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Tu Lan Cave - Photo: Ryan Deboodt
Tan Hoa is a large valley, surrounded on all sides by jagged limestone mountains. The strangest thing about Tan Hoa is the flood season. At that time, the floodwaters rise and cover everything, turning the valley and jagged mountains into a... Ha Long Bay in the middle of the green forest. Tu Lan Cave is located in these karst mountains.
Test of strength and perseverance
Unlike the cave system in Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park (in Bo Trach district), the Tu Lan cave system is quite low, interwoven with many streams and rivers that are always full of flowing water. The streams seem endless, winding mysteriously between the majestic rocky mountains of the Truong Son range, in some places crashing straight into the cave entrance and disappearing into the mysterious darkness.
From Phong Nha, we followed the eastern branch of the Ho Chi Minh Trail north to Tan Hoa Commune. From April to June, both sides of the road into the commune were covered with lush green corn fields, and the ripe corn turned into golden fields in the sunshine, interspersed with patches of lush green forest trees. The scenery was so poetic, stretching along both sides of the road into the commune center, making our hearts flutter.
To get to Tu Lan, we had to cross many forests, wade through many streams, and sometimes swim in dark caves. On each trip like this, we brought along full jungle equipment such as clothes, specialized backpacks, helmets with LED lights, gloves for rock climbing, and ropes to lower into caves...
The road to conquer Tu Lan cave - Photo: Ryan Deboodt
The experience begins with gentle streams, winding through rock clumps or rocky mountains in the middle of a flat area. Next are steep and dangerous cliffs, sharp rock edges honed by wind, water and time for hundreds of millions of years, as if challenging everyone's strength and perseverance.
Tu Lan is not an easy tour and there is only one way to get there. Therefore, at dangerous or difficult points, Oxalis Travel Company has to reinforce additional support equipment for tourists such as ladders, wooden planks, etc. But it all depends on the ingenuity of each person.
The road to Tu Lan also has its own characteristics: after a stream crossing, there is a mountain climbing. And after every time your clothes get wet, there is a time to dry them by the sun, wind and climbing the cliffs.
The magic of stone
In the caves of Tu Lan, many rocks have flat surfaces like tables, as if someone had crafted them. There are oval stalactites surrounding a swimming pool, surrounded by countless strangely shaped rocks that make many people think of a fairy-tale bathing pool.
Experiences like this, even once in a lifetime, are hard to forget.
Burst out because of loveAmazing things in the cave - Photo: Ryan Deboodt
The last stop on this tour is a dry cave with a very wide dome, with two large doors next to each other so that sunlight shines deep inside, revealing stalactites, rock niches... in a myriad of shapes.
Millions of years of geological movement have created countless round, smooth pebbles like marbles, or black stone slabs with painted patterns. Many rock veins are covered with shimmering stalactites and stalactite columns sparkle as if studded with sequins...
The most interesting thing about this tour is climbing mountains, cutting through forests and swimming in rivers and streams in dark caves, or with only a flicker of LED lights. On the way to Tu Lan, you have to swim through five stages in the cave like that. Then there are the towering cave vaults, the cave always changes in height, width and narrowness, making everyone go from surprise to extreme excitement.
The strangeness of nature makes people always feel small - Photo: Ryan Deboodt
There are places where the cave is hundreds of meters wide, with water flowing gently inside like a giant swimming pool. There are places where the cave is narrow, full of slippery, uneven rocks. To avoid falling, you have to feel your way with each step carefully on the mossy rocks.
Entering the water cave, it is so interesting to let yourself drift in the clear, cool water because of the limestone mountains. Or use a lamp to shine light on the cave walls and ceiling and admire the magical stalactites, then let your mind wander to associations about the shapes of the rocks...
Before ending the trip, we jumped into the deep stream, the pouring water felt like a massage for our aching legs from wading through streams and climbing mountains, the feeling was wonderful.
