The Journey of a Lifetime: Exploring the World’s Largest Cave - Son Doong, Vietnam

Good morning guys! It is the first day of our trek to the world's largest cave in Vietnam. I could not be more excited. This is something I've been dreaming about for so long. I think I found an article about it back in 2018 and I even did a whole little speech about it in this Toastmasters I was in, an architecture firm, and I just cannot even believe I'm here and I get to go. So today we are trekking through the jungle to the third largest cave in the world and we're going to be camping in there and then continuing on through the world's largest cave, camping in there for two more nights, and then heading up the, I believe it's called the Vietnam Wall, which is this amazing like climb out of the cave. I think it's going to be such an amazing experience and I'm going to bring you guys all along with me. So let's go! We are starting the morning with breakfast at our hotel and then we are heading out on a six-mile jungle trek through the jungle, well actually as a jungle trek would, and then sleeping in the cave. We have officially begun the hike to the cave. We are heading into the jungle now and I am super excited. They gave us gloves, we tucked our pants into our socks so that the leeches can't get a track. Kells, are you ready? I'm ready! Okay so we just made it to lunch at the Dong Village. We are having lunch here at this little kind of house and the people here are really kind and amazing so far. The children are so cute. We just finished with lunch and now we are headed to the entrance of the cave where we are going to begin our caving journey. We have been hiking for quite some time now and we have been crossing multiple rivers. Apparently there's like 25 different river crossings I think in just one day so there is quite a lot of that and it's really lovely because they have these safety people who are along with us on the whole trek. There's six of them and they are always there to help you if you need it. Like he just appears out of nowhere and holds my arm which is so great. Thanks! Oh my gosh it's getting deep! We just got a glimpse of the cave entrance. It looks a giant and I can't believe we're going in there. I'm gonna sleep in there. What? We're on a raft. We're on a raft. Going across a lake. In a cave. In the middle of the cave. Crazy. Okay guys we made it to camp. We are in the world's third largest cave right now which is bonkers. We walked in through a side entrance and now we are in the main cave. It is amazing. We got to take some photos up on a rock that overlooks the whole area and now we are hanging out at camp. They made such an amazing camp. Like they have a dinner table. They have two saunas. They have a full toilet. They have our campsite set up. They have hanging areas for our clothes that are a little bit wet. They have a changing room. They have thought of everything. It's kind of crazy honestly. Who would have thunk that you would get a glamping experience in a cave? So I'm going to show you guys around this camp and I feel like you will be just as excited and like what's the word I'm maybe as me. So let's go. Okay welcome to my tour of our campsite. This is our tent. They give you these dry bags so you put all your stuff in and then the porters bring them and they set up these tents which have the like full mattress inside. It's hard to see but a full nice mattress and they give you a sleeping bag and a pillow. Okay so now you can see all the tents. We have a cute colored tent. I know we have the best one. Yeah and you can also go swimming in the lake which is crazy. I'm not sure. This is the lake. Maybe after the sauna I could convince myself to do it but right now I'm not so sure about that. It's a little bit chilly. Okay now we are going to head on over to our fireplace. Our fireplace. Fireplace area which is very exciting. This is the fireplace where we are all going to hang out tonight and wow. Okay now we have our bartender area where they said we can get coffee and ginger tea and lived and I don't know what else. Coffee maybe. We can send you on over. We are headed to the washing and sauna station. Wow. Okay. Show me more. What is that? Also the toilet. It's a toilet. Oh we have two toilets. We have multiple toilets and I'm sure you guys are wondering how are you going to go to the bathroom in a cave? Well they've set up a full toilet which is like I believe a compostable toilet but you put rice husk on top of whatever you do in the toilet and then. Because you don't use a toilet. Yeah I don't personally have to use one. You don't have to use a toilet. But for other people mere mortals they have to put the rice husk on top of it and then you come over to our little washing station right there. And then where's the sauna? Oh yes the most exciting part. It's right here right? This is the sauna which we are so excited to go in. They said they like put lemongrass too in it and so we have two saunas. Oh it's right there. Is it hot? Open the door. Whoa. Oh it smells amazing. Wait I don't want it on my face. Lemongrass. Yum. Oh my god. We are so excited to go in there. Like a luxury. I can't believe you can have a sauna in here. That is crazy. Okay uh should we do the toilet or do we not need to see that? I mean that's up to you. You know what we don't need to see that because I don't use it. She doesn't know anything about it. That wraps up my tour for today. We'll do another one tomorrow maybe and thanks for watching so far. Okay bye. Hey guys we are gonna go try out the lemongrass sauna. Um this light is actually blinding me and I don't know where I'm can't see where I'm walking right now. Oh god okay sorry this is not working but we're gonna go try out the sauna and I'm gonna bring you guys inside with me and you won't be able to smell it but it smells like lemongrass. Okay welcome to the sauna. You can barely see me. It's like kind of nice right near here. Yeah. Well um this is the sauna and it smells great. Okay see you guys in a bit for dinner. We just spent the last hour hanging out by the campfire and then they set up a little like long exposure set up for us so they put lights in the lake and then we got to all go and take photos and take turns standing and posing out on the lake so that was super cool and now we're just gonna go wash our face, brush our teeth, and get ready for bed since tomorrow is a very long day and the first time that we are going into Seondong. Okay I will see you guys in the morning. Bye! We are finally heading off to Seondong. We are exiting Hang'an cave. We just got to go to the coolest viewpoint and take some photos which was awesome and now we are headed to the main event. Tree, black tree, keep your leg apart, lean on, lean back. So we are heading down to the entrance of cave. They have geared us up in a harness, helmet, and light and we are ready to go. We are descending down this wall essentially and rocky portion so we are going to be roped in which is going to be super nice. Hey guys we are literally at the entrance right now. Cliff in and descend into Seondong cave. We have officially entered the cave. We are in the craziest place right now. We're about to go swimming in a cave. These