Thurs/Fri 4th/5th Jan – Hang En Cave

CR: This was obviously going to be too hard for me, so naturally it was Declan’s key activity while being in Vietnam. Before we could even pay for the hike, Declan had to send detailed and photographic evidence of previous hikes we’d been on. The initial reluctance to accept our hapless tourist money before we’d even made it into the country was a red flag that this perhaps would be difficult. I was easily the least fit person in the 15 strong tour group, and plodded resolutely at the back where I could always guarantee a safety assistant (a fit Vietnamese man that doesn’t speak English) was in flailing arm’s reach.

Lunch on the first day was stressful. It was at the bottom of the steep (muddy, everything is muddy) descent into the jungle floor. The villiage has a population of sixty and the only way in and out is to do the two-three hour trek we had just completed. Any building materials or food have to be carried in. Consequently, the living conditions were very sparse – mostly single room housing raised off the ground for the rainy season (which is just ending now). The first fifteen minutes was dedicated to taking shoes off, killing any leeches on clothing, removing any leeches on skin, washing hands. Food was prepared for us but even eating on a raised platform away from the leeches wasn’t calming due to the pack of roving dogs we were very explicitly told not to feed because they would bite. I didn’t have enough time to get a rabies shot before coming and I do not enjoy the mangy dogs. Three huddle at my feet. It’s enough to miss the leeches.

Leeches do inspire more forward momentum in the group than there would be otherwise. Don’t stop to look around – you’ll get leeches. Don’t stop to have a drink – you’ll get leeches. Don’t stop to check for leeches – you’ll get leeches. Don’t stop to remove leeches – you’ll get more leeches.

The time hiking was comparable to what Declan and I regularly do but the terrain was harder – more than half of it was squelching mud, and half of that was on a pretty steep gradient. The river crossings were edging on treacherous (the highest were just below waste height) and it’s a sheer blessing I didn’t fall in. We only took Declan’s phone due to the high risk of getting entirely soaked. It is quite nice looking back on the photos Declan took on the trek because I spent the entire time focusing on not to slip and break any limbs.

DW: Highlights include:

• Leeches! They were innumerable during the first half of the first day and the last half of the second day. I got bit once in the cave (from one we bought in, the cave doesn’t have its own), but didn’t notice until after. One trekker got bit on the head and that continued to bleed for a while. They treated them with disinfectant and bandaid after. Noone liked the leeches. The porters often didn’t have socks though, so I don’t know how often they got bit. Shout out to Pauline’s Xmas socks. Double layered there were impenetrable to leeches.
• Jerry the ex-illegal Laotian logger/ex-illegal unexploded ordnance salvager turned safety assistant. Caitlin was very grateful for the safety assistants and they had her pegged from the start as the type of lady thats pays their wages.
• Water buffalo’s favourite food is the bottom bark(like substance) off banana trees. We learnt this in Phong Nha, but the water buffalo in the park were eating nothing but this bark off the wild banana trees.