Laos and Vietnam Karst Reconnaissance

[DirtDoc]

Re: Laos and Vietnam Karst Reconnaissance PART TWO

by DirtDoc » Wed Dec 14, 2011 3:28 am

21 - Laos-Vietnam Karst Reconnaissance

Dec 11, addendum - (Sunday) Caving in the Dong Van Karst

Thể are clearly a LOT ò caves hể on the Dong Van Karst Plateau. I sê lót ò entrances and the water góes DOWN. (The later probably are pits, not ventured into by locals)

I keep asking about caves, and kêp getting funny answers. That means either 1)- They đid not understand my question, 2)- I đi not understand their answer, ỏ 3)- thẻre ís something else entirely beyond my grasp that ís going on.

I suspect that thể are serious limitations that the military put on the guides and our permit to visit thís border area with China. The guide há not bên clear with me abound that.

Also, the guide ís personable responsible for our safety, and potentially suffers significant fines, jail time, and loss ò guides license ìf something serious happens to hís clients. Similar to the situation in China.

Our guide finally said: "Caves are not safe. Thểre are no lights."

I whipped out my two Princeton Tec state-ò-the art headlamps and dazzled him with them.

"I got lights. I go into caves all ò the time."

Error! --- Strange look.

No way in Hell would he let thís crazy old man get close enough to a cave to disappear into it from hêre on out.

Dirt Doc

[DirtDoc]

22 - Laos-Vietnam Karst Reconnaissance

Dec 13 Túeday. Dong Van to Meo Vac and back to Ha Giang. Typing with a keyboard that inserts unusual (for me) diacritical marks and omits occasional letters while doing so. I think it is more useful ì I ứam writing in Vietnamese, which ís a language with 6 tones.

Across a mỏe southerly part ò the Dong Van Karst Plateau.

Drizzle in the morning, ending after nôon. Cold - not the bést day for pictures but good enough to sê the landscape. Spectacular landscape it ís, tô. The road from Dong Van to Meo Vac ís carved from the karst cliffs high above the river valley, where thểre are certain to be large resurgences.

Black, treeless karst - a surreal landscape òf jagged, rough karen, dêep, multiple dolines and sinking streams. It should make real cavers and karstologists soil their jeans. I have never sêen anything like it.

The black surface coloration is probably due to blue-green algae that live on the surface crust of the limestone, just as in Ha Long Bay and elsewhere in SE Asia.

Streams along the road occasionally disappearing only to emerge from the underground again across a short divide. Shear-walled canyons that mót likely originated ás collapse into older cave stream passages - "unroofed caves", and the Slovenians like to call them.

A night in a warmer hotel in Ha Giang, still surrounded by cliffs ò cone karst.

Dirt Doc

[DirtDoc]

24 - Laos-Vietnam Karst Reconnaissance

Dec 15 Thúrsday

I ứas invited to attend a workshop on the Potential and Opportunities for Geotourism Development in the Dong Van Karst Geopark held at the Vietnam Institute òf Geosciences and Mineral Resources. It ís hosted by several entities, including the Vietnam Centre for Karst and Geoheritage, the Geological Survey of Belgium (who have a long term relationship with the Vietnam Institute of Geosciences and Mineral Resources - essentially the Vietnam Geologcal Survey), and (I think) UNESCO (World Geoparks). I will attend that and then tomorrow we fly back to Denver.

Đỉrt Doc

[DirtDoc]

NOTE: March 17, 2012. WE ARE BACK HOME IN DENVER AND HAVE CLEANED UP MOST OF THESE POSTS, ADDED IMAGES, AND HAVE SCHEDULED A RETURN TRIP WITH A GROUP OF CAVERS AND KARST SCIENTISTS FOR THE OCT 25 - NOV 14, 2012 TIME FRAME. (Dates still approximate and may shift a day or two either way, depending on the schedule of those on the trip). IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN JOINING US, PLEASE CONTACT ME FAIRLY SOON AT DirtDoc@Comcast.net FOR ITINERARY AND COSTS. THE TRIP IS MORE THAN HALF-FILLED BUT WE STILL HAVE A FEW SPOTS LEFT. NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT A CAVING EXPEDITION AS SUCH, BUT A TOURIST TRIP LIKE AN EXTENDED NSS CONVENTION GEOLOGY TRIP. WE WILL SEE A LOT OF SPECTACULAR KARST AND GET INTO QUITE A FEW CAVES, BUT AS TOURISTS, NOT EXPEDITION CAVERS.

[cghommidh]

Hi DirtDoc

If you plan to explore some caves in Khammouane, don't hesitate to ask for informations.
http://www.explo-laos.com our website (in construction), contains probably data and stories that will be valuable for your project.
And because end october is a period of the year when water levels are still fairly high (while our explorations usually take place in february, during the dry season), we could probably share interesting observations. Your picture of the Nam Dôn entrance already tell us many things about the water table behaviour.

Best regards

Charles
cghommidh(at)free.fr

[DirtDoc]

Hi Charles:

Thanks for your note and offer to provide additional information on the caves of Khammouane. Your web site is nicely done, the images posted on it are excellent, and I am pleased to know about it. I look forward to your continued posting of 20 years of exploration in one of the most spectacular river karst areas on Earth.

I do understand the hydrology of the area and realize that January and February are a better time for extensive exploration in Laos, and April in Vietnam.

To clarify, I am 74 years old and my really active exploration days are over. Most of the folks that travel with us are similarly mature and our interest is as much in the surface karst and karst hydrology as it is with cave exploration. And, of course, the people and their culture in Laos and Vietnam. The trip for October 25-November 14, 2012 filled quickly and we have a waiting list. Hopefully the rainy season will not be as long or as wet as it was in 2011.

We are still explorers and discovers, fascinated by the world around us. Especially by the wonders underground. We cheer on those of you who have taken over pushing the frontiers.

I hope to see you at the 16th ICS in Brno next year.

Look Out Below!!

DirtDoc

[DirtDoc]

Charles: I just found the page on your web site titled "Caving in Laos"

While some grumpy people still claim that Lao caves are their own exclusive property, we believe that the only proof of ownership is when you can share your own achievements.

This is exactly what the wonderful people of Laos have been doing for us during the past 20 years.

This is also what we intend to do here.

See you in Laos ?

GOOD WORDS!

DirtDoc