Vietnam, June 26 to June 30, 2023
Phong Nha National Park - 4-day Hike
Nini has occasionally asked people what their highlight was in Southeast Asia, and one of the travelers talked about a hike through a national park with many caves. That sounded incredibly exciting, so we checked it out, but it was quite expensive (expensive because so many people are necessary). However, they are very conscientious about ensuring everything is environmentally friendly. The tent camps are set up and taken down regularly, and some caves can only be visited at certain times with a maximum number of people per month.
For the remaining tours, the group size is determined by the number of people the camp can accommodate overnight. Since it was Janine's birthday, she simply wished for it as a gift to herself.
Hike Day 1 26.06.23
-Morning
It's too early. Last night, we spent a long time sorting out our things, deciding what to take with us and what not to. Now we're sitting at the entrance of the accommodation, waiting for the bus that's supposed to pick us up. We've been given coffee and Banh Mi.
Then the bus arrives. The other 5 people are inside. After we've boarded, Ta introduces himself and asks for our names. He's our tour guide, and this is our group. We'll be spending the next few days together.
After he's given us the basic explanations, we have an hour of travel time to doze off. We use the time to finish our breakfast.
An hour later, we're sitting together at a table. They explain the rules and dangers to us. Additionally, we need to verify our information and confirm its accuracy. This includes various emergency contacts.
I'm starting to feel like the "guided hike" will be different from what I had imagined. We're given a backpack to carry, in which there's a helmet and a small waterproof container. Because the backpack itself is not waterproof. We can also hand over some items, which will be carried for us and returned to us in the evenings.
They stress that we need to make sure everything in the backpack stays dry if it's not in the waterproof container. We rearrange some items. Valuables go into an extra bag with our names on it (these stay at the "Base Camp," where we are now and where we'll return at the end of the tour). Clothes and power banks with cables for the evenings go into the bag that will be carried for us, with our names on it. (There's no electricity on the way. But that's not a big deal... there are no cell towers either. The phone is only used as a camera. Communication is possible only through a satellite phone for emergencies.)
We leave our regular bags for safekeeping, labeled with our names. And don't forget that we still need to change clothes. Eventually, we've sorted everything out and all the clothes are where they should be. And we're ready to start.
-The valley
We walk through a valley between mountains. A village stands on the larger plain. Water buffaloes are scattered around, grazing leisurely. In a few places, we see large round concrete lids and wonder what they signify. These lids are actually tombstones, and their unusual shape is explained by a peculiarity of the valley.
Several times a year, heavy rain starts to pour. Then the water of the small river that flows through the valley begins to rise. However, it doesn't flow out directly. The river flows into a cave. And when the volume of the water exceeds the capacity of the cave, the water level in the river rises. Measurements in recent years have shown it can rise up to 7 meters above its normal level. The entire valley gets flooded and covered with a layer of mud about a meter thick.
When the water rises, only the roofs of the "regular houses" remain visible. In addition to the main houses, every family has a second one – a "floating house." You can see pictures of these at the end of the photo album. It's a small house with the essentials, usually resting on empty barrels. When the water rises, the essentials are moved into the floating house, and everyone moves there. Then you wait until the water recedes.
Afterwards, the whole village spends days shoveling away the mud and cleaning the houses. And hoping that the water won't rise again a few days later.
-The adventure begins.
We walk along a dirt path (which was constructed during the filming of one of the King Kong movies) to the end of the valley. Here, we see the small river... and we need to get to the other side... on foot... without a bridge. Since the sun is relentless, the opportunity to cool down is welcome. With shoes and pants, we happily wade into the water.
Afterward, we navigate through various obstacles. Swiftly, we find ourselves on narrow trails that lead through the forest. After an ascent, we arrive at our first cave.
-Secret Cave
The cave is called the "Secret Cave," as for years the tours passed right by it, and no one ever noticed that there was another cave there. Until someone had to relieve themselves and stumbled upon the entrance by chance. Here, we could admire stalactites and various formations. During the rainy season, parts of the cave fill up, leading to formations that I hadn't seen elsewhere. There are surfaces covered with small spheres, formed much like stalactites, only created by water flowing into the cave and then drying. The water swirls the fragments, making them nearly round over time. Afterwards, lunch was set up in the first chamber. In classic Vietnamese style, there were fresh spring rolls. A buffet of various ingredients and sauces, which we wrapped in fresh rice paper.
Then, we continued along the small rocky paths. After a while, we stopped. Bag check. They made sure our waterproof containers were properly sealed and everything inside was meant to stay dry. Afterward, we were given life jackets. Into the water we went. With clothes and shoes, with all our gear, we climbed down a rock and jumped into the water. We were to be careful not to let the headlamps attached to our helmets get wet, as we were entering a cave.
