Son Doong tour through the lens of a Vietnamese tourist

The beauty of Vietnam’s Son Doong - the largest cave in the world - can be seen through the vivid and lively photos of Vietnamese tourists.



The first morning of the Son Doong tour, after taking breakfast and milky coffee at a restaurant on the bank of Son River, we walked through the forest in over one hour to get to the Doong Village, Quang Binh province.



This is the first stream on the journey. On the way you will see giant butterflies and pristine forest and mountains.



                        Beautiful natural scenery on the way to En Cave.



                    The first cave, about 10-minute walk to En (Swallow) Cave.



                                    We set up camp at the cave mouth.



An underground spring at the door of En Cave. The air in the cave was very strange. In the evening, strong wind came blew from the cave to the door until about 2am, when it was windless, making the air full of smell of swallow feces. The temperatures dropped in the early morning.



John, a member of the British Royal Caving Association, helped me turn on the lights in all tents to take this photo.



The back door of En cave. From here is a long distance before reaching Son Doong cave.



All the suffocating heat and fatigue was dispelled as soon as you stepped into Son Doong cave, thanks to the cool air from the deep cave below.



                               This is Mark and his daughter Sophia.



The next campsite in the second night was at first sinkhole. The landscape is mysterious with constantly changing clouds, cliffs of strange figures, sound of streams, and extremely fresh air.

Mark said repeatedly: "Paradise! Paradise! Paradise! ..." He said the decision to join this trip was a great one and he will never forget this moment.



Tourists walked in darkness to the site where they took a bath. In the light, the rocks in the cave glisten as if there were thousands of diamonds inside the case.



      Everyone agreed that this was the best swimming pool they had ever seen.



                On the third day of the itinerary, we walked around sinkhole 1.



                                                Above is paradise ...

                                             The center of sinkhole 1.

                                                             Eden.

The campsite near the 2nd sinkhole. This place has no water for bathing, but has sand and rocks. Dim light from the cave door makes the ground turnpale blue.



The last distance into the cave to the Vietnam Wall. To reach the final destination, we had to wade through muddy road, which is just a span wide and about 450 m long.



         The light at the end of the road. This is the entrance of Son Doong cave.



                              The journey in the dark cave ended here.

Photo: Kien thuc
Translated by Pha Le