South-East Asia: always worth a visit. And Vietnam is no exception. As a tourist, you don't realize that the country is actually communistic. Turbo-capitalism, like everywhere in the neighbouring countries - with sometimes wild excesses like gigantic hotels for Chinese tourists. Booming cities. But you also find the opposite. Rural areas with original agriculture. The Vietnamese food is good everywhere. And the open and friendly people. What is missing compared to the other countries are dream like beaches. But maybe that is also an advantage! For speleologists Vietnam is theoretically a paradise - the country has one of the most impressive and largest tropical karsts in the world! The highlight is certainly the Phong Nha National Park - where the huge river cave systems like the Phong Nha system are located. Above all, the Hang Soon Dong - currently the largest cave passage on earth - by volume. UNFORTUNATELY we have to say, the country is not suitable at all for caving. "Adventure Tour Operators" control the cave systems. You are not able to move freely and you have to pay incredible feesto join guided tours. Unfortunately, a semi-criminal network of national park administration, police, military and tour providers has developed and taken control over the cave systems. We did not manage to break this system and gritted our teeth and paid for a few tours. It hurts not to be allowed to move freely in a cave as we are used to as autonomous cavers. Conclusion: A beautiful country for travelling - but unfortunately not for caving.
