Conquering the world's largest cave in Son Doong is considered one of the experiences worth trying in life. In addition to the difficult journey, unique beauty in the cave world or the wonders of nature, the overnight campsites also impress visitors. These places were once published by British magazines, Daily Mail, voted "The most impressive camp in the world".
Pictured are Hang En camp, the first night stop in the journey to conquer Son Doong cave.
The Cave En camp is considered "unique in the world," according to Howard Limbert, a British cave expert. Here, the early morning rays of sunlight shine deep into the cave creating a fairytale-like scene. These rays usually only appear from December to February, due to the movement of the Earth's axis and the Sun. The campsite is also a great place to stargaze on cloudless nights.
The campsite is about 700 meters from the mouth of the cave, chosen for camping stops, with a cave arch 140 m high, 200 m wide, with fine sand and a blue lake, visitors can swim right in front of their tent. Also from this location, visitors can see monkeys and langurs swinging on the mouth of the cave. Image: Havcxd
Sinkhole Camp 1 is the second overnight spot of the itinerary. A sinkhole is an area where the cave arch partially collapsed, forming a skylight.
This camp is located nearly 5 km from the mouth of Son Doong cave. The camping site is located at the edge of the sinkhole so it receives light from the mouth of the cave.
The camp and common living space are located on the sandbar adjacent to the sinkhole wall. On a cloudy day, clouds can be seen just below foot from the sinkhole location. The humidity here is higher than Hang En, the temperature is lower than outside, cold and humid. Most of the utensils and clothes of visitors if dried here cannot dry, maybe even wetter.
50 m from the camp (about 10 minutes walk) is an underground river, the temperature is 18-20 degrees Celsius, visitors can swim and soak after a day of moving. To experience the underground river, visitors are required to wear a life jacket.
Sinkhole Camp 2 is much larger in size than sinkhole 1 due to the intersection of two faults during cave formation. The area is 175 m wide and 250 m high, counting from the crater. Inside the sinkhole is a primeval forest Garden of Edam, home to 40-meter-tall trees.
Sinkhole 2 is the last stop in the journey to conquer Son Doong cave. From here, visitors will spend a night before trekking for about 30 minutes and wade the river to reach the Wall of Vietnam and from there out of the cave. On rainy days, visitors can watch the cascades flowing from the cave ceiling without affecting the campsite.
The camp is located on fine sand, away from rivers and streams, so it is safe when there is unexpected rain and flooding. This is also the camp with the most light because of the wide cave entrance. The average temperature here is about 22 to 25 degrees Celsius in summer and about 16 to 20 degrees Celsius in winter.
The campsites have environmentally friendly toilets, not discharged into the water source or buried in the cave. Sanitary ware is machined separately, below is a waste bag container. When going to the toilet, visitors use rice husks to put in waste bags to dry as well as deodorize.
Tents (double or single) have insect nets, double-layer cushions, sleeping bags, blankets, pillows. Underneath the tent is a heat-insulated, moisture-insulated pallet. In addition, there is food, tea, coffee and meals and snacks at the camps.
According to VnE
Image: Hoang Trung, Oxalis Adventures