A dinner in Son Doong Cave usually has 7 dishes, prepared by the chef in a balanced menu, and prepared in the cave, ensuring enough energy for visitors.
At 6 p.m., at the campsite of sinkhole 1 in Son Doong Cave, chef Hong Quang and two assistants prepared the dishes for dinner. Members of the first Son Doong cave conquest team in 2024 returned to the campsite an hour earlier.
Dinner on the second day of the trip included grilled chicken with salt and pepper, stir-fried beef with bell peppers, boiled pork, tofu with tomato sauce, fried potatoes, sweet potato salad, squash soup, and other spices. Drinks included tea and coffee. A meal that was considered "more than adequate" compared to home-cooked meals and "grand" compared to a trekking tour, for about 18 to 20 people.
Son Doong 4 days 3 nights tour in the cave, has a total of 10 main meals and night snacks for tourists in need, including corn, potatoes, and roasted peanuts.
Mr. Hong Quang, 48 years old, from Quang Binh, has been the chef of the Son Doong tour for 7 years. Previously, he worked at some local restaurants. To prepare meals for tourists, every day, Mr. Quang wakes up at 5am, prepares breakfast, then cleans up and goes on the trip with everyone. He will return to the campsite earlier to cook dinner, then continue cleaning and checking ingredients for the next day, the work ends around 10pm.
Dinner is usually the most elaborate meal. The amount of food for dinner is similar to the above, but the way it is prepared will change. "If the day before it was stir-fried beef, the next day it will be grilled beef wrapped in betel leaves," said Mr. Quang.
Breakfast and lunch are simpler but rich, nutritious, and not repetitive, usually including beefsteak sandwiches, fried rice, instant noodles, rice paper rolls, crepes, and sandwiches. The group includes Asians, Europeans, and Americans, so the food is prepared in a variety of ways so that everyone can eat and have enough energy.
Quang is the one who plans the menu before each tour and prepares the ingredients himself. The food brought will be kept cold, ensuring freshness and enough for the first two nights of the journey. On the third night, supplies will be resupplied from the cave exit, over the Great Wall of Vietnam in the opposite direction.
"Fish is not used as food on the tour because it is difficult to preserve. In addition, fish also have bones, which pose a risk to the eater," said Mr. Quang.
Mr. Quang prepares dinner at the campsite during the Son Doong tour, January 2024.
Each tour has a main chef and one or two assistant chefs. Chefs for cave tours not only need cooking skills, but also need to be physically fit because they also travel the same distance as a conqueror, and have to carry more than 10 kg of luggage.
To serve meals, the porter's luggage includes a large gas tank weighing about 20 kg, a gas stove, pots, pans, bowls, chopsticks, cooking utensils, and other necessary items. When the porters finish their work during the day, they will also support the kitchen every afternoon and evening. Thanks to that, dinner for the group of guests, tour guides, and support team is done in just about an hour. The support team usually eats first, the meal is simple, the guests eat later and are often presented more elaborately.
Hoang Anh, a member of the Son Doong expedition in early January, said he ate all his food at every meal, and even "helped" some people eat. "The meals in the cave were delicious and tasty. The dishes were all gone, which made the chef very happy and more interested in his work."
Mr. Nguyen Chau A, General Director of Oxalis Adventure and Oxalis Holiday, the exclusive tour provider of Son Doong, said that the company carefully prepares and invests in meals for guests. When booking a tour, guests will be asked about their eating habits because there are no restaurants in the deep forest, nor can they buy additional food.
Because of these practical requirements, the company must have chefs who can cook well. "Fortunately, the young people from Phong Nha or Tan Hoa who are working as chefs or assistants have all spent months in the forest before, so they have learned how to cook well," said Mr. A.
And according to Mr. A, when customers enjoy the food and praise it, "the chef is very excited and tries to further improve the quality of the meal."
Campsite dining area, January 2024
Each Son Doong tour has an average of 10 guests and nearly 30 service staff. Of these, 20 porters carry luggage and food throughout the journey, 5 safety assistants, a tour guide, a cave expert, 2 chefs and a ranger. They are all locals, regularly trained in safety and rescue. They ensure to carry 600 kg of equipment and supplies in and out of the cave, including waste. When the group leaves, the campsites are cleaned up, returning the space to its original cleanliness.
The tour is located in the core area of the national park and is far from all outside support such as medical, emergency or other support activities, although there is still a satellite phone for the tour guide to contact in case of emergency. In case of emergency, there will be helicopter support.
Son Doong Cave is located in Son Trach Commune, Bo Trach District, Quang Binh Province, in the core zone of Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park, and was named the world's largest natural limestone cave in 2009. The cave was formed about 2-5 million years ago, when river water flowed through the buried limestone along a fault line. The water eroded and created a giant underground tunnel under the mountain range. The cave is 150 m wide, over 200 m high, and nearly 10 km long.
Son Doong tours are operated from January to August every year, with each tour limited to about 10 guests to ensure safety for participants and to allow time for environmental regeneration. About 1,000 to 1,200 guests are allowed to explore Son Doong each year.
Article and photos: Linh Huong
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