Canyoning has gained appeal among young visitors, mostly foreigners, in Da Lat City in recent years.

It is an addictive adventure sport which involves traversing canyons on foot.

Apart from idyllic, picturesque tourist attractions, Da Lat also boasts towering mountains, precarious canyons and tumbling waterfalls.

Da Lat is a much-loved scenic town located in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong.

Its treacherous terrain has recently been tapped into to build paradises for enthusiasts of adventure sports.

One such paradise is the Datanla Tourism Complex, which nestles on National Highway No. 20, Ward 3, some five kilometers from the heart of Da Lat.

The complex boasts steep nameless cliffs and furious falls which adventure seekers liken to the Grim Reaper.

The silence of the forests inside the complex is often pierced by the screaming of canyoners, which are soon followed by their ecstatic laughter and triumphant feelings.

Conquering fears

On a weekend morning, dozens of foreign tourists gathered at the parking lot of the Datanla Tourism Complex.

With guide from the coaches, they divided into groups and checked one another’s mountaineering clothing and safety gear.

Sarah Kathie, one of the tourists, excitedly said there were five challenges ahead, but the coaches refused to specify them and just told them to warm up properly and brace for surprises.    

Coach Nguyen Thanh Thu, of Groovy Gecko Co., a local tour operator, could only reveal there are five falls which stand around 20 meters tall, and three cascades on the four-kilometer section from Tu Than (Death) Canyon.

A free fall at a furious waterfall. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Among them, only Tu Than Canyon has a cable car, while the rest remain almost untouched by human intervention.

Canyoners must proceed with great caution while walking through the precarious cliffs.

Thu informed the visitors that the challenges would involve maneuvering on a zipline, rappelling and drifting at the mercy of the roaring currents.

The coaches then instructed the canyoners to warm up properly and practice simple maneuvers to prepare them for the cliffs.

During the one-hour training session, the coaches made sure even the slightest technological problems were well tended to in order to ensure seamless operation later.

They had to send three visitors home since they moved too slowly and had difficulty breathing after the drill.

“Players are ensured maximal safety during the canyoning process. However, slippery cliffs can also pose problems, so we have to advise players who move clumsily or have heart problems against doing it to avoid mishaps,” explained coach Nguyen Nguyen, of Dam Me Da Lat Co., another local tour operator.    

The group trekked about one kilometer through forests packed with steep slopes before reaching Tu Than Canyon.

Their first challenge – a fall which stands around 20 meters tall – loomed large before them.

The group was suddenly silenced by the awe-inspiring spectacle.

The first challenge involved rappelling and hopping from the fall’s crest to its foot.

Three minutes after the coaches asked for a volunteer, Emily – an American girl – plucked up her courage.

She soon found herself dangling almost perpendicularly with the fall’s surface.

Despite ample encouragement from the coaches, Emily kept shaking with fear.

She held onto her safety strap for dear life, before suddenly screaming at the top of her lungs, loosening her grip and starting her free fall, as planned.

The coaches instantly applied the brakes of the safety strap to stop her fall and she was then positioned safely at the foot of the fall.

“When I peeped down, I was scared out of my wits and terrifying thoughts kept crossing my mind. I was so numb with fear I could hardly maneuver the strap,” Emily said.

Coach Thu then spurred the group on by telling them to focus as much as they could and ignore the height and imaginary problems.    

Ken Denison was the next to try the challenge.

The whole group watched in silence, but after Denison cautiously rappelled for seven meters, he vanished without warning. The group soon found out that he had moved to a concave cliff surface.

Denison then flopped into the river and emerged triumphantly to everyone’s applause.

Coach Le Van Thach, who was instructing Denison on how to get over the concave surface, said he was so scared tears dropped onto his arm.

However, he soon got back to the mountain peak, yelling “One more! One more!”

Denison’s success boosted everyone’s morale and confidence.

“Psychological hurdles are the greatest challenge in this adventure. Visitors can be easily gripped by fear and thus lose composure,” coach Thu explained.

The ensuing challenges at the three cascades were less taxing, as all the canyoners did was lie at the mercy of the currents.

However, apart from the experts of the tour operators and coaches, no one knows the cascades and their twists and turns.

The visitors may choose to take on the challenge or opt out of it depending on their level of trust in the tour organizers and their own recklessness.

“The currents kept spinning me around, it felt so great when I became one with the currents,” Lotte Van Egmod, another canyoner, enthusiastically recounted her challenge of crossing the three cascades in a row.

Despite adequate protective clothing, she suffered a few bruises and scratches.

She urged that players wear protective clothing made of thick rubber, as many tend to overlook this.

Then came the last challenge: a towering fall which stands 30 meters tall and boasts roaring currents, sending chills along the players’ spine.

The players were required to loosen their grip when they were about two thirds of the way down and brace for a free fall into a deep lake.

“I was so nervous and kept wavering between taking it on or opting out of the challenge,” Ken said.

Unlike the previous challenges, this time water from the fall kept tumbling over the visitors with all its might.

“I could hardly see anything as tons of water banged hard on my head and face. I was on the verge of tears then. I think humans’ survival mode is instinctively switched on at such times,” recalled Thao Ly, the group’s only Vietnamese female member.

A group of canyoners celebrate after successfully overcoming all challenges. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Safety first

Da Lat is currently home to over 10 travel firms which offer such adventure tours, which cost around VND700,000 (US$33) per person. 

According to coach Le Van Thach, canyoning is quite popular but is considerably more expensive in developed countries than tours offered in Vietnam.

This is why many young tourists, mostly foreigners, usually cannot afford to miss this opportunity.

Hoang Ngoc Huy, of the Lam Dong Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, said all coaches are well trained in assisting people and handling emergency cases.

All the safety gear is imported and closely checked on a regular basis, he assured.

Huy urged canyoners to insist that organizers supply them with adequate protective gear and clothing, including bruise-proof clothes, lifejackets and helmets.

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