Who knew the jungle could be so loud? Even in the dead of night, in pitch darkness, the sounds of monkeys, exotic birds, and strange barking noises churn around camp in the remote, mountainous jungles of central Vietnam.
Around 5:00 a.m., a jubilant mix of cheerful Caucasian and Asian faces awaken, greeted by a sunrise over the valley ridge. The tails of well-hidden monkeys flicker here and there. The strange barking hasn’t ceased. Together with their local guides, the host of international travelers dine on fresh scallion pancakes cooked over gas stoves.
Sure, this jungle cave expedition was packaged, marketed, and extremely well-planned, covering all logistics; with itinerary, safety and equipment, and cleanliness taken care of.
Yet trekking through the mountainous jungles of Vietnam is still no picnic. Certainly not for your typical sandal-wearing, fair-weather tourist.
The party traverse the valley along Rao Thung Stream, up slick and muddy inclines fraught with fallen logs and hanging vines. Along the way, oxen are observed passively bathing chin-deep in soupy mud pits. The river has to be forded on foot like the American soldiers seen in Vietnam War movies. You had best be in good shape. Ban Doong village lies just ahead where they will stop for lunch with the indigenous Bru people. They have lived in the deep jungle for centuries.
There is something primal in these folks that many in the party take notice of and hope to capture and bring home with them, to their first-world lifestyle, to nurture. Something about this biosphere, perhaps, just conjures laughter. They are so happy.
Leaving the village, a three-hour hike now lies between the adventurers and the high cliff looming ominously in the distance, like a phantom over the dense jungle. Rao Thuong River has to be crossed again—and many more times. In short order, a sense of excitement brews in their spirits as the mist-strewn cliff hangs ever nearer, darkening the horizon upriver.
Hang Én is the third-largest cave in the world. In Quang Binh Province, near the Laotian border, it’s part of a larger system of caves laboriously excavated from the limestone crags by a series of underground rivers over millions of years. Hang Én is dwarfed by the sprawling Sơn Đoòng, the world’s largest cave, which lies not more than a few miles north, connecting with it. Both lie within Vietnam’s Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park.
Of the three entrances that permeate Hang Én, by far the largest opens like a great gaping window to the north. The party will enter from the south, under a low, horizontal arc of rock. Protective helmets, equipped with headlamps, and gloves are issued to guard against sharp rocks and accidental spills.
As the visitors prep to enter, flocks of swifts populate the misty air of the cave mouth. Literally thousands of swifts make their nests within the ceiling of Hang Én, and have long been a food source for the nomadic Arem people, who would create natural ladders from vines and sticks to scale the ceiling. Gazing up, the occasional monkey is seen hanging over the entrance, likewise.
The way is rugged until one reaches the bottom where sediment deposits next to a lagoon form a beach—a good place to camp. The dimensions inside Hang Én are simply mindboggling. As the travelers inch their way along, it is not too dark; giant diagonal blocks of sunlight bisect the vast subterranean space and can be seen marking the sand bed in a vast cavity. The scale is unworldly.
All their grueling efforts are rewarded on reaching the goal. Once tents are raised, bodies relieved, and meals had, the subterranean world is theirs to be enjoyed and explored. Geologic wonders abound with multi-million-year-old stalactites and stalagmites. Selfies are taken overlooking vast cave vistas. Refreshing dips are taken in the clear, turquoise lagoon.
At times, all one can do is bask in the dreamlike sublimity. Hang Én could house an entire football stadium easily—it’s more than the mind can handle.
Even as locals have long known about Hang Én and Sơn Đoòng, only in 1990 were they revealed to a gatherer of fragrant wood, Ho Khanh. His discovery led to a British-Vietnamese survey in 1994 before the greater Phong Nha Cave System was unveiled to the world at large.
The survey was no minor undertaking. With a volume of up to 22 million square feet, Hang Én stretches about 1 mile in length, its widest passage spanning about 650 feet, and its highest point reaching 475 feet. In comparison, Sơn Đoòng is about 3.1 miles long, 490 feet wide, and 660 feet high.
The next day, the guests of Hang Én bid farewell to the cave after breakfast by taking more swims in the lagoon and selfies with its myriad masterpieces of Mother Nature.
All that relaxation and memory-building will lighten the burden of an even longer hike ahead. From the cave’s gigantic exit, they will plod down another river valley to cross more rivers before climbing a steep 1,500-foot-high hill. Thankfully, at the top of the hill, a bus carrying cold drinks awaits them by the roadside.
