TU LAN, VIETNAM — Thickly foliaged karst mountains are dewy with this morning’s drizzle. Backlit by the rising sun, looming and large, they even appear to shine. It’s difficult to fathom now that this untamed scenery of the Tu Lan Cave system was once littered with landmines; now a demilitarized zone, paper and peanut plants rapidly flourish on its surrounding fields which it shares with grazing buffaloes that are much smaller than their reel-life counterparts in the 2017 monster blockbuster Kong: Skull Island, which was filmed here, the first Hollywood movie shot in Vietnam.
This palette of wild nature inspires the new editions of Montblanc 1858. Two new 1858 Automatic models, 1858 Automatic Chronograph, 1858 Geosphere—which is dedicated to the world’s Seven Summit mountaineering challenge, the holy grail of mountaineering adventures—and the Montblanc 1858 Split Second Chronograph Limited Edition 100. All c ome in an elegant pairing of khaki-green details and a bronze case enriched with aluminium that captures a new dimension of mountain exploration for the heritage brand as it goes far beyond the chilling, snowy terrain of the highest peaks of the Alps.
1858 Automatic
Tu Lan lies next to the minority village of Tan Hoa in northern Vietnam and 70 km away from the UNESCO World Heritage Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. The lush greenery is fortified by months of rain. Tan Hoa is typically submerged for a month of the year, once hitting a maximum of 13 meters high that villagers have taken to not only build their homes on a foundation of tall cement stilts, but supplement it with rows of empty wooden barrels attached underneath a compact wooden shack so the temporary housing solution floats during the worst case scenario.
Montblanc1858 Automatic Chronograph
The journey commences with a 2.5- kilometer hike to Tu Lan which you can only access through a trek. Trudging through thick, humid heat, crossing the cool Rao Nan River despite its currents was a relief. Ashore is a 30-meter climb up a steep rocky hill. I put on thick gloves to evade poisonous plants and protect myself as I hold on to sharp rocks and for dear life, climbing and then going down into a 100-meter descent in elevation, emerging into the idyllic Hung Ton Valley, into Hung Ton Cave.
The 1858 Chronograph Super Luminova glows in the absolute darkness inside the Tu Lan Cave System.
Being deep into the jungle feels worlds away from the cultivated fields of Tan Hoa. It might not compare, but I imagine this is a fraction of what the world’s very first explorers on expedition must’ve felt like, guided by the legendary professional Minerva pocket watches and chronographs that were conceived for military use and exploration from the 1920s and 1930s that are reinterpreted in the new 1858s.
The more experienced members of our team—some have summited Mont Blanc—are equipped with the 1858 watches, secured with refined yet durable and comfortable woven NATO straps, handcrafted in France at a traditional weaving manufacturer that has been producing it for over 150 years. First worn by the British Ministry of Defence for extreme conditions, the one-piece strap slides underneath the case so that the skin never touches metal. Its material wicks moisture away from the skin. It stays on the wrist even if a spring bar pops out.
The 1858 Split Second Chronograph Limited Edition 100
The jungle and cave areas boast some of the greatest biodiversity in the country and home to endangered wildlife. I spotted monkeys. Accessible only through a guided tour, our local guides say there are also deer. Tigers hide in the shadows. Because they are not hunted in these protected lands as the locals turn to agriculture and tourism as their main sources of livelihood and sustenance, they peacefully coexist with animals who have not learned to fear predatory humans. I’m more wary of poisonous plants like poison ivy and mosquitoes that are bigger than those at home.
The two-day Tu Lan Caves System trip is a 12 kilometers trek through rough, untouched jungle terrain surrounded by limestone mountains on all sides.
This journey is not about the destination. In this case, we truly are not “there” yet. It’s another three-kilometer trek through dense rainforest shaded by a canopy of trees and limestone mountains on all sides, all the way to Mango Mountain and Tu Lan Valley where rivers that wind through mountains and river valleys merge, forming a natural beach that Mother Nature made just for a night of rest, sleeping under the stars.
You can only see the surrounding limestone formations with the light of a head torch.
By daybreak, we follow the rivers as they lead into vast caverns. First is the waterfall entrance of Ken Cave. There is no way through but to plunge into the deep, cool, underground rivers and swim. The blue lagoon entrance of Tu Lan Cave and 180 meters downstream leads to land—finally—for more hiking, climbing, rappelling, squeezing into narrow openings, and a trek to the adjacent Kim Cave, exploring into its 600 meters and a total of 350 meter swims of varying lengths and depths. The daylight streaming from the entrance of the cave has faded and gone.
The 1858’s dial details glow in the absolue darkness. Its Arabic numerals, a railway minutes track and the original Montblanc logo from the 1930s era with its historical font and emblem of the Mont Blanc mountain are pigment-coated with beige SuperLumiNova, a strontium aluminate–based non-radioactive and nontoxic photoluminescent.
Plunging into waterfalls and deep, cool underground rivers that wind graceful through mountains and river valleys
Seen only by the light of my head torch, I swim through majestic limestone formations and marvel once again at how tiny I am in this big world. I have barely scratched the surface of what’s out there.
Back in Dong Hoi and then Ho Cho Minh for a layover to our return flights, the polished, satinated bronze cases have oxidized, taking on a patina that can only be unique to its wearer. Like the 1858, I am not the same person that I was, standing on the entrance of the Tu Lan.
The Tu Lan Caves System lies next to the minority village of Tan Hoa in northern Vietnam.
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Montblanc is available at Rustan’s Makati, Rustan’s Shangri-La, Rustan’s Cebu, Greenbelt 5, City of Dreams and Resorts World.