Discover The World’s Most Incredible Caves in Vietnam! | On The Road with Niall and Adrie #4

“I keep forgetting that I'm in Vietnam, the country that I live in.” 

This episode was one of the most exciting and adventurous ones we’ve done so far. 

Exploring the caves in Phong Nha truly felt like stepping into another world—massive chambers, stunning rock formations, and even a bit of a Lord of the Rings vibe. The trek itself was no joke either—river crossings, steep climbs, and the constant challenge of staying warm and dry made it a real test of endurance. But that’s what made it so rewarding. 

Pushing ourselves physically and getting to experience such a breathtaking environment was absolutely worth it.

- Niall Mackay

Key Takeaways:

• Hang Tien Cave is part of the world's largest cave system
• Huu explains how the tour supports local employment
• Detailed explanation of limestone cave formation process
• Riverside campsite with sauna facilities
• Evening meal featuring local Vietnamese cuisine prepared by porters

Chapters & Timestamps:

01:00 – What’s Ahead: Trekking, River Crossings & Cave Exploring
02:00 – The Brutal Climb Out of the Cave
04:00 – Inside the Hang Tien Cave: A Geological Wonder
06:00 – A Proper Lord of the Rings Experience
07:00 – The Freezing River Challenge: To Swim or Not to Swim?
08:00 – Camping by the River & Sauna Time
09:00 – Local Food & Stories from the Porters
10:00 – The Haunting Sounds of the Cave: A Ghost Story

7 Bridges Brewing Co. - An award winning Vietnamese craft brewery from Da Nang, with breweries across Vietnam!

Rabbit Hole Irish Sports Bar - Check out their new location on Tran Nao with the best views in the city over Landmark 81!

Transcript

Niall: 2:37

This is the proper lot of the Rings Vage, this is. You

Unknown: 2:41

want to do it? I have to. Are

Music: 2:47

the signers

Unknown: 2:49

there? Can you speak in the signer? Oh,

Music: 2:51

yeah.

Unknown: 2:51

No.

Music: 2:52

Ha! Bông ra nưc, bông đch lt, Bông đch na, đng cúc lt,

Niall: 2:59

Bt sao đây? All right, Idri, what are we doing today?

Adrie: 3:06

We are going on our Aksalas tour today. Uh, it's the Hanging Tin Endeavor. It's a three day, two night trek through caves and jungleside and farms? I don't know, I don't know about the last part, but um, we'll be doing river crossings and swimming in a cave, um, sleeping by a river and And, uh, quite an intimidating incline to get out of the cave and then finish up our last day with a TV rep. We're not going into Sun Doom, which is the world's largest cave, but it's all part of the same cave system. So the caves are supposed to be incredible inside. Um, they're supposed to be massive. Everything we've heard from everyone that's ever been on these trips have said they're the most amazing, beautiful treks. So, I'm

Niall: 4:00

pretty excited. What are we

Adrie: 4:02

nervous about? Uh. I am particularly nervous because we're gonna get wet on the first day and we had to wear shoes that are drainable because they're gonna be wet like almost immediately and the temperature outside is like 18, 19 degrees so once you're wet in that kind of weather like it just doesn't dry so I'm a bit afraid we're gonna freeze to death but we'll see.

Niall: 4:24

And then you mentioned about the what's so scary about that?

Adrie: 4:28

The guide says that the climb is like 45 degrees. For 200 meters, like 100%, 45 Degree Inc. Climb for 200 meters. Thank you. So, which means we're basically climbing out of the cave and that's like the last thing we do on day two,. Niall: And then we Then we get to relax. Have fun. Niall: If you're thinking of you don't know where to begin. And get in touch with me. Not only do I make a VNAM podcast, I make smarter podcasting, and I run Seven Million Bikes podcast, where we help people make the best podcast possible. If you want to start a podcast, book a free discovery call with me, and I can check you through very quickly what you need to do, how I can help you, and how we can help you make the best podcast possible. So get in touch. The link is in the show notes. We're off on our adventure. We're going to cross through a river like we said, then we got to go through caves. We're going to be sleeping tonight in tents by the river, and then tomorrow night we're in our local homestay.

Huu: 5:29

So today you're not only coming here, you're also like, creating the job for the local people here as well, right?

Niall: 5:36

Ha Tien Endeavor Cave. We're gonna do two caves.

Huu: 5:38

Hang Tien.

Niall: 5:39

Hang Tien. Keep getting it wrong. Hang Tien Endeavor Tour.

