A path against the face of the cliff leads up to Tham Phum, and although the outside is nothing much in comparison with Tham Ting, the cave holds the vast majority of the 4,000 Buddha images.

There, as you descend into the blackness, you will jostle with visitors from half a dozen countries but Laotians and Thais are likely to be in the majority.

By the time you reach the part of the cave where the images are located, both in a main cavern and in passages off, the engulfing blackness defeats everything except a flashlight.

You find yourself stumbling and staring briefly as a light or a camera flash illuminates the massed ranks of the images.