Viking cave
The Viking Cave is one of the central attractions of Thailand. It is located near the azure sea; the cave received this name thanks to ancient drawings of sea vessels that look like Viking ships. There are also images of animals in this place. Local residents consider it sacred. During the excursion, the boat can sail up to the cave, and passengers have the opportunity to look at the beautiful stone accumulations. Curious tourists are not allowed inside, so no one can admire the rock paintings.
A real home for swallows
The swallows liked the Viking cave; the birds decided that this was an ideal option for creating their own small houses. The entire construction process takes about 40 days. By the way, such nests are greatly appreciated by true lovers of Asian cuisine. Nests are considered a delicacy here, which is why they are also very expensive. Thanks to this fact, the island's residents found a new source of income - they began collecting swallows' nests in the Viking Cave.
To do this you need to climb under the high cave arches. To do this, it was necessary to construct various rope ladders, bamboo poles and scaffolds. As you may have guessed, this type of activity is very dangerous, so this type of work is also well paid. Restaurant owners spare no expense to purchase several dozen nests from such “hunters.” By the way, the nests themselves can be white or red. Such fishing has become a real problem for birds. They start building nests in February, but due to local residents they have to build nests again. As a rule, only the second or third time do swallows manage to lay eggs and raise chicks in the Viking Cave.
Unusual nest soup
This dish can now be found not only in Asian countries, but also in large and famous cities of the world: Paris, New York, Milan, London and so on. The cost of soup in different places will naturally differ. For example, in Hong Kong the price per serving will range from 30 to 100 dollars. For 1 kg of white stars they can charge about $2,000, but red ones will cost much more - from $10,000. According to legend, this dish appeared in the 13th century in China. This happened when enemy troops broke into their territory. The young emperor came up with this soup, which was able to give strength and confidence to Chinese soldiers.
Features of the Viking Cave
No matter how wonderful this cave may seem, the Thais say that it also suffers at the hands of man. First of all, inside it there is a huge number of devices for “catching” nests. Secondly, people also live next to the Viking Cave and litter here quite often. Garbage and plastic constantly accumulate near the entrance, and it is not always removed immediately, which spoils the impression of the attraction.
