Son Doong Cave Experience in Phong Nha National Park

Welcome to another Travel Tuesday! If you were around a couple weeks ago or happen to follow me on instagram, you probably saw a couple glimpses of what I was up to while I was in Vietnam. I wrote about Son Doong Cave a couple weeks ago and I’m back this week to talk about my experience there!

Son Doong Cave Experience in Phong Nha National Park

Day 1

After a breakfast of mango pancakes and noodles with fried egg at our homestay (Phong Nha Friendly Home), we made a trip over to Duck Stop. Oxalis Adventure picked us up and brought us to Oxalis Home to get settled in/pack for the next day. (We also got to borrow the bikes to explore town a bit more!)

That evening, after a safety briefing + evaluation of the suitability of our shoes/packs, we had a welcome dinner where we met our tour guide (Tha), caving expert (Hieu), and the rest of the team + picked up our helmets + water bottles.

Dinner: chicken, pork, beef salad, pumpkin soup, grilled eggplant, bok choy with enoki mushrooms, fried tofu) + rice, with mango/dragonfruit/banana for dessert

Day 2

We dropped off our packed bags for the porters before 7am and had breakfast (options included beef pho, bread with a fried egg, + lots of fruit!).

After breakfast, we hopped onto the bus that’d take us to Phong Nha National Park. On the way, we stopped by the house of Mr. Ho Khanh (a local who discovered/rediscovered the cave in 1990 /2009) to see if we could say hello. Sadly for us, he wasn’t home, so we continued to the trailhead.

There was a downpour for most of the day, so the initial hike downhill was quite slippery due to all the mud. Our safety assistants were super on top of things though, so there were no casualties! I lost count of the number of river crossings we did overall. Though I initially tried to keep my shoes dry, I eventually embraced the fact I was going to be drenched (potentially up to your butt depending on how tall you are), and life got a lot easier.

We stopped at Ban Doong, a small village of the Bru-Van Kieu ethnic minority, for lunch.

Lunch: wet spring rolls with veggies, pork, egg, lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, and a hot bowl of potatoes/beef/carrots to eat with bread — watermelon for dessert

Afterward, we hiked another ~3 hours to get to Hang En Cave for our first base camp!

Dinner: beef with pineapple/veggies, cooked pumpkin leaves, potatoes, green beans, BBQ chicken, fried tofu, pork spare ribs, chicken, soup, + fresh mango/dragonfruit

There was also ginger tea, instant + arabica coffee + lipton lemon tea at the ready. Rice wine (or “happy water”) was offered each evening if you chose to partake. One of our group was vegetarian, so the chef would prepare something separate for her too.

Each campsite had 2 compost toilets (we used rice bran to cover the #1/#2/smell) with a separate wash station for brushing our teeth/washing our faces. There would also be an area for hang drying clothes + a changing station. The compost toilets were reallyyy well made — I’ve legit never had such a pleasant experience in one before — plenty of space and it actually smelled nice, which was completely unexpected.

We dipped into the water for a while — if you stand still long enough, little fish will come to nibble (very gently) at your feet. It reminded me of those fish pedicures I’ve heard of where you put your feet in a tub of water for fish to eat the dead skin off your feet. (I have no idea if these are the same fish.)

Although ginormous, grand, and beautiful (+ due to the weather, the only campsite where we were actually able to safely swim), this wasn’t my favorite campsite due to the many, many “gifts from the sky” (poop from the swallows). Despite this, I definitely cannot deny how nice it was to sit at my tent staring at the doline while sipping ginger honey tea. <3

Each evening after dinner, we’d gather ’round with our tour guide and he’d give us a briefing on what to expect the next day.

Day 3

Breakfast: a sizzling plate with beef, grilled onions/veggies, noodles + bread

We packed up our belongings and trekked through the jungle to get to our main event — Son Doong! Something I did not mention for Day 2 so as not to scare people off too soon = leeches. Due to the rain, leeches were at full force in the jungle, so we did frequent leech checks whenever we stopped for a break, for lunch, and when we reached base camp. We learned that if we sprayed them with bug spray, they’d die in a few seconds. (Pulling them off proved to be difficult due to their stretchy and slippery nature. They also move a whole lot faster than I would’ve ever guessed.)

