While planning my three-week trip through Vietnam, my research led me to Phong Nha National Park. This area includes two of the largest limestone regions in the world and is located about 500 kilometers south of Hanoi, in north-central Vietnam. The park features hundreds of caves and was designated a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site in 2003.

Welcome to the Jungle…

What really sparked my curiosity was the fact that, in April 2009, British researchers discovered twenty new caves in this park, with a total length of 56 kilometers — including what they claim to be the largest cave in the world: the Son Doong Cave.

When you come across something like that while planning a trip, there’s really no time for hesitation — at least not for me. I knew instantly: I had to explore this part of Vietnam. Through the agency Oxalis, I found the perfect adventure for me — a tour called: Wild Tu Lan Cave Explorer.

  • 17 km of trekking through jungle and across mountainous terrain

  • Elevation changes of up to 150 meters (from valley floor to mountain peak)

  • 1 km of swimming through caves (each cave between 200–500 meters)

  • 4 km of cave hiking

  • 3 days and 2 nights in the jungle and inside caves

The itinerary alone looked incredible — but the reality? Even more intense than anything on paper. Sigh.

From Phong Nha, we took a bus another 70 kilometers deeper into the park, right up to the border with Laos. That’s where our tour guide “Kayak” joined us. On the bus, I also met the rest of the group for the first time. We didn’t know each other yet, but as Kayak already hinted, that was about to change: “Today you’re still strangers, but in two days, you’ll be best friends.” And what can I say — he was absolutely right. The jungle tour truly brought us together.

When we arrived at the second Oxalis office, things started to get serious. We were allowed to bring 2 kg of personal belongings, including hygiene items. The rest of our luggage had to stay behind. After a short briefing by our second tour guide, “Vu,” the adventure began.

To really get a feel for those three unforgettable days, I highly recommend watching the video:

A few notes and funny anecdotes about the film:

When I had to cross a river for the first time and ended up with water up to my thighs, I already found it more than uncomfortable to continue walking with wet pants. But in hindsight, that was quite the overreaction. *haha In the next two days, I quickly learned how normal it is to start your day in wet clothes—and by 9 a.m., you’re already swimming in them. Amazing how quickly your mindset can change. 🙂

If you’ve watched Dr. Bob, you know that you’re always supposed to go to the jungle toilet in pairs at night. But since our tour guides probably weren’t familiar with the show, that rule didn’t apply to us. Of course, most people still avoided leaving their tents at night voluntarily to visit the “long drop” in the dark. On the second night, though, I took the risk—because when you’ve gotta go, you’ve gotta go. According to my phone, I left the safety of my tent at 3:20 a.m. Armed with a headlamp and wearing flip-flops, I shuffled 20–30 meters into the jungle along a narrow path. All I could hear was the waterfall, strange jungle noises, and the rustle of the underbrush. A thin mist hovered over the ground. I could only see what was directly in the beam of my headlamp, depending on where I turned my head.

Then I spotted the makeshift toilet hut—cloaked in a blue plastic tarp, just waiting for its next visitor. The whole vibe reminded me a bit of Camp Crystal Lake from the movie Friday the 13th. All that was missing now was Jason. *grrrrrrrr Still, since I made it back to Germany, nothing happened to me that night, and I was able to use the red bucket inside for its intended purpose without any drama. But let’s be honest—that nighttime trip was creepy as hell.

A quick note about the card game from the film: At the start, each player gets 4 cards. The first person to collect 4 of a kind wins. On cue, everyone passes one unwanted card to their neighbor on the left. As soon as someone has, say, 4 aces, they shout the predetermined code word and grab a cup placed in front of them. The others follow suit. But there’s a catch—one cup is missing. So one person will be left empty-handed. And that person has to take a big swig of rice wine as punishment. The rules were simple, but man, it was a lot of fun.