Sharing with reporters, photographer Nguyen Hai said that the photo set was taken at Hang Tien 1 in Quang Binh during his trip in 2020.

Recalling the moment when he and the whole group set out to explore, Mr. Nguyen Hai still feels a sense of excitement. In 2018, when adventure tours in Quang Binh were about to close to welcome the stormy season, that was also the time he first set foot in Hang Tien 1.

Group of tourists on the way to explore Hang Tien 1.

If it is a tour serving tourists, it will usually last about 3 days and 2 nights, but for photographers who come to work, the time will be longer.

“At that time, we traveled for about 4 days to explore the Tu Lan system, Hang Tien 1 and 2,” Mr. Nguyen Hai recalled.

In 2020, he had the opportunity to return to this place again. Departing from Tan Hoa commune, the whole group traveled by motorbike towards Cao Quang commune. Coming to the road on the top of the hill, the trekking process (hiking activity on complex rough terrain) of Hang Tien begins.

The whole group went through the forests and waded a few streams. The undulating rocky terrain leads the group of tourists gradually into the valley. After about 2 hours of trekking, everyone arrived at Hang Tien camp located next to the cool, turquoise stream.

Lunch was carefully prepared by the porters (porters). After a short lunch break, the route to conquer Hang Tien officially begins.

The most difficult journey starts from here. The group of tourists had to step on sharp rocks to cross the mountain and cross the valley.

While I was groping my way forward, suddenly a cool breeze came from somewhere. Looking up, the whole group seemed to burst into emotion when they saw the arch of Hang Tien 1 appearing majestically, beyond description.

“You imagine that you are walking outside in the 36-degree heat, but entering the cave is like stepping into a cool air-conditioned room. The dome of Hang Tien is very high, about 70m and about 50m wide. There is a spiral shape on the dome of the cave. round is the highlight. In addition, the cave also has terraced stalactites. The vegetation growing here is very impressive,” the photographer said.

According to the tour guide’s introduction, hundreds of millions of years ago, this place was an ocean, with streams flowing under the cave. At that time, the cave was folded and the current created a whirlpool. It takes hundreds of millions of years to form spiral shapes like whirlpools printed on such caves.

After the sea level receded, the vortex continued to be created by the flood. During the rainy season, the water still rises to the ceiling of the cave.

“It looks like that in the photo, but you have to see it with your own eyes in real life to fully appreciate the overwhelming feeling. I was frozen for nearly half an hour listening to the story about tectonic movements on the earth’s surface, then It’s an indescribable feeling, almost being fascinated and unable to take your eyes off,” Mr. Nguyen Hai shared.

At this time, when Quang Binh entered the rainy and stormy season, Mr. Hai thought of the vortexes in Hang Tien as the eye of a storm, so he named the photo series.

“Eye of the storm of death is the name created by the online community to describe the vortexes in Hang Tien 1. And I myself was very surprised when the photo series was so well received,” Mr. Hai said.

Currently living and working in Dong Hoi city, photographer Nguyen Hai is always looking for and capturing the wonderful emotions of the world around him through his photos.

“In addition to Hang Tien 1, I often spend time exploring many other caves in Quang Binh,” he said.

It is known that photographer Nguyen Hai has received 30 domestic and foreign awards, notably the first prize “Heritage Journey 2020, FIAP Blue Ribbo award in Turkey – Canytellis 2020…