February 17 to 27, 2025, Lang Son Provincial Agency for Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion, Lang Son province, Viet Nam in cooperation with the US National Speleological Society and Vietnam Expeditions Joint Stock Company organized a working group to explore, survey and map Khuon Bong Cave, Vu Le Commune, Bac Son District. The purpose is to explore, survey and map Khuon Bong Cave, Vu Le Commune, Bac Son District. This map will be given  to Lang Son Geopark and is suitable for many purposes including promoting Lang Son Geopark; planning routes for adventure tourism; identifying areas of stalactites forming and needing protection; supporting all future search and rescue efforts; learning about the geology/hydrology of the area.

Caving Potential

- Geological Features: The Khuon Bong Cave System has impressive geological features, including large chambers, intricate stalactites and stalagmites, and underground streams. The varied terrain of the cave offers an exciting experience for explorers of varying skill levels.

- Accessibility: The cave entrance is equipped with ropes, making it accessible for adventurous visitors. The vertical and horizontal rappels across the cave provide an exciting challenge. Easy access the nearby home of Mr. Tran Van Tu adds to the appeal of organized tours.

- Unique Experiences: The potential for scuba diving at various sites adds an extra layer of adventure for experienced cave divers. The proximity of other smaller cave systems and surrounding caves provides opportunities for extended exploration.

- Safety Considerations: Safety measures include the use of professional guides and equipment, ensuring a safe experience for visitors. Detailed maps and marked trails are essential to maintain safety.

- Environmental conservation: Sustainable tourism development is important to preserve fragile cave structures. Monitoring and regulation will help minimize human impact.

Khuon Bong Cave has a rather special location when going the water branch cave entrance starting Vu Le commune, Bac Son district. The main water outlet is Suoi Mo Ga Cave in Phu Thuong commune, Vo Nhai district, Thai Nguyen province. This is a cave that stretches across two provinces, so exploitation will require coordination both sides.

The location of the cave entrance marked on the Google Earth map includes the entrance to the Khuon Bong village: 21°47'19"N 106°07'21"E; The main exit is Suoi Mo Ga Cave.

The water source flowing Khuon Bong Cave was initially determined to flow Khuon Bong Village and Thong Nhat Village, flowing the cave through the limestone mountain to flow out towards the entrance of Suoi Mo Ga Cave. The initial length of the preliminary survey and measurement of the cave was about 4.7 km. The entrance to Khuon Bong Cave Khuon Bong Village is a small rocky crevice found by local people while catching snakes. The diameter of this cave is only about 60cm, enough for one person to enter, inside is a hole about 3m deep. To enter the cave, you need to use a rope and safety belt to ensure safety. When going in another 20m, a deep wall appears, you have to use a rope to go down 60m to reach the cave floor where you can walk. Khuon Bong Cave is a very beautiful water cave with fossil and natural stalactite structures, many lakes and small waterfalls flowing vertically and in the shape of steps inside the cave, converging a variety of factors serving adventure tourism and cave exploration. Towards the end of the cave, the stalactite system is extremely developed and intact, so there is a lot of potential for developing adventure tourism. The exit of Khuon Bong Cave connects with Suoi Mo Ga Cave on the Thai Nguyen side, so it will connect the two tourist areas. However, there needs to be coordination both sides of the local government. Currently, the exit of Suoi Mo Ga Cave has a very low ceiling, almost touching the water surface, so it is quite difficult to move. It requires a team of experts and a lot of experience to guide when going through to ensure safety.

Image of experts the US National Speleological Society creating a map of Khuon Bong Cave

Preliminary assessment of the feasibility of organizing adventure tours: The preliminary assessment of the feasibility of organizing adventure tours in Khuon Bong Cave by the expert group of the US National Speleological Society, Vietnam Expeditions is based on the following factors:

Health requirements: Cave exploration tours often require participants to be in good health and have a healthy constitution. Therefore, if a cave wants to develop adventure tours targeting a wide range of visitors, the terrain in the cave that is easy to move around and not too strenuous is one of the factors that determines the feasibility of exploiting adventure tours targeting a large number of tourists. Khuon Bong Cave has a diverse terrain in the cave, mostly on foot. However, there are sections that require swimming and rope swinging, so it promises to have many experiences for tourists who love adventure. Safety standards: Caves selected for adventure tours must comply with strict safety standards, ensuring safety in terms of terrain, geology and flood water. Khuon Bong Cave is a horizontal cave, easy to go inside and quite safe, however, there are still many nooks and crannies that have not been surveyed and there are no warning signs, so thorough investment must be made to ensure safety. The new cave branch is quite dangerous, if you want to organize a tour, you must invest in a safety rope system, safety ladders and safety experts to follow and you are not allowed to enter the cave during the rainy season.

Accessibility: Access to the cave is important. It needs to be convenient for participants and equipped with the necessary infrastructure to support the adventure tour. This ensures a smooth and organized experience for participants. Khuon Bong Cave is considered easy to access because the cave entrance is right next to the road that cars can enter, as well as the cave has invested in stairs leading to the cave entrance for easy access.

Unique features: Adventure tours often focus on caves with unique geological formations, beautiful and rare scenery. Khuon Bong Cave has a system of extremely large and beautiful calcium lakes, still intact, considered one of the caves with the largest calcium lakes in Vietnam. Regarding the stalactite system in Khuon Bong Cave, it is still intact and unique when possessing many extremely unique and rare stalactites in the world.

Regarding the environment: Conservation and sustainable tourism play an important role. Tours should minimize environmental impacts and promote the preservation of the natural beauty and ecosystem of the cave. The landscape of the area connecting Khuon Bong Cave with Suoi Mo Ga Cave in the Phuong Hoang Cave - Suoi Mo Ga Scenic Area, through a survey, showed that some stalactites on the side near Suoi Mo Ga Cave have been destroyed. Therefore, Khuon Bong Cave needs to have a good plan and management to protect the cave and ensure that the cave is not violated.

In general, Khuon Bong Cave has all the conditions and potential to become a safe cave for organizing adventure tours and cave exploration.

Preliminary ideas for designing tours to explore Khuon Bong Cave: After surveying, measuring, drawing maps, taking photos, and evaluating the potential of Khuon Bong Cave, the survey team found that designing one-day and 2-day-1-night tours to explore Khuon Bong Cave is completely feasible and has great potential.

For one-day tours: Designing one-day tours allows visitors to explore a part of the cave, with a tour guide accompanying them to explain about the cave and ensure their safety so they don't get lost, providing helmets and headlamps for visitors when participating in the tour and other equipment.

For two-day-1-night tours: This tour allows visitors to have more time to explore, and it is necessary to design a tour to explore the entire cave, promising to bring many unique and attractive experiences to visitors. This tour will require higher physical strength and ensure safety for visitors. It is required to design a safe route and a rope system to ensure safety for visitors to experience, with safety experts participating to ensure safety for visitors.

Pham Huong