Kids Eye View: Cave exploration with Green Camp
Our Kids' Eye View section is where we invite kids to review events and places around the city for other kids to try. This time, our kid eye reviewers try out a Cave Exploration tour by Green Camp.
If crawling through a karst cave sounds like an adventure to your family, then here's one not to miss. We sent the Vargas brothers Paul (15) and Ram (13) of Pakistan Embassy College-Beijing to try out a cave exploration tour and share their experience with our readers.
What is the attraction about?
Ram: It is about a cave formed by soil erosion. The cave is really big and has been there for more than 10,000 years! It’s amazing. Sadly, it doesn’t have a name. The cave had high negative ions, which helps us breathe better, so it felt refreshing.
Paul: It was about traversing through a cave on Fang mountain! When we asked the guides for the name they replied that it had not been named yet.
What is it like being in the cave?
Ram: It was my first time to ever enter a cave. It was amazing. I saw a bat for the first time! It was really fun. We had to climb a bit, crouch, duck and kneel to go through the tiny openings made for people to go through.
Paul: Inside the cave, I learned so many new things – like how natural caves are formed through erosion, how stalagmites and quartz, when left undisturbed through the passage of time, thrive in the moist darkness of the caves, and the many kinds and types of animals that live there! My guide had told me about all this during the bus ride to the cave. She also shared with me how this cave was formed and the ecosystem that keeps the cave alive. But to see for myself the things that my tour guide had talked about on the bus was so oddly cathartic. I got to see and touch the quartz crystals that powdered on all the surfaces, the bats that clung from the ceilings and the albino earthworms that crawled silently on the stones in the dark.
Was it big and was it crowded when you visited?
Ram: It was really big and crowded. But it was because we were a big group. There were like 30 or more people including the crew. And it was really cramped when we sat down to eat lunch in the cave.
Paul: There were around twenty to forty people in the group I was in.
Did you feel like you had enough time to explore?
Ram: I think the time was just enough like at the right time. But if we had to stay in the cave longer I wouldn’t complain. It’s sad that we couldn’t go to the other areas though.
Paul: We couldn't explore the entire thing because of the time constraints. We stopped halfway through and had to go out through the entrance instead of the actual exit.
Besides exploring the cave, what other activities did you do?
Ram: Besides exploring the cave we had to climb this rocky hill to go to the top. And it was above the cave so everyone had to do it.
Paul: Halfway through the cave, we sat down, had lunch then turned off all our headlamps to experience the silence of the cave! It was fun but there had to be absolute silence and some people were not so fond of it or used to not making a sound for more than at least thirty seconds so we had to restart the silence period three times. It was all in Chinese, but I had a guide with me who translated everything the main guide announced so it was fine. Though I'm not sure if other foreigners can easily join as that would require more guides to come and individually translate each word.
Did you find it scary exploring the cave?
Ram: It was kind of scary because I am scared of heights. I brought my own food but they actually brought us food, too! That was nice because I like food. So actually it was fun but I don’t think kids who aren’t adventurous would like it because they would have to touch dirty walls, touch the floor – basically getting yourself dirty.
Paul: No. In fact, I really enjoyed traversing through the big stones and small crevices which lay behind the mouth of the cave! There were so many fun challenges! In some areas I had to find a way to slide through a small slit and in others a way to climb through a path of huge rocks – it was like a puzzle! I feel like other children might find this activity to be a safe and fun way to step out of their comfort zone! I’m not so adventurous myself actually, but despite that I still found it to be very enjoyable.
What animals did you see in the cave?
Ram: I saw only one type of animal in the cave: a bat. I saw one fly but that was for two seconds only. The rest of the bats were sleeping. There were only 8-10 bats sadly.
Paul: During our bus ride to the cave, our guide told me about the three types of cave animals: the ones that have lived there their whole life and absolutely rely on the cave to live, the ones that can live both in and outside the cave, and the ones that stop there temporarily. She also mentioned the bats, the earthworms and the centipedes that crawl and sleep on the ceiling near the stalagmite crystals. Despite already telling me all of these, actually seeing these creatures in the flesh is an experience I'll never forget!
What is your favourite part of the trip?
Ram: My favourite part of the cave exploration is going through small holes and etc. Why? Because I’m short enough to fit through and it feels good knowing it’s harder for some other people.
Paul: My favourite part was climbing up the hill leading to the mouth of the cave, and also the waiting time we spent inside the cave as we waited for other families to go catch up and progress because I noticed many details which I would never have noticed if the families were not very slow.
How was your tour guide?
Ram: The tour guide was really helpful. She could speak English, gave us some information about the cave and provided clear instructions.
Paul: My tour guide was very nice and very excited about the whole trip which was nice because her positive energy spread to the three of us which was good for the soul after waking up early in the morning and catching an early train to get to the bus. Her instructions were very clear, and she was always very accommodating and understanding with our lack of proficiency in the Chinese language.
Would you recommend this to your friends and their families?
Ram: I think I could share it too my friends because almost all of them are short enough to do it. And they like to do adventurous stuff too.
Paul: Yes I would! Especially my friends and their families should they go in groups. There are always things happening and the cave was very memorable.
About the company:
Green Camp is both a camp education company and an authorised travel agency with years of experience planning and leading expeditions. They offer a diverse range of experiences ranging from one-day activities such as cave and valley explorations, tree-house buildings, to week-long trips like sailing in Qingdao, animal conservation in Xishuangbanna, caravan trips to Qinghai and more.
Green Camp's Cave Exploration tours are for children 6 and up. Each trip will take a minimum of 6, maximum of 18 participants, takes place every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday from 8am-4pm and cost 700RMB per adult and 350RMB for children ages 6-10. Private experiences are also available. For more information, contact them (WeChat: 18600250315) or by sending them an email at booking@qingqingbuluo.com.
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