Phong Nha, Vietnam: Days 33 & 34

I am going to be honest, it is getting harder and harder to keep blogging, especially when I'm having such a great time! So I apologize for the continued spelling errors and perhaps less detail, as I am writing this post over 10 days after leaving Phong Nha.

Day 33: Dragonboat Phong Nha and Dong Tien Son Caves

I awoke early in the morning, at Easy Tiger hostel, not feeling my best and debating not doing a single thing today. I wandered down to the pool, so inviting, and ended up swimming laps for about a half hour. The day was not yet hot and the water combined with the early morning air provided just the refreshing start to the day I needed.

Each morning, Easy Tiger hosts an hour long chat, informing visitors about highlights of the Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park and how to go about seeing it all. He also explained how the area is still impacted by the Vietnam War, and how to thsa day, farms or hikers die from unexploded war bombs.

Deciding against wasting the day, I joined a group of 16 people to take the Dragonboats to a couple of caves. The boat a hold up to 14 people, but 10 is probably the max amount to ensure a comfortable ride. The morning chat at Easy Tiger Hostel lays ground for people to come together to share the cost of the boat. We walked down the only large street towards the ticket office. You must buy your cave tickets here as well, so the whole group decided to do both caves.

Dragonboats are long, motorized, wooden boats with folding chairs as seats, optional life jackets, a removable cloth or metal roof, with dragons painted on the sides. The roughly 20 minute ride down the river boasted the area's lush green landscape and colorful buildings scattered along the way. You quickly pass a large grouping of additional dragonboats, as you are only allowed to take your boat out every other day, depending on your boat number. The government implemented this rule to prevent one family from dominating the waters.

We floated up to the mouth of Phong Nha Cave, growing silent as our driver killed the engine before she pulled back the roof of the boat. The boat barely (or perfectly) fits beneath the rocks dipping from the ceiling, allowing us to enter. Hush remained over us all as we stood to take photos that will never do it justice, then day back to admire the caverns. When we could not go any further, she turned us around and let us walk onto the shore, taking photo ops as we followed the path back towards the cave entrance.

From this point, you make a fairly long walk up to Dong Tien Son Cave, passing a temple along the way. The cave is huge and the walkway takes you in a large loop.

Making the way back down to where the boats await and beverages are for sale (of course), we waited for enough people to finish so that we could take one of the boats back while the other waited for the second half of the group.

Still feeling much less than 100% and having pushed myself more than I probably should have, I grabbed a shower and a late lunch at the hostel before allowing myself to sleep away the rest of the afternoon. I awoke around 9pm for a quick snack of fries before sleeping the rest of the night. (Definitely needed all the sleep)

Day 34: Paradise Cave and The Dark Cave

I awoke feeling slightly better and with a plan to see two popular caves. I hired a motorbike driver, hopped on the back, and away we went. For about  $25 a local will drive you, which to me is worth it, knowing I'll be 1000xs safer with someone who knows the roads. He pulled over several times on the way, allowing me to snap some photos.

Stop #1: Paradise Cave. As beautiful as this cave may be, it cost 200,000 Vietnam Dong, took a looooong time to walk from the ticket booth to thr base of the mountain, and even longer to ascend to the top. I personally would recommend to skip this one, unless you've never seen a cave before. Very expensive, somewhat time consuming, and similar feel to the caves I saw yesterday, but more crowded and with a few tour guides showing groups around.

Walking back down the mountain, I started talking to another solo traveler, this one from Pakistan. Both of us heading to the Dark Cave next, we decided to explore it together. He followed me and my guide to the cave and the adventure began.

350,000 Dong later, I am geared up in my swimming suit, life vest, harness, and headlamp helmet, catching the end of an instructional video with Pakistan and two girls from San Francisco who were also staying at my hostel. A large group of guys from Germany and England led the way to a zipline. One by one we glided over the river, landing on a bank near the cave entrance. As we waited for everyone to cross, we played in the water and jumped off a large tree's branches, splashing around.

A short swim to some wooden stairs, we entered the cave, headlamps on. As you can imagine, the Dark Cave is.... dark. It's part of what makes it so special - no man made lights or concrere pathways corrupt the raw feeling of the cave. A wooden walkway ends after 100 meters or so, leaving the rest of our journey with our bare feet to be a careful game of follow the leader.

The path became more narrow and slippery, eventually converting into pure mud. A small climb over a muddy mound put us into a complete pool of mud. The guys immediately began a mud fight which everyone joined, as you were caught in the cross fire anyways. If you try to stand, your whole body sinks into the pool. Instead, lay down and make a "mud Angel" and feel your body effortlessly float in the thick of the mud. As everyone calmed down, we switched off our headlamps, letting true darkness surround us.

Of course another, more vigorous mud fight broke out in the darkness.

Back into a more open part of the cavern, where we had ditched our life vests before they got muddy, we washed ourselves as best as possible in the waist high water we had treaded through on the way in. Vests secured once more, we continued deeper into the cave into deeper waters. Swimming in the darkness, our headlamps revealing only a few meters at a time, I thought how unreal this experience felt. Unreal isn't the right word - maybe surreal, awesome, impact full, hauntingly beautiful. The cold water sending mild shivers, watching your breath, hearing the echos of the sounds of swimming. Again, we all turned off our headlamps to allow the darkness to surround us once more.

Exiting the cave, we canoed back to the start. A couple of zip lines that you real in and hang on by the handles are set up for you to play with until you've had your fill. They arranged an obstacle course maybe 15 feet or more above the river. You zip line and let go above a net that catches you, move sideways acRoss a rope ladder, climb up a diagonal wire/wooden ladder, jump from rope to rope and attempt to hang from planks at the end.

No one made it all the way. But it was hilarious to watch everyone try.

I can honestly say the Dark Cave made it onto the top experiences of my life. I don't have a single picture...

Back to the hostel for more pool time and a little hang out time. Still not feeling great, back to sleep once more!

Day 35: I awoke and caught the local bus to the airport. While I waited, two old ladies showed up to collect cans and bottles from the hostel's garbage. A frenzy broke out and they scurried to get more items into their bag before the other could grab more. They literally fought over the recycling like fish attacking food at the top of the tank.
Then, on the bus, I spoke in Spanish to an interesting couple from Valencia, perhaps the most Spanish I've spoken since college. I definitely did not expect that skill to come in handy twice in Vietnam. Off to Hanoi!