Caving in Vietnam

In one life we can’t do it all. And so I could not do caving.

But I certainly did wish to once, like a child that wants it all in a candy shop.

Naturally, nothing is free – so a real caving adventure demands lengthy preparation – which I did not have the time or enthusiasm to do.

So I begin this note on this apologetic backfoot…. apologising to a past version of myself for not living this particular dream.

As a consolation I did do a little touristy caving for aday, in Ninh Binh a few hours outside Hanoi. Vietnam is fulllll of cave systems and I’ve been to Halong Bay and to Kuci … each exciting in a different way. And this one was going to be yet another version of ‘different’.

Going in a small boat we rowed into the silence along the waterways within thickly forested hills.

The space and the silence and the cloudy day made the whole atmosphere surreal. Like we were in one of the antique Chinese B&W paintings showing us unreachable places faraway.

And here we were in that unreachable place isolated into a bubble or serenity.

The paddling and a little bit of talking was all there was to hear.

Now I won’t type more…. because the videos suffice to show a world that is beyond imagination:

Here is the 3 minute composite clip:… If you watch it on youtube / fullscreen, the sense of proximity will be enhanced. [Link to youtube in case this is not visible on your screen]