are so cute like bumper boats. Okay guys we just went swimming in the cave which is crazy. They put us in this little like floaty river thing and just sent us down it and it was something else. Truly one of the experiences that I won't forget ever. This whole experience probably is that but that was that was something. So now we're freezing cold, heading back to camp, going to go in a sauna that they created in this cave and yeah that's my update. Okay bye! It is day three and we are in the cave and adventuring. We have done a few things this morning. We've shot at James Bond hole as they call it and another really beautiful area as well as had breakfast and now we are like traversing across this crazy rock area which I'm about to have a belt put on me so that I can safely cross. Here I'll show you guys what we're doing. So they put us in what is essentially these like caving belts. It's kind of half of a harness without the leg loops and we are attached to a rope on the side of the wall because on the other side as you can kind of hear there's a river and what I believe is a 40 meters rock so they really don't want us falling here. It would basically be deadly so we are attached to the side and then we're climbing along the side of the rock and then up a ladder all the way into the entrance which is so cool. Nice! We got to the craziest viewpoint right now where you can see our campsite from last night through this giant hole in the wall. It literally feels like we've walked into this amazing jungle like Jurassic Park and we are just surrounded by cliff walls and it's just absolutely unreal. We are beginning to approach one of the most beautiful places in the cave and the most iconic it is called the wedding cake and we've been praying for light and we are starting to see some sunbeams come in so we are getting so excited. We have officially gotten to the third and final campsite and I got here and immediately dropped my backpack and zipped off my pants. They're shorts, don't worry. And now we're just gonna be hanging out for the rest of the day. We got here pretty early but I am so tired like I thought I was doing really well until the very end and my back just started dying from wearing that backpack all day. I don't even feel like I have that much in it but I don't know. I'm very happy to be here and be able to relax and as you can tell it's like a very lively, fun, campsite, stunning view and they gave us such a good tent. Like our view is right there. Wait okay, watch. That's the view which is crazy and yeah I'm gonna go hang out and just chill. Good morning guys. It is the morning of the fourth day and our final day. We are heading out of camp right now and we just got suited up in these full body harnesses so we will not be falling off of anything but we are headed to see some amazing things today. We see a Okay I've got to go but we see a stalagmite area, we see some cool boats and we get to cross on like a raft and then we are climbing the Vietnam Great Wall to get out and then hiking through the jungle to get to our final bus which will take us away to our little farmstay. We have just gotten to this amazing section of the cave which has all these giant stalagmites and stalactites. One comes down from the ceiling and one comes up from the floor. I forget, keep forgetting which one is which but it is gorgeous. You have all of these and we're just walking through it and of course we stopped for a photo op as we always do. Stalactite comes from the ceiling and stalagmite, like a mite, comes from the ground. I learned that yesterday. Oh like a stalactite. Bug mite. So that's a stalactite behind us. A really giant one which is pretty cool. We are currently looking for bugs and little fish. Apparently while we've seen a louse, we've seen a louse, I think a millipede, an albino fish, a skipper thing. It's pretty amazing that they survive here and there was a bunch of new species discovered when they discovered this cave. We officially finished conquering the Great Wall of Vietnam at the very end. Essentially they put you in these harnesses and then attach you to these ropes and they are kind of like repelling you from the top and then you're climbing up these black ropes while leaning back so you're like pulling yourself up and you go through three different stations of that. It was actually really fun and very cool to do and then at the top they set up a little entrance and now we are heading out to the exit. It is a little bit of a wave and then we have some slippery rocks to climb down after that but then we go through the jungle and to the bus and then it's over. Sad. We left the cave. We have officially left the cave and are now trekking through the jungle. It's kind of a bittersweet goodbye. I mean like I'm a little bit ready to be out of a cave but also what a cool adventure. I would totally do it again in a heartbeat. They said one minute till we are at the top into beer or coca-cola. Yes! Where's my beer? Yes! Cheers! Tastes like Coors Light. Oh he's got it. He's got all of it. He's stealing your cameras. Hey guys so we are at the camp and I wanted to just do a little bit of like a chat where we talk about stuff. I don't know if you guys followed along on my YouTube channel but if you have been you know that me and my boyfriend just broke up and I am starting a year-long solo travel trip across Southeast Asia and Australia. Maybe possibly New Zealand but this is like the first big adventure on that and I feel like it has been so unbelievably amazing and has really influenced my thought process going into this trip about how I want to approach it and just how I want to approach like my life. I feel like being here in such an amazing place and experiencing such a cool like almost expedition. I mean we're definitely being treated way better than a normal expedition would but it's made me realize how much I just love being outdoors and in these like physically challenging environments and doing things that feel off of the normal tourist kind of path and I feel like it's influencing me in a way that's allowing me to kind of see how I want my career to go and how I want my life to go. It's been so amazing just being able to be one of the people who get to come in this cave and like photograph it and document it and I feel like I've found kind of the style of photography or things that I want to continue doing in filmmaking so I hope you guys have been liking this video so far. I really appreciate you guys watching. We still have one more full day on this track which is really exciting. I think maybe the final thing that I would want to talk about is just like getting out of your comfort zone and like doing things that are off the normal beaten track and challenging yourself because I think this is maybe something a lot of people don't think they could do or would want to do because it sounds so scary. It's like you're going through a giant cave but it is honestly so amazing and I feel like it's where you grow the most is when you kind of challenge yourself to do things that are a little bit outside of your comfort zone. So I will see you guys tomorrow and we will finish the adventure but I just wanted to kind of chat. Okay, bye!