The limestone terrain is the main tourist attraction in northern Vietnam. Halong Bay and Lulong Bay are the most well-known tourist attractions. However, if you want to add a touch of adventure to the journey in addition to pure sightseeing, further down from Hanoi to Quang Binh Province, you can visit the caves that also belong to the limestone terrain. There are more than 300 limestone caves with special landscapes in the Phong Nha-Gibang National Park. There are also cave visits or expeditions of varying difficulty. This time we took the Vietnam Airlines (Vietnam Air) Airlines) Domestic flight came to Quang Binh, especially here to experience special cave exploration.
Quang Binh’s exclusive caving adventure: Oxalis Adventure Tours
Hang Son Doong, Deer Cave, and Hang En Cave are the top three known caves in the world. Both Hang Son Doong and Hang En Cave are located in Phong Nha-ji, Quang Binh Province, Vietnam. In Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park (Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park), the second largest deer cave is in Malaysia. Deer cave was originally the world’s largest cave. Han Song cave was confirmed by the British expedition in 2009 and became the world’s largest cave. Vietnam Quang Binh has become a paradise for cave explorers.
Oxalis Adventure Tours is a company that provides cave exploration services in Quang Binh, Vietnam. It is also the only company currently licensed to lead tourists on cave exploration. It provides expedition tour, adventure tour, and photography tour. It is a large type of itinerary, the difficulty is divided into 1-6 levels (Level), Level 6 is the highest difficulty of the Hansong Cave adventure. The whole journey is four days and three nights, and three nights are camping. The age limit is 18 years old and above, and the asking price per person is 3,000 US dollars. It is a double test of personal skills and purse!
The third largest cave expedition in Heng En Cave provides a two-day and one-night itinerary. You can visit the filming location of the 2015 "Paine: Sailing to Neverland". The difficulty level is Level 3, the asking price is 330 US dollars per person, and the age limit is 16 years old and above. An intimate experience.As for our kind of inexperienced tourists, we participated in the experience itinerary of the Tu Lan caves. The difficulty level is listed as Level 2, and you can see the 2017 "King Kong: Skull Island" movie. The location is really an experience itinerary for a little adventure.
▲ Oxalis provides a variety of cave adventure packages. The level of difficulty is divided into six levels according to the skills required by the explorer.
Go to cave exploration and preparation work
To prepare for cave exploration, you must first come to the Oxalis Campsite, where the staff will provide the expedition equipment and explain the precautions. The cave exploration activities cannot be dressed beautifully, the lower body is soaked in water and the hands and feet are muddy. It is definitely a doomed end.The base will provide hiking shoes, non-slip gloves, and helmets with lights. You must prepare your own trousers. If you don't prepare in advance, you can also buy them on site.
If you are participating in a more difficult expedition, the precautions will be explained clearly, and a video explanation will be played. As for our experience itinerary, it is to check whether everyone’s equipment and services are appropriate, and then briefly explain the sequence of the itinerary and precautions. Then you can go to experience cave exploration.Finally, when the experience is over, you will return to the original place to disarm the equipment. The base also provides shower facilities, so you don’t have to worry about returning to the hotel in mud.
▲ Take a ride to the forward base of cave exploration.
▲ The official website of the cave exploration activity is available in Vietnamese and English, and most of the participants are Western faces.
▲ Wendy put on the long-lost marching shoes again, exactly the same as when he was a soldier.
▲ Clothing sales are provided on the spot, so that no one is prepared and there is temporary demand.
▲Price list of clothes sold on site.
▲ There is a shower room in front of you. You can take a shower and change your clothes after you finish your caving trip.
▲ This is our coach with the team.
▲ Walk to the cave, along the way is also the location of the King Kong movie.
▲ The mouse hole is located in the front left. The scenery along the hiking trail is beautiful, with farmland and rivers on the left and right.
▲Before wading through the water, I encountered a group of beautiful butterflies. This was the most beautiful scenery on this trip.
▲ Next is the beginning of the muddy journey!
▲ The team coach is preparing headlights and helmets for miners.
First experience of cave exploration in Rat Cave
Our group belongs to inexperienced beginners. This time we participated in the Tu Lan System experience itinerary and went to visit the Rat Cave (Hang Chuot), which is also the 2017 "King Kong: Skull Island". 》The film location is also the biggest goal of this theme trip.The difficulty level of the mouse hole exploration is about Level 2, which means that you can use your hands and feet to climb the cave. If necessary, you have to swim through the cave. But our trip only wades through the river outside the cave, which can only be regarded as a Level 2 simple version.
Different from the caves for sightseeing purposes such as Paradise Cave and Phong Nha Cave, the cave for exploration maintains the natural environment, and there is no lighting equipment and artificial stairs. You can bring your own miner’s headlamp and helmet, hands and feet. Climbing in the muddy ground in the cave, the site saw that most of the cave explorers were Western faces. This is a trip that most Asian tourists rarely participate in, but it is a very unforgettable experience, even if we only participate in the big It's just a half-day trip, haha!
▲ It is really interesting for tourists to explore the cave with a miner's headlight.
▲ You have to use your hands and feet together in the cave, and you have to pay attention to the mud under your feet.
▲ Finally came to the exit of the mouse hole, ready to climb out of the hole!
▲ Then climb into the cave again and take the route from right to left. The route is different.
▲ Simple fruits and dry food replenish physical strength, and garbage must be sorted and brought back to protect the environment.
▲ Local people come here to walk around at the scene, they are very relaxed!
Conclusion
Cave exploration is just like diving, requiring considerable professional skills and deep experience accumulation. However, participating in the exploration and planning of the cave exploration itinerary, listening to the coach’s guidance, and measuring your own abilities and experience can greatly reduce the risk of expedition, although absolutely It's not as safe and comfortable as a pure sightseeing tour, but it is a rare experience. This half-day experience itinerary will allow people to accumulate the motivation for the next more challenging itinerary. You have to take advantage of it while you are still young!
◎ Oxalis Adventure Tours
– Address: Tân Hóa, Minh Hóa, Quảng Bình
– Official website: http://oxalis.com.vn/
