I love those days when it’s hard to write about.
They test me.
Then I always realize that life tells the stories in pen. And I just watch and take notes.
Saturday
We ended Friday’s evening of chatting and drinking beer relatively early at 4 am. That left me with four hours to sleep.
A minibus came to pick me up after 8 am. We picked up a few people in the Phong Nha area. Then we arrived at the office of a tour company.
About fifteen unknown people got together this morning. We set off on a cave tour. We were briefed on what to expect. There were two groups. One was going on a one-day tour, the other on a two-day tour.
After the briefing, we got back in the minibus and headed towards the Lao border. One of the tour guides suggested that we sing together. I was sitting behind him in the front row, so the two of us started right away. Then the Vietnamese girl sitting next to me joined in. So for part of the way, the sound of the three of us entertained the others.
After an hour of travel, we stopped. The two groups split up. Here it turned out that the “other half” of the group was a New York girl of Indian parents and me, plus the singing tour guide.
After another long journey, we arrived at a small village inhabited by nine families. Here they welcomed us with tea. We were also joined by two men from the village. One of them was the cook, the other the second tour guide. They went ahead on the tour route.
The three of us talked for a good hour before we started the short tour. It turned out that we were all on the same wavelength. I learned a lot about this country today, the people. And about my companions too. We spent our time together in a good mood. And of course, here we tasted the local rice brandy called happy water.
Finally, we just set off. Our journey led through the jungle. We followed a path that is mostly used by cows. There was a moment when they came up the road right in front of us from the river that lined the road. It was a majestic sight, as they appeared in the water, then crossed our path, asking for priority.
I enjoyed the view as we drove through the small valley, crossing the river quite a few times. I waded through the knee-deep, very pleasantly warm river in my shoes. I felt like an explorer again in the depths of the wild jungle.
We saw lots of beautiful, colorful plants. We talked about snakes, a topical topic here. Finally, our path led us across a bridge made of a huge fallen tree. Through this we arrived at Rục Mòn Cave, our headquarters.
This cave is not a classic tourist attraction like Paradise Cave or Phong Nha Cave, but a real expedition cave.
Even the entrance is huge. Yet somehow I had the feeling that it wasn’t him who was huge, but that I was small. It was a beautiful sight, as I turned left after the short rocky section following the small wooden bridge and saw his entrance. We turned in with the river. The left bank of the river was the cave itself, while on the right side a large pebble beach gave us a home. Our tents were already waiting for us here, set up under a huge hall.
The cave already showed us what to expect. Huge halls, huge stalactites and an almost completely untouched environment were the promise.
We rested here for a while. Not that we really deserved it, but this was also part of the program. We ate a huge portion of a very delicious lunch. It was a fairy-tale table setting. Vegetables, boiled rice, fried chicken served on a tray for the three of us. This very attentive service accompanied us throughout the two days. Our cooks really knew their job.
Before we set off on the cave tour, we suddenly developed a game together. I started throwing flat stones on the surface of the river. As I have played so many times before. First the younger cook, then the older man joined in. Within moments, three children were competing to see who could throw them more skillfully. What made the game especially beautiful for me was that the children were 38, 50 and 58 years old.
An underground branch of the Rao Nan River led us through the stomach of the mountain. We put on life jackets, protective helmets with lanterns and swam through the long cave.
We descended into the water next to the headquarters. Sometimes the water swept us a little. In other places we had to swim a little. Sometimes we got out onto the shore and continued on foot.
We were in huge halls, walking among million-year-old stalactites. We walked through narrow crevices, touching smooth stones. I saw rooms that reminded me of a snowy landscape, covered with so much white mineral matter.
One of my favorites was the pastry room, covered with white layers covering brown, old stalactites. I named it that because the many huge formations resembled a large sponge cake.
In another huge room, we felt like we were on the moon, the ground was so barren and interesting. Here we sat and talked for half an hour, listening to the bats singing. In perfect darkness, because the lights were turned off.
We visited many rooms. One of the most beautiful moments was when the three of us chanted OM for a minute.
The water was pleasantly warm, as was the air in the cave. This was a strange experience in itself, because I expected cold water and cold air in the cave based on my experiences visiting many caves so far.
There was nothing uncomfortable or strenuous about the three kilometers we traveled underground. Most of the time, I was lying on my back, floating on the water and turning my head to look at the multicolored rocks that appeared in the light of my lamp, and the giant stalactites that formed all kinds of fairy-tale figures.
Bats accompanied us for most of the way. It was a special experience to see them hunting insects right above the water, often just centimeters from our heads. They were careful not to hurt us. So after a few moments of excitement, their presence became a natural experience. By the way, it was fun to follow their flight with the light of our headlamps.
