An extra Son Doong, and countdown to the end of the season

Hang En, a busy place

As we move into August, and my last Month here in Vietnam, I find myself very busy, an extra tour at the end of July means I have very few spare days.

Photography near the 'Nat. Geo.' stalagmites

This extra tour was a group booking from ten Vietnamese, all of whom knew each other in some way, most of them worked together. It also meant we had to share Hang En on both nights we stayed there.

Climb between giant formations near the end of the cave

We had the big lights with us for photography, although the group didn't use them much which was a shame as I would liked to have taken more pictures of the cave lit up.

'Wedding' picture

There's not a lot to say about this tour really except that the group had planned to dress up in wedding gear and pose on top of the iconic stal!

It's raining out there

We were lucky with the weather, we had just got over Doline two and were standing on the viewing point which overlooks the camp when there was an almighty thunderstorm.

Jungle with 'The Rat Run' in the mist

As we were an extra tour, it meant that we met the incoming group at the entrance climbs, mening that we were sat inside the cave for an hour and a half.

Looking back to the entrance

So I spent some of the time looking around and doing a spot of impromptu photography.

Small passage near the entrance

Away from the tour, there is a house being built next door, progress is fast, one day there was nothing and the next, half the walls have been built!

New build

So I took a picture just before leaving for Son Doong and another when I had returned. Spot the difference?

Five days later