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A Giant Cave in Vietnam
Adventure, yeah. I guess that’s what you call it when everybody comes back alive. – Mercedes Lackey Heading South After leaving my friend Ankit in Hanoi I took a trip south to central Vietnam. Flying into Dong Hoi, I caught a pre-arranged shuttle to Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park. Phong Nha’s claim to fame is its world record worthy cave system. The largest cave in the world, Hang Son Doong, is here. The third largest cave in the world, Hang En, is also here. I came to Phong Nha to camp in Hang En. Let me start by saying I almost didn’t do this particular nature adventure. Vietnam a cheap country…
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Minca in a Minute
“A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” – Lao Tzu Why Minca After finishing the Ciudad Perdida trail and leaving Tayrona Park, I did a short stop over in Minca before heading to Cartagena. Minca is a small town in the mountains just above Santa Marta. The city was not in my original itinerary but I added the stop over on the recommendation of a German woman I met while in Guatape near Medellin. She told me I had to go. She visited it for a night and wishes she had stayed longer. My guide book didn’t say much about Minca, except for a…
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Ciudad Perdida – The Hike That (Almost) Killed Me
Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain. – Jack Kerouac First Stop: Santa Marta I spent most of the last week hiking the Ciudad Perdida (literally ‘Lost City’) trail in the Sierra Nevada mountains in Colombia. It was breathtaking and totally exhilarating. At times I also thought I was going to keel over and die right there on that mountain. And for the first time in my travels, I felt kinda old. And weak. For the record, I am neither of these things. But it’s fair to say my week included an abundance of…