When we reached the end of the way, we had to climb to an upper level of the cave. From there we turned back. We did a bit of via ferrata along the rocks. I haven’t done this in a while, but you can’t get out of this exercise. Getting the harness on was as natural as putting on pajamas.
There was also a new piece of equipment during the climb. We had to descend a couple of fairly high rope ladders. We used a belay device that I had never seen before. It seemed justified to use. It wouldn’t have been healthy to get all wet on the floor of the beautiful cave after a ten-meter fall.
We got back to the headquarters. After the long day, we all enjoyed some me time for a while. Then we ate our fill of dinner. The speciality of this was the snails we collected at the end of the day. We had a successful hunt for them. Our guides really know their stuff. This catch was also very tasty.
We chatted a bit more with some happy water, and then everyone rested in their tents. The air in the cave was pleasantly warm even at night, so I slept without a blanket, in my underwear.
And I listened to the sound of the rain falling all night.
Sunday
After breakfast we set off again.
Part of our journey was the same as yesterday, but at one point we took a different direction.
Today we could see the highest point of the cave. This is about 100 meters from the river surface. It is an incredible experience to swim inside a 100-meter-high cave. Our headlamps were very powerful. But even they don’t light up at 100 meters.
The top of the cave was lost in fog here. It was as if there was a cloud above our heads. In a closed place…
These were such heights that the top of the cave often looked like we were looking at a mountainside with trees on top. It was just an illusion, but an illusion of indescribable beauty.
There were also trees inside the cave. Surprisingly, in the riverbed. The river brought a lot of things inside the cave, and the rocks preserve things. It was strange to think that sometimes the water could reach the top of the 5-10 meter high passages. You could see this from the fact that a lot of things were stuck on the ceiling of the cave.
Today we crossed several rock slides. The water wears the rocks very smooth, it was very easy to slide on them.
Once we had to enter a special, natural room through a small opening. But there is also a feeling when I dive into a pit without knowing what awaits me on the other side. Or jumping into the water from a rock where our guide pointed. It is a game of trust in the cave. I loved playing this.
We saw baby stalactites. Such small young ones that are a few hundred thousand years old.
In one place, water dripped so much from such a small stone that we could stand under it and wait until our mouths were full of water. It tasted delicious, I swear. Then and there I thought that this way I could become one with the stalactites.
The last part of the Sunday trip was especially magical. As the light of the entrance suddenly appeared in the complete darkness. Then, as the beautiful green of the jungle appeared in an opening. And we just trickled, very slowly, out into the sunlight.
An incredible two-day trip ended here.
But another huge portion of food was waiting for us. Today’s special dish was shrimp collected in the cave.
We did the last part of the trip in an armored SUV to the point where we separated from the other half of our group yesterday. There were four of us guests in total who boarded the bus heading home.
Fell but don’t die
Our guide Tom was an incredible face.
A real tour guide. Who does his job with heart and soul. We had a good time with him every moment.
He only told me on Sunday that he is an amateur caver. Who has the desire to officially become one. He was among the first explorers of the cave we visited. It is no coincidence that he could tell so many interesting things about the thousand wonders of the cave.
Among the many great moments, there were two that were really dear to me.
He has his own cave song. I recorded this and will try to make a cool video of it later. I really appreciate it when someone shares their own creations with me.
The other moment that brought uplifting feelings was when he recited one of his poems.
Fell but don’t die
On a cloudy day
But not in May
The rain was away
And it’s today
I was try to reach high
And not to die
Rolling like a dice
But landing on six
So no need nothing to be fixed
Now feeling it in the air
The cool atmosphere
Nature a big gift
Enjoy it like a big drift
Tom – The Chill Guide 🍀 | Hoang Bao Viet
The beautiful thing about this poem for me is that I recognized Tom in it. I consider myself lucky to have shared some of my time with this special person.
I learned a few things from him about loving life.
And I also received a very special gift from him.
As our bus ride drew to a close, he said goodbye to the four of us. He told us how happy they were that we had chosen his team and that he hoped we would remember them with fond memories.
Then he suddenly began to tell the team how important it is to experience the happiness of the moment. He told us about the strange context of the past and the future and how the real gift is the present moment. It touched me to the core that he used my words and reflected my thoughts back to the others.
Then he honestly told the others that he had just learned these things from me.
And I wanted to be invisible again. It’s not that the thoughts came from me. What’s important is that Tom preserved them.
We learned from each other. At that moment, our shared thoughts swirled around me on the bus.
Because I wrote down a sentence from him. Which I felt like I had said.
I’m a storyteller, and people are the main characters here.
Buy me a coffee?
If you enjoyed this story, you can buy me a coffee. You don’t have to – but it means a lot and I always turn it into a new adventure.
Buy a coffee for Steve
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Short introduction