We swam slowly and in a chain, deeper into the darkness. Surprisingly, swimming was quite easy as we were carried by the current. Sometimes we had to navigate around rocks, and occasionally, large spiders clung to the rock walls, their reflective eyes gleaming at us. At one point, we halted. There was no room to move right or left, so I held onto a small ledge to avoid drifting into others. We were silent and turned off our lights. It was pitch dark. Without artificial light, we were blind in this depth. The warm water flowed around us, and darkness enveloped us. After what felt like an eternity of feeling weightless, in an empty universe, we turned our lights back on and continued swimming.
Climbing over a few rocks and swimming further, we had to be careful not to overlook any underwater rocks. Eventually, we reached a large chamber. The exit couldn't be far; we could see the first glimmers of light. We turned off our lights and remained still. Once again, we floated in weightlessness. Bats occasionally passed above us.
None of us really wanted to leave this place. It was so irrational, yet so natural and pure. But we had more to do, and we hadn't reached the first campsite yet.
After leaving the cave, the water spread into a lake. When we heard that we'd have a moment to rest here and could swim if we wanted, almost everyone got back into the water. After a while, drops began to fall. It quickly became clear that it was the kind of typical rain for this country. We enjoyed the view of the downpour on the water for a moment. Then, the water bottles were refilled, and we continued.
The paths became smaller and more winding, and we wondered how anyone ever thought of walking here for the first time. (In fact, these are paths that were used by locals in the past, and sometimes even today, for hunting and gathering.) Above us, the storm released torrents of water. If we hadn't been already completely soaked, I might have found it bothersome, but as it was, the rain provided a pleasant cooling during the steep ascent. These paths are not comparable to German hiking trails.
-The first camp
Later, we arrive at our first camp. Tents have been set up for us, each with a sleeping bag and a small pillow. One of us asks Ta how best to dry our things. Our guide chuckles and simply says, "not possible." We hang our clothes to "dry" and before we know it, like most of the others, we jump back into the water fully clothed.
Since we want to eat while there's still some daylight, we're soon called out of the water. There's a delightful array of different dishes that we happily devour while chatting with the others. There's rice "wine" (happy water with an estimated 40% alcohol) and a card game round with peanuts.
And so, the first evening of the adventure comes to an end. We're already thrilled. I wonder why such a highlight was placed at the beginning and contemplate what the next few days will hold.
Hike Day 2 27.06.23
7:20 wake up
7:30 breakfast
Today, there's no cave on the plan, but plenty of walking. Over mountains and through valleys. We cross rivers multiple times, making it futile to try to keep our shoes dry.
As we approach the lunch break, the clouds darken, indicating another soaking is in store. Just before lunch, the sun does come out, but we remain skeptical. The original plan was to have lunch by a small waterfall, but given the weather, we decide otherwise. The water emerges from a cave before cascading down the rock edge. We have lunch under the cave's shelter, right after jumping into the water of another cave, fully clothed… I highly recommend trying it out. Somehow, it relaxes me.
Once again, we don't want to leave the water, and the guide has to intervene to prevent a few of us from venturing too far into the cave.
While eating, the rain resumes, confirming that we made the right choice to eat under the rock shelter. Along the way, we've seen various things. For example, somewhere in the jungle, we encountered a water buffalo that stared at us, seemingly unsure whether to ignore us or run away. We also passed by paper plantations. In some areas, a type of tree is cultivated that grows quickly and is well-suited for paper production. Thus, this seemingly untouched region plays a significant role in the paper and currency production of the entire country.
After walking through the paper plantations, we arrive at the next camp. We toss our bags aside, turn towards the gentle rain, and attempt to wash off the worst of the sweat from clothes that show no sign of drying. Ta immediately tells us there's something better. He leads us a bit further behind the camp. Here, there's a natural pool. Water emerges from a cave below and flows to the surface. With a depth of around 10 meters, you can even jump in. Ta climbs onto a rock and shows off his backflip into the water.
After lunch, we play again, this time Uno. Did you know that there are no international rules for Uno? The Vietnamese version of Uno was too elaborate for us. As it grew dark, we learned that this place is particularly good for night photography. Since we're tired, we lie down again soon, but Ta is kind enough to wake us when the stars are better visible. So, at midnight, we find ourselves by the water, gazing at the sky. On this night, we do night photography until 1 a.m.
Hike Day 3 28.06.23
-90m ceiling height
6:50 wake up
7:00 breakfast
At the start, we walk around the 10-meter pool. After a short stroll through the forest, we find ourselves in a field of debris made up of stone fragments. As we learn, these stones and rocks were carried by water from a cave. And slowly, we catch sight of the entrance to the cave. With an entrance height of 90 meters, it's truly impressive.
After a brief pause, we enter the second chamber. Here, some photos are taken, as the space has been carved out by water flowing in at an angle. This has resulted in the ceiling being spirally smoothed. During our journey through this cave, we've walked on various natural stone terraces and traversed a gigantic bat cave. We maneuvered through small gaps and narrow passages until we reached the exit.
In the end, all we had to do was climb a 10-meter ladder, and in about an hour (including the photo shoot), we were back outside. Then we went through the forest again.
