Cave Explorers
It was pitch black. The only light to illuminate anything was coming from our headlamps. We had walked quite far into the Dark Cave and had reached the edge of a pond/lake. This is as far as we can go, I thought. But I was wrong. The two Dutch guys and Leland, the American started to wade into the pond and swim, with only their headlights to shine the way. I looked at the Vietnamese guide who had sold us the tickets to the Dark Cave…”are you going in too?” I ask. Not going to be a good sign if the local refuses to swim in this lake in this pitch black cave. He nods. I’m relieved.
The two Dutch girls and I debate whether we should follow. Two of the Canadians had decided not to come to the Dark Cave at all and the other two had come this far into the cave but weren’t wearing their swimmers so decided to wait for us there.
Evelyn, one of the Dutch girls starts to wade in and the guide is beside her. Only Louisa and I are left…shit shit shit. Louisa says “are you going? I don’t want to go in alone.” I remember Julie and Jay’s advice: do one thing a day that scares you. Well this was scaring me shitless. “Yes, I’m coming” I say before I can change my mind, and push myself into the water. I hope my headlamp doesn’t fall off my head.
Once in the water, I try not to think about what could be underneath or above us and just concentrate on swimming to the other side. The others are waiting for us. There’s not much on the other side…but we take a moment to relish the fact that we all just got over our fears. Someone suggests we all turn off our headlamps and just stand in the pitch blackness for a second. It’s cool. We turn around and swim back across. Mission accomplished!!
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10 of us booked for the day tour for Paradise Cave, Eco Park, and Dark cave. 4 other Canadians (they all looked about 16, from Edmonton), an American from Boston, two Dutch couples, and myself.
Phong Nha has only recently opened up to tourism and Paradise Cave was discovered about two years ago. It’s a massive cave, 55km in total, but only 1 km of it is open to us. They’ve built a pathway in the cave and loads of mainly Vietnamese tourists are visiting each day. As we walk, we spot a group of Vietnamese guys who look like they’re a part of a boy band. Similar hairstyles, jeans, and black blazers (who wears black blazers to sight see in a cave?). When they spot the 4 Canadians, they ask to take a photo with them. Tourists are like celebrities here.
The highlight of the day is the Dark Cave. We rent double kayaks to paddle up the stream to the mouth of the Dark Cave and wander in and finish the day off with a swim across the pond inside the cave in total darkness. Way cool.