Huu: 5:42

So in Vietnam, hang is mean cave. H A N G. Hang or don't. Dong also mean hang, and hang also mean dong, and they all mean cave. Okay? This one is the main entrance of the cave. And now over there, you've got that passageway. What you see now is the dry chamber. In the rainy season, the water still got up over this level. Okay, so now, uh, I need everybody to, uh, turn the light on. Yeah, Minxin, turn the light on. Yeah, this is the dry chamber. And you're gonna see, uh There's some, some mud color, some mud color or brown color on the wall. Yeah. So wherever you see, wherever you see the mud color, that is the water level that I took during the rainy season. Okay? Yeah. And you see, you see the rock here? Yeah, this is the limestone. Yeah, limestone, everybody. Yeah. So this is the main material to form the cave. Yeah, in this area. So most of the cave will be formed by the limestone, uh, mountain, everybody. Yeah. A limestone is the man. Uh, the ary rock will farm at the bottom of the sea by something like sea shell, coral roses and boats of the sea animal. So when they die, they fell out to the sea bat and then become compacted to form the rock. And due to the movement of the earth crush or technique plate moving the limestone around and some layer, they're gonna. Back on each other, layer by layer. Some layer they're gonna bend to each other to create the crack between, yeah. And during that time, the water still keeping running through the crack. And so it roll the limestone a little by a little. Yeah. And after million years, the crack become bigger and bigger. And then from the cake.

Niall: 7:38

I've been podcasting for years and the number one, two that helped me become an award-winning podcast producer is the script. No matter whether you're a tech wizard or a beginner like me, the script can help you with everything you need to start your own podcast. If you want to start your own podcast today, download this script. The link is in the show notes. It's my number one recommendation to help you create a podcast easily, smoothly, and it has heaps of AI features that make your podcasting even better. So check it out, let me know what you think. Let's get back to the episode. We made

Huu: 8:08

it. Okay, we did it. So everybody can come to the table to enjoy some. Ginger tea or coffee? We

Niall: 8:21

made it. Wasn't that hard. This is some proper Lord of the Rings vibes. This is. This is pretty awesome. We got some tea and coffee finally. Dying for a coffee. Here's our digs for the night. By the river. Between the mountain and the river. And when we got that wet. Alright we're here in this beautiful location and I'm gonna go swimming. Because why not? We're only here once. It looks cold. There's other people in. They can do it, I can do it. There's a really strong current, if you can see, and just watch this guy go in and literally couldn't move because the current, he was trying to swim against the current and couldn't move. So I'm not going to swim much, but I want to go in. And have a swim boat and then we go for a sauna afterwards. How amazing is that really? I my shot on, yeah. I'm expecting it freezing. Yeah, right. Big home to the father. You go out

Adrie: 9:30

going in,

Niall: 9:31

still contemplate going on

Adrie: 9:34

the swim to nowhere.

Niall: 9:38

If I go under I'm coming straight back out. I don't want to do it.

Music: 9:43

I have to. But the

Unknown: 9:44

sauna's there, I can go straight in the sauna. Oh yeah, no.

Huu: 9:48

Oh

Unknown: 10:00

that feels good. Yeah right. Oh, it's a proper workout.

Adrie: 10:08

This is so funny to watch. How does it compare to swimming in New Zealand?

Niall: 10:13

It's pretty similar to swimming in New Zealand.

Adrie: 10:15

Is it? Is that cold?

Niall: 10:16

Yeah, it's that cold.

Adrie: 10:18

Okay, well that's pretty much what I need to know.

Niall: 10:21

So it's pretty stunning, 5 30, our first night. You can go paddle boarding if you want, been for a swim. I keep forgetting that I'm in Vietnam, the country that I live in. This is such an amazing trip. It would be cool to come back here in the summertime when it's hot and sunny, but this is also amazing. So we've got a sauna, we've just done a sauna here, which is amazing. After you've had a cold swim, then you jump in the sauna. We've got single tents, double tents, you dry all your clothes, you don't even get changed in the tent, which is actually pretty good, so you don't get the tent dirty, you get changed in there. Then we've got a whole bunch of porters and chefs that are preparing our food tonight. How's the food?

Huu: 11:09

It's

Adrie: 11:10

really good. Really

Huu: 11:11

good. As

Niall: 11:13

you can see, we've already tucked into it. We've got some chicken, some beef stew, bok choy,

Adrie: 11:19

Caramel sauce,

Niall: 11:20

uh, what's this green sauce called? Che? Cheo?

Adrie: 11:24

Cheo, coriander, and peanut.

Niall: 11:27

Peanut sauce. Food, do you get sick of this food? Do you get bored of it? Um, I won't tell you much.

Huu: 11:37

Actually it's just some local food. It's almost the same menu, but they create some more local food that they usually cook at home. Do

Niall: 11:48

you eat the same food every time?

Huu: 11:50

Yes. Almost same menu every time. But this time we change the pork barbecue into chicken barbecue. Chicken is really good. Normally it would be pork. How was

Unknown: 12:04

that haunting sound that you heard in the caves? Still alive, still alive. The haunting was that dude that was left in the caves. It was a scary

Huu: 12:12

story. A ghost story. A local ghost story.