Abandoned Valley

The start of the walk

This is a one day tour that is not run by Oxalis, so we had to pay!

Uy, our guide

Our guide for the day was Uy, who did the Tu Lan four day tour last year.

The porter playing jungle hide and seek

The day starts with a pleasant jungle walk on an easy path, past some very big trees.

Ruth and Uy, by a big tree

After about an hour of walking we arrived at Hang Toi, the back entrance to Dark Cave.

Hang Toi entrance

A nice entrance with some nice reflections in the water when looking out. The picture below is upside-down, buy I think it looks best that way.

Reflections

The cave is big from the start, but the tour only goes in for about seven hundred matres before turning around at a lake, frustrating!

Just before the 'end'

The next shot is of Ruth, in a bouldery section near the entrance.

Which way?

After the cave, there is another jungle walk to the next cave, Hang E. We saw this little fellow on the way.

Lizard

Once we got to the entrance, a lunch of BBQ pork and rice was served.

Hang E entrance

There was plenty of time to look about, and we spotted another lizard by the entrance which was very obliging and stayed very still for pictures.

Another lizard

There was also plenty of time for swimming, even if the water was a little cold.

Which way is up?

Hang E is just over 900m long, all of it swimming in very cold water Ruth and I managed probably 700m (or less) before turning back as there was no one else with us). Should have just kept on going!

Jungle view

The final walk took just over an hour with a few surprise views (something you don't often get in the jungle) on the way,

Final view from the near the road

The final uphill section took about 45 minutes so the cold beers at the road were very welcome.

Beers in a cooler box