My first expedition to the world's largest cave - Hang Son Doong

The Son Doong expedition is the best place I've ever been, and it's certainly a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. There is no better way to convey how amazing the cave is except to see it and conquer it yourself. Today I will keep sharing with you my very first journey into Son Doong.

Heading to the second Doline - Photo by Watto

Day 3: Hang En – Camp 1 in Son Doong
I was sitting at the lunch place near to Son Doong's entrance in the last post and being ready to conquer the cave. We used the horizontal and vertical ropes with karabiners clipped in to climb down to the cave mouth. To get to the cave, it took us around 15 minutes. The entryway was not particularly large, and the wind blew hard. We felt cold during staying here to wait for the safety team said ready through walki-talki. We descended via abseiling with ropes and technical equipment such as harnesses, cowtails, and karabiners after an 80-meter vertical climb. Everyone was absolutely safe thanks to these. Four safety aides were stationed at various locations to assist clients. It was difficult, but fun.

We all arrived safely at the bottom and returned our gaze to the cave entrance. One of my teammates exclaimed, "Wow, spectacular!" Howard began his work by discussing the geology and morphology of Son Doong. Like the other caves, Son Doong was formerly a river passage at first. The water from the main river flows through Hang En, connecting to the Hang Khe Ry cave, and then on to Son Doong. The rock collapsed from the upper cave entrance around half a million years ago, limiting the way water enters, resulting in the dry passage and smaller cave entrance we see today.

Mr Howard Limbert, our safety expert
I discovered a lake at the bottom, which Thin explained was where our poters would collect water to utilize at the cave entrance.
We paused for an hour to take photographs. In the cave, there are two river cossings, the second of which was the only spot where we could swim because there was no water at the camp. The expedition continued by trekking up and down the darnkess' rough part. The caving Hope-Light was excellent in terms of quality and lumen output. We noticed daylight at 3 p.m., which is where our camp is located. We took a break at the breathtaking Hand Of Dog View Point. While my customers were still setting up the tripod to take shots, I had a banana, some oreo cookies, and some water. Our wonderful safety advisers assisted them in spotting the big light for the extended exposure.

Watto advised us to be cautious in the final kilometers before arriving at the camp due to the tough terrain, which included rocky and slippery terrain. We arrived at 4 p.m. at a camp called "Level Playing Field," and the name was given by Howard.

I could smell the meal from the top of the boulder, which overlooked the camp. I went down to the camp and found my tent, which was clearly marked with my name. I then changed dry clothes, walked to the dining table and served coffee or tea to my beloved customers, as well as myself. After we all did a wonderful job today, the Chef, Ly, handed us a large dish of French Fries as a treat.

At 6 p.m., another delectable dinner awaited us on the table. Following that, we played some games and had a massage together. It's fantastic. Thin reminded everyone about tomorrow one more. Tomorrow was a dry day, so we could replace our shoes if we chose. Tomorrow could be the best day of the trip because we'll stop at numerous locations for photography or simply enjoy the moment in the world's largest cave without wifi, nextwork, email, work, or the monotony of daily life.

Day 4: Camp 1 - Camp 2 ( Son Doong Camp)

I slept well last night and was looking forward to today. We had breakfast at 8 a.m., then packed our stuff to get ready by 9 a.m. Thin reminded us that we needed to refill our water bottles at the camp. Today, putting on dry shoes and socks was a preference because it was more comfortable. We had to climb a lot, therefore I brought the Salamon with high grip. Our team spent an hour getting to the bottom of Doline 1 through the tiny passage. The term "doline" refers to a cave's rock ceiling collapsing, enabling natural light to enter through skylights.

From here Howard told everybody to divided into groups of 3 people to climb to to top of the Doline 1 for safety reasons. "Safety is paramount on the expedition" said Howard. About 10 am, we all reached tothe top of Doline 1 which is called "Watch Out For Dinosaur". It was also the time sun came out, it meant we have higher opportunity to see the sunbeams today. Everyone was ecstatic and eager to see Son Doong because a National Geographic crew had shot a photograph here in 2010. The second doline, about 1km away, can be seen from here.

We continued walking down to the bottom of the hill to gaze up at the sunbeams. Hoai, one of our safety aides, stayed on top of the "Wedding Cake" boulder to act as a model. Watto warned my customers when they arrived on the flat landscape that the sunbeams would arise and depart in a matter of seconds, so they should be prepared to shoot spectacular photographs. Howard began communicating with Hoai by walkie-talkie. "Could you stand up and turn on your light, and look down at us?"

We had two hours here for lunch and photography. I sat down with the sole intention of savoring the masterpiece for as long as possible. Our photographers too appeared to have forgotten about lunch, focusing instead on the scenery and how to acquire the greatest images.

Photo by Watto

Our journey continued to the second donline. It was a short walk from the lunch spot. When we walked for 500 meters, Howard asked the team to divide into two groups. Whoever had a camera and tripod would follow Watto up the second Doline to snap shots gazing down the forest. The others would be scale models. Because this was my first trip, I asked Howard if I could join the photography crew, and he agreed. Looking out of the Garden of Edam, a kind of Cheese (not the Garden of Eden) was such a spectacular sight. We then trekked through the jungle in the cave to reach Son Doong's second camp. Thin said that because we didn't have any water to wash ourselves today, we had to rely on moist tissues instead. While my buddies were snapping pictures at camp, I got a cup of coffee and read my favorite book. Thin said that dinner would be served by 6 p.m.

To be continued...
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