifying
along its way. The formations hang from the ceiling and
are met by towers rising from the floor. A stalactite
is an icicle-like deposit of calcium carbonate, which
hangs from the roof of a cave. A stalagmite is the same
but rising from the floor of the cave often to meet an
opposing stalactite.
Two caves of note within the hill are: La Ang Viel Stre
100 - cave of a hundred rice fields (the view and the
name are explanatory) and La Ang Thmar Dos - the cave
of the growing stone. |
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Classic Khmer countryside is
visible from the top of Phnom Sila
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Phnom Sila
A door guards the entrance to this cave. A laywomen widow
is the temple guardian. Inside there are two principal
shrines: dedicated to the Buddha and the second seemingly
venerating the rock itself. The cave is nestled in a lagoon
of karsts whose jagged crags surround this sanctuary nestled
high upon the hill. A modern temple lies at the bottom
of the stairs that lead to the cave opening. |
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Prasat Phnom Chngauk
A 6th century temple with stalactites
entering the roof of the prasat.
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Prasat
Phnom Chngauk
These troglodyte tunnels are in Trapeang Pring commune,
Kampot district. This cavern complex contains one
of the earliest recorded discoveries of Indian artifacts
in the country. There is a brick prasat within the
cave that dates to the Funan period (1st - 6th centuries).
There are formations of crocodiles and elephants
in the lofty green cathedral like cavern, in which
the temple stands. The cave is filled with soft
light from the opening and high skylights. The walls
of the cave are smoothly carved: seemingly liquid
formations organically worn away by a millennia,
or more of monsoons
The temple itself has a stalactite emerging through
the roof to become the center of veneration. The
stalagmite that accompanies this formation is the
actual growth that is held sacred. It has over the
course of millions of years grown into an almost
perfect linga. This temple is dedicated to Shiva
and provides the first example of solely Indian
influenced architecture. The Indian style statuary
that surrounds the hill attests to this.
The slow nature of calcium deposits indicates that
this could have been a sacred site even earlier
than the Funan period. Without further archaeological
exploration it will he hard to ascertain for certain.
Further within the karsts itself are countless passageways
and crawl spaces some almost too small to fit. With
the aid of local children you can be lead to sanctuaries
deep within the hill where mica deposits make the
caves sparkle like gold and diamonds. Further still,
tubular bells are formed by stalactites; their resonant
notes echoing around the chambers deep within the
earth. |
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An Indian style shrine that
surrounds Prasat Phnom Chngauk
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You climb up through
the hill traversing root-encrusted passageways with
occasional shafts of sunlight piercing the depths
of the cave system. Providing the sole illumination
for those foolhardy enough not to bring a torch.
For those with a sense of adventure and a lack of
claustrophobia these caves and the others in this
region are well worth a visit. These caves provide
a fascinating glimpse beneath the ground and a chance
to see some of the staggering rock formations that
nature has created. They have to be seen to be believed.
All in all, there is something to be said about
sedimentary rock. |
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Suite
B8, Regency Square, InterContinental Hotel, 294 Mao Tse Toung
Boulevard,
Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia.
Tel: (855) 23 213 133 Fax: (855) 23 213 033
E-mail:
editor@leisurecambodia.com |
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