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EN
Born in 1987, Ha Duy is a renowned designer known for his party wear, which is popular among many Vietnamese artists. Besides his passion for fashion, he is also an adventurous explorer. In early August, Ha Duy embarked on a journey to explore Son Doong Cave to fulfill his desire to visit this wondrous place.
Son Doong is the world's largest cave, and therefore, Son Doong exploration tours are considered a type of adventure tourism. Participants can choose from easy to difficult levels of adventure, but must still meet the prerequisites of physical fitness and must learn how to navigate the jungle and use safety equipment to support the trip. During his 4-day journey, Ha Duy chose the difficult level to challenge himself.
On their first day visiting Son Doong Cave, the designer and his team had to trek 10 km through the forest to reach En Cave, a nesting site for many swallows in a spacious and high cave chamber. After passing En Cave, the team had to continue deeper underground to get closer to the entrance of Son Doong Cave.
Ha Duy and his group had to walk 10 km through the forest and wade through streams to reach En Cave.
To venture deep into the cave, visitors must use ropes to descend and navigate along slippery rock walls. This was also the most terrifying experience for Ha Duy, as he slid down into the dark and dangerous area. "The feeling of walking on a sheer rock wall with pitch-black darkness below was truly spine-chilling," Ha Duy exclaimed.
To enter Son Doong Cave, the designer had to rappel down into a dark and slippery area.
After descending into the cave, the designer's next fear was the complete darkness, except for the faint light from the helmets of each member of the team. After about 3-4 hours of walking inside the cave, he was able to admire the stalactites and stalagmites, rock formations sculpted by nature, possessing a majestic beauty that was "beyond imagination."
The stalactite formations inside the cave are breathtaking to anyone who sees them.
After spending the whole day inside the cave, Ha Duy's group rested at a sinkhole – which he considered the most beautiful spot of the entire trip. "This is the most beautiful place on this trip, because of the sounds, the space, the climate, the size of the cave, and the incredibly diverse vegetation," Ha Duy shared.
To reach the second sinkhole, Ha Duy had to overcome the first one with great difficulty. However, this was where he took many beautiful photos and gained a lot of knowledge, such as understanding how nature created the stalactite formation shaped like a wedding cake, and how the water shaped the stalagmites and cave pearls. The second sinkhole is a place of majestic and vast natural scenery with incredibly diverse underground vegetation. When spending the night there, the echo and sensitivity of the cave allowed the designer to hear any sound.
Ha Duy had to struggle greatly to get past the first sinkhole.
The final day exploring Son Doong Cave was the most challenging. The entire group had to paddle across a large lake inside the cave to reach the final point of the journey – known as the "Vietnam Wall". The skills they had learned, along with the help of experts, helped Ha Duy and his friends overcome this arduous journey.
At the end of the trip, Ha Duy had accumulated valuable experience and knowledge about trekking in the forest, swimming, climbing streams, crossing waterfalls, and especially the spirit of teamwork. His journey also serves as motivation for many adventurous people who love nature to plan a trip to explore the still-mysterious regions of Vietnam.
