Vietnam Part 2: Tu Lan Cave (Feb. 21-22, 2014)

In the middle of our trip to Hanoi, we did a cave tour.  Doing the Tu Lan caving trip was one of the best experiences we've ever had!!!  My dream was actually to do the Son Doon Exploration but it was for 6 nights and cost $3,000 per person.  Maybe next time!  :)

Our trip included: Phong Nha, Tan Hoa, Hung Ton Cave, Tu Lan Cave, Hang Ken Cave.

Our journey started with an overnight train ride from Hanoi to Dong Hoi.  We were in a sleeper cabin with two other people.  I am glad they wanted to sleep the whole time because we sure did.

In the middle of the night, the train stopped for about two hours.  We thought it was normal and didn't think anything of it.  The only problem was that there are many stops along the way and it wasn't announced which stop you were at.  When it was around the time for our stop, we got out of bed and prepared to get off.  Twenty minutes later, the train still didn't stop.  After asking several workers, we found out that we were going to be about two hours late to our destination.  We panicked because our cave tour was set to leave in the next three hours and we still had to take a cab for about 30 minutes.  We were definitely cutting it close.  Long story short, we made it on time and the cave company was well aware of the Vietnam train delays.

When we go tour destination, the caving company gave us "hiking boots" and a waterproof bag to put our belongings in and we set off.  It was just the two of us and our guide.  Awesome!  The high was in the low to mid 70s and we had to cross a couple of streams and rivers.  Yes, it was pretty cold.  Normally, this trip includes swimming through caves and climbing mountains on the first day and a mixture of the same on the second day.  However, since it was slightly chilly, we only climbed on the first day and hoped for warmer weather for the second.  We climbed for a while and had lunch at the mouth of one of the caves.  Then we hiked for a few more hours, still crossing water along the way.  We got to camp and two porters cooked dinner (BBQ) and set up camp for us.  We were in our tent by 7:30 pm that night because we were just so exhausted from climbing.

The next day, the sun came out and it warmed up just a bit.  Instead of doing a lot of climbing, we mostly swam through the caves.  The water was freezing but it was totally worth it!  We ended the second day by having lunch at a homestay.  Then it was another sleeper train back to Hanoi.

Trekking across peanut and buffalo fields to the Rao Nan River.

Trekking across peanut and buffalo fields to the Rao Nan River.

Trekking across peanut and buffalo fields to the Rao Nan River.

Having lunch at the mouth of a cave.

In a cave.

In a cave.

Cave spider.

Dinner.

Getting into freezing water.

Swimming in freezing water in a cave.

Our porters.

Below is a picture called Conquering an Infinite Cave.  It was in the January 2011 issue of the National Geographic.  It's a giant cave column in Hang Ken Cave.  The two pictures below the National Geographic picture are the pictures that I took of the exact same thing.  So maybe my camera isn't as good as the professional - oh well!  Haha!