Hang Son Doong 50, the final tour.

Sparkler Son Doong

This was the final tour, both for me and Oxalis, well not quite as there was a Japanese film group going in a day after, but more on that later.

Happy to help

As we were walking down the initial hill, we caught up with some of the villagers (the women and children!) who were carrying some large sheets of tin roofing down the hill. They looked rather heavy so myself, Watto and some of the guide assistants decided to give them a hand,

Hanging boulder in Hang En

They were indeed very heavy and awkward to carry I managed so far but when I got to a steep slippery bit I decided it wasn't worth the risk so handed my load back to a small woman and picked a much smaller sheet from a small child, much easier!

Hang En Oxbow

Back at the foot of the hill I was reunited with my large bit of roof and once again set off, this time managing to get about half way to the village before swapping to a smaller load again.  I think our help was much appreciated.

Crossing the rivers by bridge

Conditions in the cave were good, even though the water levels were up and we had to use the bridges on the way in.

Doline One reflections

The crew that was following behind us were not just involved with filming, half of them were going to follow the film crew out, de-tackling and cleaning the cave as they went. This meant that extra cave safety experts were required and as Watto was flying home immediately after the trip, I was volunteered to go back in to help.

Doline Two

After seeing the clients safely out of Son Doong I turned around and went back to meet up with the Japanese film crew. Caving on my own in such a big cave was fun but I had to go carefully, never the less, I still got from the entrance to Camp One in twenty minutes and to Doline Two (where I met the group) in forty five. Quick times but I wonder just how quick some of the porter team could go, probably from the entrance to the wall in under an hour!

Second river crossing

It was a very busy Camp Two, but the Japanese and their interpreters were a really friendly group and good fun to be with. On the way out the water levels were not quite so high so we did the river crossings but had to use the high level path as it was raining heavily so the water in the river was likely to be too high.

Hang Son Doong entrance, seen for the last time

The Japanese had some really poor boots on and were slipping all over the place, but generally having a good time and laughing at themselves and each other, even as they slipped and landed on their bums!

Looking out from Hang En, raining

Days off in August

Stormy Skies

I've had three days off between tours but have managed to keep busy and got into town a few times between the rain showers.

Tiny Lizard

Oxalis has just created a watersports centre at Chay Lap, and as is always the case there was a grand opening. It rained but this didn't seem to dampen the enthusiasm.

Chay Lap grand opening

The constant rain does seem to be forcing small animals to take shelter in our house, like the lizards pictured above.

Lizard number two

Work has once again started on the house next door, it looks like they are getting ready to put the roof on.

Lone worker braving the rain

In between heavy rain showers, loads of people are on the roof creating a framework.

A grey and rainy day

Not sure how it will work as they seem to be only doing the sections where there are no walls for support!

Rain stops work again

Hang Son Doong 48, the photography tour

That's a bit brown is that river

This is my penultimate tour, three days off after this one and then the final tour of the year. The river in Phong Nha was brown and in flood, but not too bad.

Jungle fruits, not edible

As this is a photography tour we carried in the big filming lights to light up the cave instead of the normal Hope R8's, we also carried a generator to charge the customers batteries etc.

Son Doong Entrance

Strangely, there were not many photographers on the tour, only five out of the ten, we also had two drones although one only made it as fay as the exit to Hang En, where it crashed into the water and drowned!

Second river crossing

Having the filming lights did add another dimension to the tour as it was good to see the cave well lit up.

Camp One, Hang Son Doong

Although the river crossings in the cave were not too bad, we used the bridges because more rain was forcast, this proved to be a good decision as when we came back, the rivers had risen to the point where the ropes were just in the water, it would have been at least chest deep.

Photographer in Doline One

Conditions were generally clear in the cave, making for good photography for those that were interested, those that weren't were fortunately patient.

Photographers beyond Camp Two

Despite the rain there was no lake at the end of the cave, in fact, conditions at the end were as dry as I've ever seen them.

Return to Hang En

We decided to return to Hang En via the high level path, a good choice as even the Hang En water was up by half a metre (and suitably brown in colour). On my return to Phong Nha, I did my washing as usual and hung it out to dry overnight. At three a.m. I woke just as a thunderstorm was starting and rushed out to get the washing, on the towel was a dragonfly, too good to miss!

Dragonfly

Hang Son Doong 46

Portable Espresso machine

Just four tours left after this one, and I'm down to do two of them (at the moment). I always see something new on each trip, this one was no exception as I've never seen a portable espresso maker before! Made for good coffee at breakfast.

Baby Bat

This tour was a private booking so all the group knew each other and got along well, always a help. They also brought along their own entertainment including games and films, two nights of James Bond movies which was great for the porter team as the simple plot lines and action sequences made up for their lack of understanding of English.

Home Sweet Home, two more times

As we walked through Hang En, one of the guide assistants found a little baby bat. Very cute looking but sadly I don't think it was going to survive long. While I'm on the subject of wild life (or should that be death?), as we drove down the road at the end of the tour we passed a very large bird that was wrestling with an animal (identified by Hai (from Bamboo Cafe) as a baby Binturong, an endangered species). The bird flew off before we could take any pictures but it left its prey as it seemed too big to carry, I'm sure the bird returned after we left.

The end of the road, no lake

Another tour with good conditions but no lake, clear visibility and you could see the daylight of the exit from where the lake would normally begin.

Roadside wildlife, Binturong

The last Tu Lan

Sunny weather

My last Tu Lan four day tour, after this I have just three Son Doong tours to do.

Tree skirt

The day was fine as we walked to Rat Cave and then on towards Gibbon Cave. Although there were some clouds on the horizon and I thought it would rain, our local (assistant) guide said there would be no rain.

Gibbon Cave

On the way to Gibbon Cave we always pass by this weird tree which almost has a skirt of roots, this time I thought I'd better take a picture as it would be my last chance.

Jungle tomato? No

While we were in Gibbon Cave it rained, so much for local knowledge!

Odd fruit

Continuing our walk to the Hung Dung campsite, the sky became darker and more threatening but we did see some interesting fruits, none of which were edible. By the time we reached the climb out of the La Ken valley the rain had started.

Panorama, here comes the rain again

The rain got heavier and heavier as we ascended and descended the hill but it had ceased by the time we reached our campsite, soaking wet and no need for a wash!

Sunbeams and smoke

The next morning all was fine and there were some lovely smokey sunbeams through the trees at our campsite.

Hang Hung Ton entrance

The next few days thankfully passed without incident but one customer was so tired that he couldn't walk over the hills to Tu Lan, so I took him through Hang Hung Ton and Hang Kim.

Starry sky

Another fine and clear evening, so after taking some star shots I went into the cave to get some pictures of the entrance. An enjoyable midnight swim!

Hang Ken at night

I also took the opportunity to photograph a small passage just inside the entrance, ot very exiting but nice walls.

Small passage inside Hang Ken

Just as I was going to bed, one of the customers found a weird looking bug, so I had to get up to photograph it.

Bug

On the final walk out, I passed this orchid.

Orchid

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