In 2023, Michelle Cabrera was suddenly faced with the possibility of losing her usable vision within a year. She was diagnosed with retinal thinning. As she struggled through the initial depression after the diagnosis, she found a journal she had written as a child. It talked about travel around Asia and inspired her to volunteer in Nepal for three months. The travel bug bit, and a year later, the Chicago resident found herself on an adventure that went off the rails in Vietnam. According to CNN, when Cabrera reached Vietnam, she was looking for an authentic, off-grid adventure. She was determined to avoid standard tourist traps to explore the Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park. So Cabrera chose to bypass regulated tour operators and spoke to her homestay manager: “I asked her if she could set me up with locals so I could do an adventure in a cave for a day, and that I didn’t want a set route, just local knowledge.” She and two other people from the homestay were reportedly picked up by three locals. “There was no setup,” she told CNN. “The locals took me in without any orientation or overview; it was a spur-of-the-moment ordeal.” Her first sign that things weren’t as expected was when the local reacted strangely when she told him it was her first time caving. “I wondered if then and there if the three of us had gotten ourselves into a sketchy situation.” The language gaps proved to be the problem Cabrera’s drive for an adventure came from more than losing her sight. She told CNN, “My dad is adventurous and growing up we used to do a lot of nature-based trips like fishing in Wisconsin.” However, the caves at the Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park can be dangerous. Of the 400 caves, only four are open to independent travelers, according to Vietnamese Tourism. This is because they have safety infrastructure and staff. Per the outlet, Cabrera’s situation quickly spiraled when she and two fellow travelers were driven deep into the interior of the park. With no signage, no park rangers, and no clear path, they were led by locals into a cavern that lacked the basic safety features seen at more popular sites. Last year, a group of hikers opted to explore a cave known as the ‘cave of death,’ and didn’t make it back. An underground world of wonderDeep inside Vietnam's Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park sits a cave so big it's hard to picture. Hang Son Doong is the largest cave on the planet, running over five miles long with ceilings tall enough to swallow a forty-story skyscraper. It's not… pic.twitter.com/sK8frYcLwd— Carolyn Rockey (@CarolynWRockey) July 24, 2026 She described the equipment provided as minimal, noting, “We got given a cheap headlamp that kept turning on and off, and they set up a rickety rope ladder for us so we could climb down from the mouth of the cave.” Despite her concerns, her sense and want for adventure won out. Then, the expedition, which she initially expected to last just a few hours, turned into a multi-day ordeal. She told CNN that when she finally asked the guide, Ron, when they would be heading back, his response was chilling: “Ron laughs at me and says, ‘You think we can go back out this way? No, you can’t. We will be another couple of days.’” Suddenly, the trio was stranded miles underground with no extra clothing or supplies, forced to sleep in the dark and eat food with, as Cabrera put it, “bat poop-covered hands.” The psychological toll was immense. At one point, facing a 25-foot drop into water with jagged rocks lurking below, she felt completely overwhelmed. “I just remember responding shakily that I couldn’t do it,” she told CNN Travel. “The opening hole was so small that if I had jumped the wrong way and landed on one of the rocks, I might have died. I thought my time was up and kept thinking of my parents.” Her experience highlights a critical distinction between the accessible caves of Phong Nha and the massive, remote systems like Son Doong or Hang En. Per Vietnamese Tourism, these deeper systems legally require professional guided expeditions, specialized permits, expert safety support, and insurance. Unmarked or restricted caves are incredibly dangerous, especially since they flood during monsoon season and due to the physical intensity of the terrain. A few months ago, Italian tourists went past the legal limit while scuba diving in the Maldives. They entered a cave without guidance and didn’t find their way back out. Despite the trauma of her experience, including the constant threat of snakes and the physical exhaustion of navigating slime-covered mountains, Cabrera managed to emerge from the cave alive. She has since continued her travels, currently making her way through South America. Her story is a powerful testament to her resilience, but it also stands as a cautionary tale. If you’re planning your own adventure, remember that there’s a massive difference between seeking a unique experience and putting yourself in an unrecoverable position.