Vietnam Hidden Natural Wonders
Written by David Scherz

From the top of the mountain and into the jungle. Vietnam, the Southeast Asian coastal country is rapidly becoming more on trend. But away from the booming holiday resorts, there is still authentic, original sites with nature parks and green wonders. A documentation of a trekking tour through the fascinating country.

High up in the mountains to the north and deep in the jungle of Central Vietnam
there is: untouched nature and authentic people. The latest insider tips in one booming vacation destination.

Experience history to feel the country
Weapons, ammunition, food supplies. All that and certainly many more Americans were hiding here during the Vietnam war about 50 years ago. In this exact cave, at this exact place, where we just stood. We left the gigantic “Elephant Cave” feeling fascinated and at the same time a little awestruck. It is the first stop on the second day of our trekking tour through the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park in Central Vietnam, in the middle of the Jungle and far from civilization.

Protected Paradise
The area was created some 400 million years ago and thus making it the oldest Karst mountain range in all of Asia. During the Vietnam War of 1955-1975, soldiers with their equipment were hiding here and today the area is a protected national park and even UNESCO World Heritage Site. Only for a few years have small parts of the park and selected Valleys and caves been open for tourism. The entire area is twice as large as Vienna, almost completely untouched, covered by tropical Jungle traversing hundreds of huge cave systems and underground rivers.

Crystal Clear Water
Exploratory tours are with licensed organisers only, such as “Jungle Boss Trekking Tours” who are granted access by the official park rangers. We went the second day of the tour with our small group without meeting any other tourists.

Following narrow paths through the dense tropical forest, we walk straight into riverbeds and wade through ankle-deep water, amidst climbing over huge boulders. The whole effort is finally rewarded, punctually at noon, we see in front of us the picturesque Ma Da Lake in the middle of the jungle. After cooling off in the crystal clear water, a typical regional barbecue lunch prepared by the team awaits us. Although the huge “dry” caves are fascinating, one of which we explored in the tour, “Elephant Cave” – as mentioned at the beginning.

Cave Swimming
The real thrill is to experience swimming the cave. Equipped with a life jacket, protective helmetand headtorch, we must fight our way once again over huge rocks to the entrance of the gigantic Tra Ang Cave. Then we begin into the water and swam 600 meters into the cave, everything around us completely darkened, and it was silent and still. 30 meters above us the ceiling, 20 meters below us the floor – a very powerful feeling, and possibly a real once-in-a-lifetime moment.

The stay in the jungle overnight in the tent exceeded our expectation. We hit our camp on a sandbank of a river. In the evening there is grilled food and the guides give us one or more rice wine. Finally on the next day, there is another valley, another 12km jungle hiking, cave trekking and cave swimming on the program but it shouldn’t be too over-the-top.

Frontier Workers
The second stop of this adventurous trip through Vietnam leads us to the mountainous north of the country. The landscape above and around Sa Pa is one of the highlights, according to many tourists that storm through the area, and correspondingly many hotels rising from the ground. Therefore, it becomes clear to us that we must go further north, up to the Chinese border, to the secluded Ha Giang Province. Because this region is even more spectacular, and being barely touched by tourism, the villages and cities are still authentic. A tour through the dramatic mountain landscape is considered the most exciting and beautiful
adventure in Vietnam, but there are few tourists here because of the relatively bad roads and thus quite a long journey.

What fascinates us even more than the landscape is the colorful variety of mountain people. There are more than 50 ethnic minorities in the area, made up of about 14 million people who live in the closest border area to China. Every minority has its own language, its own customs and their own hand-woven costumes. The colorful robes of women are everywhere on the green rice terraces as you travel through this area. Even though here the oxen the pull the plow, life here is gradually becoming more modern, as we noticed at the overnight stays in authentic homestays. After the traditional dinner shared with the hosts, we were able to log into the highspeed WLAN to get the best photos of the day uploaded onto Instagram.

Spectacular Mountain Roads
The deeper we go into the mountains with limestone peaks, that granite blocks and the steep rice terraces penetrate, the more speechless we become of this dramatic landscape. There are countless serpentines going up and up, past secluded mountain villages, surrounded by lush greenery and lush vegetation. We feel as if we were in the middle of a documentary about the universe, it is so unbelievably beautiful here. Accordingly you have to make intermediate stops to take photos or just to admire the moment. The route finally leads us to the legendary Mã-Pí-Lèng Pass. Driving the narrow pass road to the mountain, with the steep slope on one side and the rocks on the other – there is hardly anything more spectacular.

Colorful Diversity
What fascinates us even more than the landscape is the colorful variety of mountain people. There are more than 50 ethnic minorities in the area, made up of about 14 million people who live in the closest border area to China. Every minority has its own language, its own customs and their own hand-woven costumes. The colorful robes of women on the green rice terraces can’t be missed as you travel through this area. Even though here the oxen the pull the plow, life here is gradually becoming more modern, as we noticed at the overnight stays in authentic homestays. After the traditional dinner shared with the hosts, we were able to log into the highspeed WLAN to get the best photos of the day uploaded onto Instagram.

Beach Life
After so much adventure and so many experiences that you can have in a Vietnam trip, it is much needed to have a few days rest at the sea. With a coastal length of 3,444 km there are countless wonderful beaches, but we decide on Da Nang at the famous Non Nuoc Beach. Here we simply enjoy the idleness, before finally returning to the starting point of the trip in Hanoi. The capital, with approximately 6.5 million inhabitants, can be quite exhausting. It will be a short stay in this mega-city, in one of the elegant hotels near the old quarter, in order to keep an intense, typical Asian experience a positive memory.