Cass has ever so kindly requested that I write this blog post, hence the slight delay. Anyway, our next few nights took us to Phong Nha, a beautiful remote province south of Hanoi for trekking and a cave tour. Before our tour, we stayed at the small, community-run Chày Lập Farmstay for what was an authentic Vietnamese homestay experience.

This leg of our trip was a two-day, one-night cave tour in Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park. Yep, I managed to get Cass to sleep in a tent in the middle of the jungle with me – her version of “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here”. After spending one night at the Farmstay, we ventured off to the Oxalis office in the National Park, where we were introduced to our hiking group (people from Australia, America and Vietnam) and our fantastic tour guides Dzung (AKA Seven) and Son. FYI – Oxalis is the only adventure tour company offering caving and jungle experiences in Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park, (which is home to the largest limestone caving system in the world, and the world’s largest cave).

Before taking on such an adventure, we were debriefed on the Hang Tiên Cave Endeavour (a tour of 2 of the hugest caves you’ve ever seen), then taken up the mountain by bus and dropped off on the side of the road to continue into the jungle, on foot.

I think Cass would agree that the beginning of the the trek was probably the hardest. Walking through the extremely slippery mud in the jungle, accompanied by 13 other people, definitely triggered some PTSD from Splendour in the Grass (Mud) 2022. After a few slips, trips and falls, we finally arrived to the first cave, commonly known to the locals as Fun Cave (home to lots of bats). The porters on our trip prepared us a beautiful spread of bánh mì and rice paper rolls, which we enjoyed for lunch in Fun Cave. After this, we only had 45 more minutes of trekking until we reached our campsite for the evening. Phew.

As soon as we arrived at camp, we replaced our muddy clothes and socks with some clean clothes (no shower, though). Our clothes and non-essential trekking items were carried by the porters, so we were carrying less weight for the trek. The porters were life savers, to say the least. Before dinner, we all sat around the campfire sharing stories and enjoying a warm cup of ginger tea or instant coffee. Then, our group’s chef presented a beautiful dinner of phở, soups, rice, fried chicken, steamed vegetables, spring rolls and rượu gạo (traditional Vietnamese rice wine), which tastes like a slightly better shot of vodka. Anyway, it’s truly amazing that we had access to such incredible food in middle of the jungle. Very talented people.

For dessert, we enjoyed steamed sweet potatoes around the campfire and watched the full moon rise over the mountain tops. Our tour leader, Dzung, is an amazing photographer and he adopted Cass’s phone to take pictures of the moon and stars. From 7:30pm, most people began to disperse to their tents, and the only people remaining around the fire were Aussies – no surprises there.

After a horrible sleep, we enjoyed breakfast (French toast, pancakes and fruit). The guides debriefed us on the expectations of the day (assuring us we would not get wet). We sorted our belongings and began trekking – this is where the fun started.

After a short hike (“short” meaning 40 minutes), we arrived at the first cave, Hang Tiên (or Hang Tiên 1). This first cave has an alluring and large opening and is my favourite of the 2 caves. As we travelled our way through, we ran into gushing water which posed as an obstacle to the exit of the cave. After attempting to rock climb around the water, we eventually “caved” in and trudged through the water (which was about 3/4 of the way up our legs). Once we worked our way up and out of the water, we were harnessed-up so the flying fox could move us to the other side of the cave. To exit the cave, we climbed up a 10-metre ladder (we are still confused as to how they managed to get the ladder inside the cave). Anyway, a few small crevices later, there was light! We had completed our exploration of Hang Tiên – onto number 2.

Another short hike later, we climbed down a small opening to Hang Tiên 2. I’ve never seen a cave so big. The formations inside were astounding – it shits all over the Jenolan Caves. As we walked about 200 metres into the 3- kilometre cave, we all turned our headlights off and sat in complete darkness. The cave was so dark that you couldn’t tell the difference between your eyes being open, or closed – truly remarkable. Hang Tiên 2 was Cass’s favourite cave.

We again enjoyed lunch in the cave and another lovely spread of mince, rice and boiled eggs was provided before our 3-hour-trek back to the roadside. Once we exited the cave we climbed approximately 200 metres to the top of a mountain. We had to climb up muddy rocks and slippery terrain which was… tricky. We then climbed back down the other side of the mountain until we reached flat ground – the home stretch.

With an hour remaining, our group was so excited to get back to the bus and into a hot shower after achieving such an incredible feat. We celebrated with a medal ceremony and a beer to top off a breathtaking experience.

To all the people who helped me and Cass at Oxalis, we truly appreciate you and we look forward to coming back (maybe not Cass).

We returned to Chay Lap Farmstay for a warm shower (except I took all the hot water and left Cass with a cold one). Mum, Cass had a 5-minute cold shower – beat that. We just checked into the Hoi An Historic Hotel for the next 4 nights in Hoi An… we will be booking a massage shortly.

Cám ơn for coming along on our long adventure!

Note to self (and everyone): do not wear sneakers when trekking through jungles and caves.