NL1 Hang Nam Loong
Development:
453,
Denivelation : -15
Into this cave an active river, which is approximately 1m wide, disappears. The entrance of the cave is a huge porch that can be seen from the new road still under construction and heading for Sin Ho. At the time of our presence they were blasting the rock and we were carefully putting our helmets on. For hundreds of meters down the road into the jungle we could see the remains of blasted rock. The porch is about 25m wide and 12m high. It is mainly filled with slightly overgrown mud hills and some enormous blocks. Inside the cave the mud continues. The river flows in between mud hills that are several meters high. The mud, in combination with the black limestone, makes the cave very dark. It didn’t leave us with a pleasant feeling, especially not when progressing towards the end of the cave where we were often stuck knee-deep into the sucking mud. In the first part of the cave the river could be followed. Towards the second half of the cave it gets more chaotic and for a while the river runs under the blocks. A siphon marks the end of the cave.
NL2 Gia Khau Cave
Development: 507, Denivelation : -22
To reach the village of Ba Gia Khau cave you have to cross several rice fields. You pass through the village and start going up the steep hills from there. The total journey is about 2km. On a certain point you cross a twin tree, it is one root blocking the path and two tall trees growing from the root, one on each side of the path. At this tree you turn right into the jungle and 20m down there is the main entrance.
Ba
Gia Khau is a fossil cave with lots of speleothems and guano in it. The
entrance is a 1m wide hole between the blocks. Climbing down the blocks
you enter a low passage with flattened dry clay on the bottom. After
25m a chamber appears on the left side. On the right side a second
entrance can be spotted. If you leave this entrance to your right, you
can climb up a flowstone and you arrive in a kind of window. At this
point you climb down the flowstone again and end up in a big chamber.
The floor is covered with fossil cave pearls. At the right side of the
room two columns mark the beginning of a wide passage. Several low
leads can be followed, all starting in the right hand wall of this main
passage. On the left you come across a big flowstone. Near the end the
passage gets smaller and you crawl up a flowstone, on the top of which
there are a lot of speleothems and little pools.
Just before the end of this main passage you can climb up a 2m high wall on the left, the cave continues. You pass a few very slippery blocks and end up in a nice gallery again. At the right side it descends towards a mountain of guano and soon you are stopped by big blocks. Instead of going down into the guano you can also go up another flowstone and push yourself through a squeeze. You then end up on the other side of the blocks. A few very big draperies and columns kit the blocks to each other. Climbing these blocks down you arrive in a smaller room with a calcite floor. The end of this room is a wall of draperies, however there is a small passage through which you can go on and all you get is even more speleothems! After climbing 2m down you recognize the previous main passage again and you realize that you just made a very nice tour! And to finish I would like to quote Mr Do Tuyet: “The mountain is empty…”
NL3 Xa Nam Loong 1
Development: 211, Denivelation : +6
Take from the road to Tam Duong a 2.5m wide path and follow it for 200m. To the south the small river emerges. From the entrance, climb down a couple of meters in a narrow, vertical passage between blocks. You arrive at river level. After 25m you have to crawl through a narrow passage between flowstone. Continue to follow the water; quite often you will have to crawl. Behind the third narrow passage leave the riverbed and follow a dry passage for 40m and you will find the stream again. On the right hand side there is an outlet partly blocked with plastic bags. 10m further on the cave is blocked by formations.
NL4 Xa Nam Loong 2
Development: 480, Denivelation : -20
Go down a vertical rift, no rope needed, and climb down the blocks into a big chamber. Follow the most likely way, and you will arrive in the fossil gallery. This gallery is very straight and follows obviously the main fault. After about a third of the length we found a passive inlet, a passage that meets the main gallery in an angle of 90 degrees. The latter is also believed to be a main fault, but unfortunately leads to an end between blocks after 25m. Continuing the main gallery you pass through a very beautifully decorated part (about 150m long). The cave ends in a second little chamber.
NL5 Loong Cu
Development: 173, Denivelation : -12,+7
The entrance is a doline near to road nr 40 to the NE. There is another
entrance down in the doline but without real cave development. The
actual entrance is up to the right. It is a little porch (4m wide, 5m
high) leading to a narrow passage which opens up into a very steeply
descending gallery (we used rope to go down) into a big chamber. To the
left and the right this chamber, which was probably part of an ancient
streamway passage, can be followed for about 50m to a boulder choke
(right) or to a flowstone occupying the whole gallery (left).