Central Vietnam: Quang Binh – Hang Ba Deep Jungle Expedition
The Hang Ba Deep Jungle Expedition Tour is a completely new product. Below are some special features of this tropical forest tour.
This expedition takes you to discover six incredible caves, including Dai Cao Cave, Maze Cave, Hang Ba Cave, Vinh Dai Cave, Light Cave, and Circle Cave. It is the best chance to catch a good view of the Milky Way and the Moon with your own eyes, enjoy the dark skies filled with stars and unpolluted by lights.
This is a tour to the core zone of Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park, for those who are passionate about nature, conservation, wildlife and exploring caves in Vietnam. The area is home to many rare and protected animals, and plants. This unique limestone massif, covered by an ancient tropical forest thousands of years old, is home to many caves for those who are interested in cave exploration.
The Hang Ba Deep Jungle Expedition Tour is a completely new product. Below are some special features of this tropical forest tour.
Hang Ba Deep Jungle Expedition leads you through an ancient primary tropical forest where almost 95% of the route is under the tree canopy.
Only on this nature discovery tour, will guests be able to participate in early morning activities to immerse themselves in nature. Listen to the early morning chorus of birdsong as a signal of a new day, combined with the calls of monkeys echoing around the jungle.
Experience 3 campsites just inside and next to spectacular cave entrances, with amazing views, and cool in summer and warm in winter. Campsites are all away from the areas of wildlife activity, so that humans will not disturb the animals.
For the first time, customers will have the opportunity to observe the footprints and other traces of wild animals such as Mountain Goat, Deer, Wild Boar, Gibbons, Langurs, and Wildcats. Moreover, Oxalis has installed many camera traps throughout the tour. Activated by movement, these cameras will record the day and night time activities of wildlife. Images and videos will be downloaded onto a tablet for guests to view. Observing animals in this way means we will not disturb the normal activities of the animals, or drive them away from their natural habitat.
This is a trek where customers will become real cave explorers. This cave exploration tour will enable you to discover six amazing caves such as Dai Cao Cave, Maze Cave, Ba Cave, Vinh Dai Cave, Light Cave and Circle Bay Cave. This Vietnam cave tour is the first tour to visit these caves since their original exploration in 1992 and 1994.
Camping in the deep jungle where there are no lights, provides an opportunity for guests to observe the stars, moon, and perhaps the milky way unimpeded by artificial light. This is also a rare chance for those living in big, bright cities to enjoy a truly natural dark night. Hang Ba expedition Tour porters, guides, and chefs have undergone training on how to limit unnecessary noise and disturbance whilst working.
This jungle expedition tour of 4 days and 3 nights leads you deep into the core zone of Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park with its challenging steep hills, sharp rocky terrain and natural caves, which is why you need to be well-prepared physically and with the correct clothing and equipment.
With a maximum of 6 customers per group, this special expedition will bring customers the best experience and at the same time make an important contribution to the conservation of biodiversity within the world heritage site of Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park.
PROGRAM DETAIL
Day 1. Safety briefing
Pick up from Dong Hoi airport/train station and take you to your hotel or homestay in Phong Nha.
At around 17:30 – 18:00: you will meet the tour guide and other members of the group at Oxalis Phong Nha office or at the hotel’s lobby (where the group is staying) to have a safety briefing as well as receiving equipment for the tour. A safety briefing session is required before starting the Expedition to make sure that you completely understand the nature of the trip. Note that you need to carefully read and sign the “Release Form” following the safety briefing.
19:30: The group has dinner together and then returns to the hotel.
Day 2. Phong Nha – KM 23 Road 20 – Deep Jungle Trek – Dai Cao Cave – Dai Cao Campsite
You should pack your belongings into the dry bag provided and take it to the reception of your hotel before 7:30 am (maximum 7kg/person). The dry bags will be delivered to the porter team, who will take them directly to the campsite, which means you can not access these bags during the trek. If there is anything you need to use along the way.
The bus will arrive to pick everyone up at 09:00: guests should enjoy breakfast at the hotel before and be ready to depart at 9 am. You should prepare 2L of drinking water, as there is no water along the trail.
The bus will take the group to visit the information centre at the Botanical Gardens. Here you can see examples of rare animal and plant specimens from Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park, as part of this nature discovery tour. After that, the bus will bring you to the drop-off point at KM23, on the Victory Road 20 deep inside the National Park to begin the expedition.
The journey to explore the jungle of Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park starts with a steep uphill section, straight from the road. After 3km of generally uphill trekking, the route then goes downhill for most of the way. The entire path is covered by dense primaeval forest with rare and ancient trees hundreds of years old, and you may see some animal tracks. The group will stop for lunch along the way.
After lunch, the group will continue trekking to reach the exit of Dai Cao Cave in the mid-afternoon. Here the guide will show you the animal footprints on the floor inside the cave.