After a while, we groan once more because the ascent over the rocky paths is challenging. That's when Ta tells us that we're almost at the lunch spot and he has already turned on the air conditioning.
-Jungle AC
When we arrive, we understand what he meant. We're sitting in front of a small cave entrance, from which a cold wind is blowing. (According to that, it's assumed that the cave has another exit, but it hasn't been found yet.) Before we eat, we enter the cave. There are several steep descents that are sometimes quite muddy. But eventually, we find ourselves in a large chamber. We see various formations, and it's here that the photos with the fan are taken.
I kept finding animals like a Disney princess, whether in the cave or in the jungle. A bit further down, we reach the end of the accessible part of the cave. There's a ledge, and the floor drops about 30 meters. Up above, there's a second level where passages continue. We sit down briefly here, turn off all the lights, and enjoy the peace and silence.
During the meal, various topics are discussed, and I'm addressed about being quite a lexicon. It's been noticed repeatedly that I have random specialized knowledge on various subjects. Slowly, they start using me as a sort of walking Wikipedia. I feel flattered.
After lunch, we sadly have to continue (we don't want to leave the cold wind from the cave).
-Itchi plants
In the past few days, Ta has been giving us commands while hiking, like "put on gloves" or "you can take them off now." Although there were times when we had to climb over sharp rocks, that was the rarest case in which we needed to wear gloves. Typically, it was because of "itchy plants." Vietnam's plant world is surprisingly diverse in producing plants that cause itching on human skin. And this ranges from "it will annoy you all day if you touch it" to "if anyone touches that, we're stopping."
Fortunately, a glove is usually enough to protect us. He even demonstrates that it's safe to touch the plant with the glove and then touch your own face with the same glove. But it still happened often that I would ask, "What's that over there?" and he would just reply with "Itchy plant."
We also can't help but compare this tour to our hike in Sweden last year. There, we walked about 25 km a day with significantly more gear. But here, we're completely exhausted after 10-15 km a day. Even though there were sections with rough terrain there too, it's much more challenging to walk over rocks and stones in this heat and humidity.
-Last stretch
After two strenuous ascents, we're told that it's all downhill from here. The path we've taken is well-worn and comparable to German hiking trails.
Here, the group starts to spread out a bit. Some are walking ahead, while we and two others hang back a bit. Suddenly, we see one of our companions sitting on the path in a position that clearly indicates something's not right. He had been just behind the others and stumbled, landing awkwardly. Since then, he's been unable to walk.
Our guide immediately examines his foot. He's not a doctor, but he knows what to look for. The initial suspicion is a torn ligament, but something seems off. Tragically, he fell just 30 meters away from the road. 30 meters before he would have stepped onto an air-conditioned bus, he's now being carried by our guide for that final stretch.
On our way, we had talked about wanting a beer when we're done. To our surprise, when we reach the vehicle, we find out that our guide actually used the satellite phone to order us some beer.
Back at the starting point, where our luggage awaits, everyone is in good spirits. Once we arrive, Ta soon heads off with Eugene to see a doctor. We go to our room for the last night.
To ensure a comfortable stay, the company has built accommodations. To protect them from flooding, they've built some of them on stilts. The rooms are built against a rock wall and have floor-to-ceiling windows, allowing us to gaze over the valley. We enjoy the luxurious lodging, take our first showers in days, and have clean water available, all while praising the air conditioning. Clean and well-cooled, we look out over the plains and watch water buffalo wandering through the fields.
At 6 p.m., we gather again, hop on bicycles, and ride into town. This is where we meet up with Eugene once more. We have a dinner appointment with a local family. Here, we have the chance to ask all sorts of questions. However, before we get to asking the locals, our attention is focused on Eugene.
Upon reaching the doctor, his foot was X-rayed. It revealed that the ligaments were fine, but he had chipped a piece of bone. Surgery is required. Fortunately, there's no reason he can't fly back to his home in Singapore for the operation.
After dinner, there's a little evening celebration before we all fall into bed.
Hike Day 4 29.06.23
-Goodbye
At some point, we manage to extract ourselves from the icy bed and make our way to breakfast. Here, we also see a few others again. Afterward, we take the time to observe the beautiful landscape until we're called because our bus is ready.
This is where we see everyone one last time except Eugene. We're dropped off just like we were picked up several days ago.
Not much else happens on this day. We're waiting for our night bus to continue our journey. The last few days were physically demanding, but never overwhelming. It was so breathtaking that many things can't be captured with pictures and hardly with words. I'm very happy to have experienced it, and I hope to meet everyone again.
I believe it will take a while to process all these impressions.
-Epilogue
Some time has passed in the meantime. I wrote a big part of the post right after the hike.
We are also frequently asked about our highlights. We hesitate to make an exact statement, as each country has left such unique impressions. But this cave tour is right up there at the top.
In my thoughts, I repeatedly feel like I'm watching a BBC nature documentary, where all the amazing impressions are edited together.
Only this time, we are right in the middle of it.
📷 You can find more great pictures in the photo album.
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