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Does anyone here know if there is there any decent caving in north Vietnam? Work is sending me to Hanoi for a week and a half later this year and I'd like to try to get underground for a few days while I'm there. (I've seen the famous Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park, but that is in central Vietnam about 470km away.)
Thanks for any info or links!
Ari

A quick online search came up with this information.

Tam Cốc-Bích Động is a popular tourist destination near the city of Ninh Bình in northern Vietnam.

The Tam Cốc (“three caves”) portion is a three-hour excursion by small boat along the Ngô Đồng River, beginning at the village of Van Lam and proceeding through a scenic landscape dominated by rice fields and karst towers. The route includes floating through three natural caves (Hang Cả, Hang Hai, and Hang Ba), the largest of which is 125m long with its ceiling about 2m high above the water. The boats are typically rowed by one or two local women who also sell embroidered goods.

Thanks - I had come up with Tam Coc by a quick online search as well. Phuong Hoang, Dau Go, and Song Sot in Halong Bay also come up. However, I would rather not just go to the tourist show caves. Is there a local grotto I could reach out to, or does anyone know local cavers there?

Sorry Ari, I don't have any information for any NSS members or grottoes in Vietnam.
Hopefully someone else reading Cavechat can help you out.

CHeck the NSS Members Manual (I would but it is at home).

CaverScott wrote:Check the NSS Members Manual (I would but it is at home).

I'm staying (temp) in an AirBnB room currently, and still have my Members Manual handy! Unfortunately, there is no listing for Vietnam...

adoucette, here is a link that might help you out.

http://www.wanderlust.co.uk/magazine/ar ... s?page=all

This article mentions some British Cavers who might could help you out. As stated in the article, "I’d been to the area before, and had met Howard and Deb Limbert, members of the British Cave Research Association."

Perhaps if you do a bit of Research online, you can possibly find Howard and Deb Limbert online by searching British Cave Research Association, or Howard and Deb Lambert. Maybe they can give you some tips. Good luck with your trip. They might even be
NSS members. I did not check to find out.
John Hutchison

The national caving organization of Vietnam has a Facebook group with 1,860 members. I am sure that some of them would be pretty knowledgeable about the caves in Northern Vietnam. Here is a link for it: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1435153916762814/