Pha Taem
           
Prehistoric Rock Paintings               
             
    Ubon89A.JPG (18536 bytes)
                    Pha Taem Visitor Information Centre         
   Ubon94A.JPG (18923 bytes)
                          On Top of Pha Taem Cliff
    Ubon91BB.JPG (11288 bytes)
                           View of the Mekong River
   Ubon101A.JPG (29764 bytes)
                     Going Down through Rock Stairs  
    
                      
Location Map
GPS :  15.343904,105.4163669

Pha Taem
is the largest prehistoric rock painting site
in Thailand. It was relatively dated to around 3,000 - 4,000
years ago. The Pha Taem cliff lies along side of the Mekong
River in Khong Chiam District, Ubon Ratchathani Province.

There are four groups of impressive paintings altogether more
than 300 images which mainly described a daily life of
prehistoric human, most of them reflected hunting and fishing
activities.

How to Get There :

From Ubon Ratchathani city travel by car to Khong Jiam
District either via Tan Soom or Phibul Mungsaharn District,
and then use the highway No.2112 to Pha Taem. Before
reaching Pha Taem visit an interesting natural rock formation
at  Sao Chaliang.

Let's go down there ...

We went to Pha Taem parking area and visited the Tourist
Information Centre. After the briefing by the official we began
our exciting trip. First, take a good view from the top of Pha
Taem overlooking the Mekong River and Laos on the other side.
To see the paintings is a must for once in a lifetime. We went
down the rock stairs and started walking. The shortest distance
for tourist is some 500 meters. If you want to walk around it is
3 kilometers. With appropriate shoes walking is not so difficult.
There are some places that we went up and down, but not
very steep. On the left hand side you can see a very large cliff
above us, while on the right side there are many bamboo trees
down the mountain. It is recommended to have some drinking
water with you because on the way back you will have to go up
the rock stairs again.

Pha Taem Prehistoric Paintings
Along the rather flat surface of some parts of the cliff
there are paintings of human, animals, fish, etc. This
is the exciting thing  to see here, besides the narrow
passage way as shown in the two pictures below.