Jungle trekking, cave swimming, and hammock camping

From the moment I arrived in my Lake House Resort in Phong Nha on the night before my scheduled two-day caving trek, I knew I'd come to the right place. This place was a 45 minute drive from an airport so small that it actually shuts down in between scheduled flights. There was more traffic from cows than cars on the road to Phong Nha.

Not in Saigon anymore: More traffic from cows than motor vehicles in and around Phong Nha

There was a soft silence and calm for which I'd begun to ache. And the beauty of the nature was nearly heartbreaking for someone coming from the smoggy cities not so far away.

The Phong Nha Lake House Resort where I stayed the night before my caving trek.

The Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park is on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Its karst formations have evolved since the Paleozoic era (~400 million years old), making it the oldest karst formations in Asia. The park covers 104 km (~65 miles) of underground caves and rivers, including Sơn Đoòng Cave, discovered in 2009, the world's largest cave, so big it can fit a Boeing 747 in its largest cavern. (That's just one reason I have to return to this region!)

Our trek began near the misty karst mountains by base camp.

The hiking crew setting off for our two-day trek

For my time in Phong Nha, I opted to explore the Tu Lan caves. 

On our second morning, we swam into Tu Lan Cave, shown here, one of the four caves on our trek.

The Tu Lan cave circuit included four caves: Hang Ken, Hang Kim, Hung Ton, and Tu Lan caves. And the overnight trek also included a barbecue (with vegetarian options!) and camping in hammocks in the jungle. But the biggest selling feature of this trek was the fact that these four caves are filled with water, and exploring them involves swimming through them with headlamps and waterproof backpacks.

Venturing in for our first cave swim!

Group photo deep within Ken Cave.

Floating and swimming through in the dark cavernous caves was just one extended awestruck moment filled with the realization that I was living one of the cooler experiences that I will ever have in life.

Chilling before dinner outside the Ken Cave.

My fellow hikers also did a lot of to round out the experience with their interesting life stories. And a pair of them were even doing this trek as part of their honeymoon. How cool is that?

Kicking off Day 2 of the trek

I also can't go without mentioning my caving team. I went with Oxalis Adventure Tours, which I would highly recommend. The guides were professional, very good at English, attentive and yet not overly protective. Porters hiked ahead of us with the camping equipment, but the trek wasn't for the weak of heart. There were very minimal railings and no trail markers along the way, but it also wasn't too vicious: when one of the hikers started showing signs of fatigue early on, the guides phoned back to base for an extra porter so that our fellow hiker could keep pace. And in the evening, the tour guides cooked us dinner and chatted with us about their lives. Overall Oxalis does a great job of giving a non-touristy jungle trek to small groups interested in diving deep into nature for a few days.

Our Tu Lan trekking guides

Phong Nha was the best part of my travels through Vietnam. I sincerely hope to return one day. And with over 100 km of caves in the area, there's definitely much more to see!

Two-day one-night Oxalis Tu Lan Cave Encounter

Recommendations:
Check out Oxalis's caving company!

Pack Teva hiking sandals for the swimming instead of using proper hiking boots