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The ground above Tam Pa Ling Cave (Sentinel-2)

Laos Laos Cave

Tam Pa Ling Cave

21 °C inside, all year.

See the descentHow to visit

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data), CC BY 4.0, with relief shading from Copernicus WorldDEM-30

The descent

The entrance, at 1,079 m.

The real relief above Tam Pa Ling Cave, measured on the Copernicus model every 30 m, and the cave going down at the same vertical scale.

depth not publishedEntrance1,459 m1.0 kmvertical × 5.8depth not publishedEntrance1,459 m1.0 kmvertical × 12.6

The depth is the one published by those who explored it; the shape of the galleries is a sketch, not a survey. No depth has been published for this cave yet.

1,079m

Entrance altitude

from the 30 m relief model

21°C

Inside, all year

the yearly average outside, at the entrance

311m

Rock above

the highest point within 1.5 km

Inside and outside

21 °C inside, all year.

Deep inside, a cave keeps the average temperature of the year outside: about 21 °C here, in January and in August. In April the afternoon reaches 30 °C at the entrance, 9 °C warmer than inside: take a jacket. The best months to escape the heat are from March to July and in September.

outside, at the entrance (1,079 m)inside
  1. 24°10°Jan
  2. 26°12°Feb
  3. 29°15°Mar
  4. 30°18°Apr
  5. 30°19°May
  6. 28°20°Jun
  7. 27°19°Jul
  8. 27°19°Aug
  9. 27°18°Sep
  10. 27°16°Oct
  11. 25°13°Nov
  12. 23°9°Dec
Inside: 21 °C all yearEscape the heat: Mar–Jul, SepWettest: May–Sep

Outside: afternoon and night averages for 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the entrance. Inside: the yearly average, which deep parts of a cave keep. Near the entrance it follows the weather a little.

Cave in Laos with archaic human fossils

Tam Pa Ling Cave is a cave in Laos. The entrance is at 1,079 m.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there.

Plan the visit

Guided tours, a bed nearby, a car.

Car hire at VTE airport (Vientiane)Discover CarsSee prices 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From above.

The ground above the cave, with the relief shaded, the line of the section and what people have mapped around the entrance.

The ground above Tam Pa Ling Cave (Sentinel-2) N 1.5 km

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6.0 × 6.0 km, north up. The line is the section above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around the entrance.

    • other cave entrances within 3 km
    • springs within 2 km
    • sinkholes within 3 km
    • caving clubs and spots within 15 km
    • viewpoints within 3 km
    • marked hiking routes within 3 km
    • climbing crags within 3 km
    • named waterfalls within 4 km
    • car parks within 2 km
    • information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
    • bus stops within 2 km
    • campsites within 8 km
    • hotels and guesthouses within 8 km
    • restaurants and cafés within 3 km

    Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the entrance. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

    Towns nearby

    • Viengthong13 km in a straight line

    In our other atlases

    What else is around Tam Pa Ling Cave.

    The river at the entrance, the waterfalls, the lakes, the mountains and volcanoes above, the canyons, beaches and islands nearby — from our other atlases.

    Peakyas1 mountains within 10 km
    Phou Nampa · 9.4 km

    Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

    Month by month

    The weather outside, at the entrance.

    JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
    Afternoon242629303028272727272523
    Afternoon242629303028272727272523
    Night10121518192019191816139
    Rain (mm)1362960116111189209115572210
    Rainy days3271220202324191253
    Sun hours/day5.26.35.76.05.84.33.94.05.04.75.85.1
    AfternoonAfternoonNightRain (mm)Sun hours/day
    Jan242410135.2
    Feb26261266.3
    Mar292915295.7
    Apr303018606.0
    May3030191165.8
    Jun2828201114.3
    Jul2727191893.9
    Aug2727192094.0
    Sep2727181155.0
    Oct272716574.7
    Nov252513225.8
    Dec23239105.1

    Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (1,079 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.

    Recent years

    Wet years, dry years.

    Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.

    JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
    202017%9%119%350%173%119%130%187%120%147%41%3%
    202143%577%136%342%120%195%111%110%155%171%204%64%
    2022393%2,628%431%211%204%170%147%122%118%52%339%70%
    20237%43%97%54%77%110%54%112%85%118%84%33%
    202435%80%51%41%79%178%86%60%146%45%7%12%
    20250%263%34%103%77%182%158%61%105%46%80%127%

    130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month

    Caves nearby.

    Tam Pa Ling Cave

    Laos

    • —Depth
    • —Galleries
    • 1,079 mEntrance altitude
    • 21 °CInside, all year

    Viengxay caves

    Laos · 88 km

    • —Depth
    • —Galleries
    • 899 mEntrance altitude
    • 20 °CInside, all year

    See the guide

    Pak Ou Caves

    Vietnam · 126 km

    • —Depth
    • —Galleries
    • 376 mEntrance altitude
    • 26 °CInside, all year

    See the guide

    Chom Ong

    Laos · 169 km

    • —Depth
    • —Galleries
    • 797 mEntrance altitude
    • 23 °CInside, all year

    See the guide

    Where these figures come from

    Name, type, published depth and length, visitorsWikidata (Q27922296) · CC0
    The relief above, the entrance altitude, the section and the 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
    ClimateNASA POWER, 1991–2020
    Entrances, springs, sinkholes, opening hours and what is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
    ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
    Rivers, waterfalls, lakes, mountains, canyons, beaches and islands nearbyCoastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas

    Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

    The family

    Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

    Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

    beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit
    cavesCavernyasEvery cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.You are here
    dark skiesDarkskyasWhere the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Coming soonVisit
    viewpointsViewyasEvery viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit
    birdwatchingBirdyasEvery bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Coming soonVisit
    forestsForestyaEvery forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Coming soonVisit