Tu Lan Experience Tour with Oxalis

Welcome to another Travel Tuesday! The Tu Lan Cave Experience Tour is a 1-day trekking tour + it’s where Kong: Skull Island (the 2017 movie) was filmed!

We took an overnight bus that took us from Hanoi over to Phong Nha in ~10 hours + dropped us off in front of the Central Backpacker’s Hostel at ~4am. The people there were thankfully super nice and let us use their bathrooms/outlets while we waited til morning.

Tu Lan Cave Experience Tour with Oxalis Adventure

Cost: 1,800,000 VND (or ~$77 USD)
Difficulty: Easy (rated as Adventure Level 2, “designed for people with a passion for experiencing nature”)
Duration: ~6 hrs

On this tour, we hiked through 2 valleys (the Tan Hoa Valley + the Hung Ton Valley) nestled in a forest, and also got to explore 2 different dry + wet caves (Rat Cave and Hung Ton Cave).

Things to bring:

• 20L backpack
• 1 quick-dry long-sleeved shirt
• 1 pair of trekking/hiking pants
• 1 pair of trekking shoes (you can borrow theirs if you don’t have these — they have sizes 36-46)
• 1 pair calf-length, densely-woven socks (this is to avoid leeches getting onto your feet/legs — we thankfully did not encounter any, at least not on this trek)
• Sun protection (sunglasses, sunscreen, hat)
• Passport (their office can store your valuables while you’re on the trek though if you’d like)

You get to see cute cows along the way too!

Our Oxalis tour guide came to pick us up and we were driven to the Oxalis office over in Tan Hoa Village (~70km from Phong Nha). We were given a safety briefing + went over the itinerary there before heading out.

Along the way, you’ll hike along a flat path that they call “Hollywood Road” that eventually leads to the Rao Nan River.

Due to the recent rain, the water levels were a lot higher and the current was much stronger, so we took a boat across and continued hiking to get to the entrance of Rat Cave. We had a small break there for water + snacks (bananas + very addictively tasty rice crackers)!

We were equipped with helmets, headlamps, and safety equipment before going in to check out the stalactites and other cave structures.

Afterward, we climbed up another hilly area in the jungle to an area outside the next cave to have lunch. (Lunch = wet spring rolls with tofu or pork (or both!) + water, lemon tea/coffee, and fresh fruit!)

This could be the cover of our next album! :P

After lunch, we put on safety harnesses to descend a 15m (~50ft) ladder to explore Hung Ton cave.

Inside the cave, there’s an underground river and a natural lake (formed at the Hung Ton Cave’s exit). In non-recently-rainy circumstances, we would’ve been able to swim in both. However, because of the water conditions, safety always comes first, and we did not end up swimming. (If weather conditions are okay for swimming, they will equip you with lifejackets and also lights if you’re swimming the underground river portion!)

Things to note:

• Composting toilets are available! (These are toilets inside a tent with a toilet seat over a box that contains a bucket waste bag. You cover the waste with a scoop of rice husks — when the buckets are full, they’re changed + buried in designated areas in the jungle, where they biodegrade/turn into fertilizer!)
• We were suuuuper muddy by the end of this. Not to worr though! There were towels + shower stalls available so we could take showers + wash up/wash our clothes afterward!
• We had 1 guide, 2 safety assistants, 1 chef, and 1 kitchen assistant on this trek, and each of the Oxalis tours includes travel insurance (w/ max compensation up to 10,000,000 VND, or ~$432 USD).
• You can learn more about the Tu Lan Cave Experience at their website!

Can’t get enough of the caves in Vietnam? Check out my other adventure with Oxalis below! (I wrote these posts out of order — we actually visited Son Doong the day after we came here!)

• Son Doong Cave Expedition with Oxalis: What To Expect
• Son Doong Cave Experience in Phong Nha National Park
• Tips + Takeaways for the Son Doong Cave Expedition Tour

• Have you ever been caving?
• What do you usually like to explore/check out when you’re traveling?