🇻🇳 Phong Nha - Jungle Trekking and Cave Swimming
Can camping be too comfortable?
Phong Nha is home to a national park with some of the largest and most impressive caves in the world. There are parts of the national park and a few caves that you can explore independently, but they’ve all been groomed and done up to offer an easy sightseeing experience. Conversely, to get into the jungle and/or see some of the more wild caves, you need to book onto a tour with either Oxalis or Jungle Boss, as they both have exclusive rights to parts of the national park.
Both companies have astoundingly good reviews, so I booked onto a tour with Oxalis, which is cheaper and has smaller groups. I thought that didn’t make sense, but later was told that the ex-chief of marketing for Oxalis founded Jungle Boss. It all made sense.
I booked onto the Tu Lan cave encounter tour. This was a 3-day tour which included jungle trekking, cave swimming, camping, and some bicycle touring. I didn’t have much of a selection criteria for booking this - it was the only 3-day tour available in the upcoming week.
Welcome to the jungle
I ended up in a group with 8 Vietnamese people who all knew each other, and a girl from Hong Kong called Joyce (alongside the guide and porters). One Vietnamese girl, Nancy, spoke very good English and was easy to get along with, so she worked as a bit of a translator between the Vietnamese and us. It was a good group, and it was great to be doing something with locals again. Nancy also gave me a load of recommendations for things to do in Vietnam, which I’ve added to the existing list of things I want to do here in the future. You can really spend months here and not get bored.
The trek started walking through a few karst landscapes where bison were grazing, and required us to ford a river. We did this, and all subsequent swims, with all of our clothes on. It felt a bit strange, but the jungle was ungroomed and required constant dipping in and out of water. We were told about this beforehand and brought appropriate clothes, including long sleeves. That was also because of the leeches, and these innocent-looking leaves that will make your skin itch for a week if you touch them.
A hike through the jungle followed. It was relatively short, but quite technical, requiring quite a lot of scrambling. It’s probably the most scrambling I’ve ever done on a hike, and with the right gear, it was really fun.
The Vietnamese people were all kitted out head to toe in cool hiking gear. I’ve not seen an arsenal like it - all of them had gloves, hats, hoods, and long sleeves by the likes of ACG and Arc’teryx. I asked Nancy why they don’t just use sun cream, and she said that many Vietnamese people don’t think that sun cream is enough. It’s funny how the Vietnamese have so much respect for the sun, and the Europeans walk around shirtless with their bodies all pink.
The coolest parts of the hike were having to swim for a few hundred meters into some of the caves. I’ve never done anything like it, and it proved to be a nice change from usual hiking.
Once inside the cave, we had to scramble up some tricky sections and had the caves all to ourselves to explore. Some of the formations looked like something out of Sci-Fi films, so much cooler than anything I’ve seen in Europe.
Many parts of the tour included fairly elaborate photo shoots orchestrated by the guide. The Vietnamese people seemed to love it, so I think it might just be a cultural difference.
Like, what am I supposed to do with a photo like this:
After swimming in and exploring more caves, we went to the campsite and washed in the river. We could only use organic products, but luckily, the Vietnamese people had all the organic wash products ready and shared them with me. I’ve never met anyone who’s so prepared.
The campsite was already set up for us when we arrived, and the dinner was made in another tent. This was the most luxurious camping experience I’ve ever had; they really take care of everything here. I don’t mind some rugged camping, but I was glad to experience glamping turned up to this notch. I think this would be the perfect camping experience for anyone who’s either not into camping or hasn’t done it before.
In the evening, we saw a bunch of fireflies and watched the stars.
Going deeper
On the second day, we got the fanciest camping breakfast I’ve ever gotten - a noodle soup and pancakes. They really don’t mess around. Having spoken to a guy from another group, apparently, they’ve taken a lot of feedback on board, as initially they didn’t know what foreigners wanted from a tour. Over time made improvements such as switching out instant noodles for breakfast for proper noodles, and setting up compost toilets. From their overwhelmingly positive online reviews, that’s evident, too - it’s rare to see a company actually implementing its feedback.
The day started by putting our wet clothes back on, rafting into another cave, and swimming for a little while longer. The cave was called Ken Cave, named after a guy who discovered it. Ken was on an Oxalis tour in 2012, walking around the campsite, and felt the wind when going for a pee. From that, he discovered a whole cave that hadn’t been seen before. The British Caving Association was then flown in to survey the cave. They seemed to mention things relating to Europe with a lod of pride here, as if it’s synonymous with quality and expertise. They also did this with the safety equipment, which is mostly from Petzl, a French climbing company.
The cave formations inside were really cool. I was also really glad that the group only had 10 people in it, as the logistics of getting in and out of places could take a while.
After a lot more caving and swimming, we went back to the main lodge and got dispersed amongst homestays in the village. There’s a lot of involvement from the local communities at these tours. Partially, it might be due to the nature preservation laws in Vietnam being introduced and making people lose their livelihoods.
For example, my guide used to live from the jungle, selling the wood he chopped and the animals he caught. It’s now prohibited to destroy the rainforest or harm its animals, so he became a guide. He also told us that he hunted for squirrels and skunks. Joyce got a photo of a skunk up because she only knew the Mandarin for it, and after seeing the photo, the guide said “aah, very tasty!”.
After another dinner cooked by a local family, we went to a nearby lodge with the whole group for some drinks. It was great to go with locals as they showed us how they drink beer (with a huge chunk of ice in the glass, something that would get you crucified in Europe) and ordered a bunch of snacks. They also taught me a game that Joyce knew already, where you have to progressively pick up more rocks with your hand, throw them up, and while they’re in the air, pick up more of them. I was pretty abysmal, but got a masterclass from people who played it since birth. Let me know if you want a match.
Departure
The last day was very relaxed. We went to visit some local animal farms, including a bee farm. The honey from there was incredible. The Vietnamese people didn’t fancy cycling, so we did this by electric van with some older Aussie ladies. I didn’t want to miss out on the cycling, so I did some alone after. The surroundings were super serene, and all the kids would wave at me from their bikes and try to high-five me.
I’ve cycled a few times in Asia now, and it’s very entertaining to me how messed up some of the bikes are. The brakes barely work, if at all, the stands might randomly retract by themselves, and they all make crazy noises. I’m never taking my beat-up hybrid at home for granted.
After the cycling, the tour finished. I reflected on the tour, and honestly, my only complaint was that it was too good, with too many things planned and sorted for me. A good problem to have.