Donning life jackets the group will swim into Dai Cao Cave to reach the tall main passage of the cave. the group will walk out of the cave for the first night at Dai Cao Campsite.
Having dinner at 18:00, relaxing, enjoying the quiet night or simply talking together and watching the night stars, the sound of the jungle will lull you to sleep.
Day 3. Hang Ba – Circle Lake – Light Cave Campsite
Waking up at 5:00 a.m. everyone will sit together next to the stream at the campsite, and enjoy some tea and coffee. Observe the animal prints along the river bank, listen to the birds singing, and the calls of monkeys and other animals echoing throughout the mountains and jungle in the early morning (you can choose to stay at the campsite and not participate in this activity).
At 8:00 am, after having breakfast, guests will pack up their bags (the porter team will set off with the camp bags soon after) and prepare to explore Maze Cave – a beautiful cave with cave formations and amazing fossils. Trek and swim for around 30 minutes to reach the first entrance. In this cave, on a sunny day, you may see some sunbeams shining deep into the cave passage. The tour guide will identify the footprints of the wild animals.
Leaving Maze Cave guests will return to the campsite for lunch. After lunch, trek through the forest for about 2 km, admiring the many ancient and beautiful trees. Clamber over the rocks to reach the impressive entrance of Hang Ba – a cave with 3 cave exits and a beautiful green underground river. You won’t be able to stop taking pictures when you see these spectacular views. When you exit Hang Ba, the beautiful scenery of Circle Lake surrounded by limestone mountains and cliffs is revealed. Crossing this lake you will arrive at the second day’s campsite.
The camp is located in the middle of Light Cave, a short but beautiful cave with 2 magnificent cave arches.
Dinner will be served at 18:00, the group then take a break, enjoy the night in the cave or just quietly watch the starry sky and the milky way. It will guarantee to be an experience you won’t easily forget.
Day 4. Morning Nature Concert – Circle Lake Cave – Vinh Dai Cave and Campsite
On day three of the journey, you will wake up at 5:00 am before dawn and paddle to Circle Lake to have some tea/coffee and listen to a special jungle concert. The sounds create a unique symphony. Don’t forget to check for animal footprints left on the sand during the night. To make the most of this nature and wildlife tour, be prepared to get up early and stay up late.
After enjoying breakfast at 8:00 am, customers can spend some time relaxing at Light Cave camp. The early morning sun illuminating both cave entrances will make you reach for your camera or phone.
After leaving Light Cave camp, the group will climb the steep hill above Circle Lake to explore Circle Lake Cave. The Circle Cave entrance is about 90 m wide and it is home to many animals. Camera traps are set up here and often capture some wildlife activity. Explore further into Circle Cave packed with endless cave formations and maybe see the sunbeams shining into this cave. Return to the campsite, take a rest and have lunch.
In the afternoon, carefully clamber over the rocky exit passage, before walking or swimming along the river to reach Vinh Dai Cave. Settle in at the campsite just inside Vinh Dai Cave and have a rest for tea and coffee before going to collect the memory card from the camera traps and reviewing the data from the previous days. Explore the main passage in Vinh Dai Cave, which also promises customers even more inspiring photo opportunities.
Day 5. Vinh Dai Campsite – KM23 – Phong Nha
Guests can wake up a little later than normal and have breakfast at 9:00 am. Then pack your bags and prepare for the challenging trek to the pick-up point at Km 23 on Road 20. You should prepare 2L of drinking water, as there is no water along the trail. The day starts with a long and steep hike from the campsite. For the first hour or so the trek involves sharp rocky terrain and lots of climbing and scrambling. In some difficult sections, you will need to use safety harnesses and ropes fully supported and assisted by the guide and safety assistant team.
From the top of the rocky section, the route continues uphill in some way, but the terrain is much easier. The group will stop for a light lunch along the way, before the final downhill section. Depending on the speed of the group, guests will reach KM23, Victory Road 20 between 15:00 – 16:00. There will be an Oxalis bus waiting to take you to Chay Lap Farmstay. After checking in, you can take your time to try some activities at Chay Lap such as:foot bath in Lot leaves, a herbal sauna or even a massage to restore your energy after a long jungle expedition.
At 18:00, at Chay Lap Farmstay’s restaurant, the group members will receive a medal and enjoy dinner together.
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Day 6. Chay Lap Farmstay – Dong Hoi
You will have time to enjoy breakfast and take a rest at Chay Lap Farmstay until the driver picks you up for the transfer to the airport or train station.
There are many places to visit around Chay Lap Farmstay such as Chay Lap Riverside Water Sports Center, Paradise Cave, Moọc Water Spring, Phong Nha Cave…etc.
Check-out time is 12:00 noon. Please let us know in advance if you would like to stay a few more nights at the farmstay.