We donned safety ropes + harnesses for our 80m (~263 ft) descent into Son Doong after lunch. After we got to our second base camp, we ran off to take a “cave shower” (super cold water from the cave “ceiling” with varying “water pressure” dependent on the wind) and had another delicious dinner.

Dinner: fried chicken, pumpkin, soup, eggplant with sauteed peanuts, morning glory vegetables, pork, fried egg, rice, dragonfruit + mango for dessert. (There were like 12 courses, but I couldn’t name em’ all.)

We sat around a campfire and talked + drank jungle leaf tea and also kindasorta learned the Vietnamese version (All the Way Up) of a game we (my brother and I) learned in childhood (Big 2).

Campsite #2 had a “leaky ceiling” (hence our ability to take a “shower” in the cave) – much preferable to the poopy ceiling though!

Day 4

Breakfast: rice noodle soup with crepes, honey, chocolate syrup + fresh fruit

I woke up without a voice. Unfortunately, this carried on throughout pretty much the rest of my trip through Vietnam. :'(  I was given lots of ginger tea + warm water with honey to help soothe my throat though. (Thank goodness crepes were on the menu!)

This day was the prettiest and chillest day, and almost like a photography tour. We went to what was called the “James Bond hole, ” two dolines (collapsed rock/limestone sinkhole), and the “Wedding Cake.”

We got to our 3rd campsite by ~2:30pm and hung out, talked + played cards. This was my favorite campsite! (Also the driest one — after days of having all my clothes soaked by river water/rain, it was nice to finally be dry.)

Dinner: rice, eggplant, morning glory soup, fried tofu, carrot, pork, french fries, bok choy, chicken wings, + dragonfruit/mango for dessert

Day 5

Breakfast: French toast (“eggy bread”) with bananas and honey + fried noodles (I was also given a cup of hot honey water for my throat!)

We trekked through another portion of Son Doong and saw the biggest stalactite in the cave. We also came across a deer fossil/skeleton, crabs, and white rolly pollies.

Due to the 2-3 days of rain we had previously, the water level had risen to 10 meters, so we were able to take a boat through the “Passchendaele passage” to the “Great Wall of Vietnam” instead of traipsing through the mud.

I mistakenly stepped into where I thought would be a “step” of raised stone in the water and ended up drenched up to the butt once more (yay for being the shortest one of all on the trip).

We climbed up the 72 m (236 ft) ~45 degree slope one by one (with lots of encouragement from our safety assistants!) Our team nicknamed me “Ferrari” because I apparently blazed up it so quickly! You definitely don’t have to go that fast though — breaks are encouraged if needed.

After having a lunch of beef/potato/carrot stew + bread at the top of the wall, we continued our trek out of the cave through a rocky section of the jungle and back to Ho Chi Minh Trail West, where we were greeted with medals and beer/soft drinks! A driver took us back to Chay Lap Farmstay, where we were greeted with a glass of wine + a cold towel.

The rooms in the farmstay smelled amazing and it was really pretty + picturesque there. Wifi was available in the common area + the restaurant.

A shower has never, ever felt so good. (Not even after Rae Lakes!) They had laundry services (priced per article of clothing) and massages available as well, so we decided to get massages before our banquet dinner (highly recommend).

All in all, it was definitely an incredible experience and I’m so glad I was able to go on this adventure! I’ll be writing a 3rd and final post on this with tips, takeaways, and notable highlights in the coming weeks!

• Son Doong Expedition Tour with Oxalis Adventure: What to Expect

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• Where would be your favorite place to go camping?
• Have you ever encountered leeches while hiking?
• What’s your favorite camping meal? Not gonna lie, this is the best I’ve ever eaten on a camping trip ever. *-* After being so spoiled, it’s gonna be hard to go back to regular backpacking food!