Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park
We were picked up by bus in a town called Dong Ha on the way to Phong Nha, after waiting a few hours (no biggie). Hopped on the sleeper bus and had a little lay down for a while. We arrived after 3hours to the main road in the park late at night to be greeted off the bus for a free nights stay in a hostel run by our bus scheduling company. The hostel was very very basic, it was a room made of ¾ bamboo walls, meaning we could hear everything going on outside our room (we could probably even see if we stood on the bed). The rooms were also just down a hallway behind their tour operating desk.
Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park is another UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its caves and pristine jungle, including Hang Son Doong - the largest cave in the world. The previous record holder of this title was the Deer Cave in Malaysia. Hang Son Doong is twice the size of the deer cave. It was recently discovered in 1991 by a hunter/explorer of the region, but researchers only found out it was this large in 2009. Unfortunately it is very hard to visit this cave as it takes special training to get to it and the wait list is over a year long. Only 10 of the thousands of people who apply are selected to make the journey each time, at the cost of $3000 USD a head.
Phong Nha was definitely one of the best highlights in Vietnam. In our short stay in the park we accomplished a lot and had an amazing time.
We set out early with our guide to check out the botanical garden and waterfalls as our first stop.
We could already tell this place was going to be beautiful by the drive up the mountain to get there. The thick jungle and sharp mountains that shot up all around was something you would see in a movie.
We walked along a small stream in the dense jungle to get to the falls. We got to hike down the waterfall and enjoy the views from the bottom for a little while. A very good start to our morning.
The next stop was at the Paradise cave, one of the more popular caves in the park. Paradise cave was only discovered in 2005, also by a local man who was thought to be exploring in the area. He was obviously hunting/exploring illegally as you are not allowed to hunt or even hike without a guide in the park. This is because anyone who is hiking in the area is likely to be poaching protected wildlife or gathering plants in a protected area.
We hitched a ride from one of the golf carts to the trail, then hiked up a steep but very well developed trail to the mouth of the cave. Along the way we saw a few lizards and skinks while chatting with our friendly guide, Ngoc.
Our first steps into the cave... this place was unbelievable.
When you think of a cave you think of a small dark area that you need to duck to walk into. Well, this cave was nothing we could have imagined. Inside was bigger than any building we have seen.
The deeper into the cave you walked the more and more amazing it became.
same - same (flash/no flash)
It was 31km long(we only got to see the first 1km), 150m wide in parts and reaches 100m tall.
The path through the cave was lit up by dim lights to allow visitors to see the very old stalagmites and stalactites scattered throughout the cave. There were several of formations that looked similar to animals, people, monsters and plants. Every piece of rock was as interesting as the next.
These form from water dripping slowly through the rock above and collecting calcium and minerals along the way. By the time it gets to the surface of the cave it drips along the other rocks forming amazing shapes and profiles. When they solidify and hang from the top of the cave they are stalagmites. If they have dripped and collected to form along the base of the cave they are stalagmites. These formations take hundreds, thousands, millions of years. We were really careful not to touch anything so that the oil on our hands didn't effect the growth of the stalactite/stalagmite.
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| Fallen stalactite - now a stalagmite?? |
We found a stalactite that had broken off and fallen to the cave floor at some point. This piece was huge and made you look up and think about other ones that could potentially fall on your head. The question is - is this now a stalagmite?!
This cave is unlike anything we have ever seen before and puts any cave that we have seen in the past to shame.
The Phong Nha cave is also a well known cave and was named after the park. It was said to be the most beautiful cave ever... until the Paradise cave was discovered. You cannot visit them both in one day and we are both very happy with our choice of the Paradise cave. We spent several hours inside in awe.
After we left the cave it was time for lunch - annnd then came the rain..
We enjoyed a Vietnamese lunch with some local people which consisted of choosing ingredients from the massive platter to roll our own fresh spring rolls once again. Several types of meat, vegetables and rice were at hand.
Above our lunch area we could watch people fly over top of the restaurant on the biggest zipline in Vietnam. It had started to rain and was slightly chilly by then so some of them looked fairly unhappy. But others looked extremely happy and we were excited to get on.
The zipline was the short way to get to our next stop, the Dark Cave. After gearing up, you zip over top of the river and the restaurant taking in some major scenery of the park. Although the cold rain was a bit unpleasant it was still a sweet ride.
The mouth of the cave was right on the river, and you had to swim to the man made path to get to it.
The Dark Cave does not have any lighting whatsoever, so everywhere you went you needed to use your headlamp and walk carefully.
Inside the beginning of the cave you have to get into the dark waters that were chest deep and trust that nothing lying beneath would eat you. And, again, we were pretty damn chilly.
We walked between sharp boulders, up and down steep climbs, soon to be up to our knees in mud.
We continued through the thick sludge feeling our way along the bottom to the end of the tunnel.
The end of the tunnel was a chest deep mud pool. We had no choice but to dive in and roll around like barnyard hogs. We had a blast throwing mud, digging holes in the wall and laughing at others slipping in deeper.
Once we were satisfied with our mud baths we backtracked through the dark muddy cave to find one last surprise:
a mudslide that led back into the water where we had come from. Sliding down the mud into the clear waters was a great relief; we were able to clean off most of the mud with no effort at all. The excitement overpowered the cold in this cave.
After washing the mud off, swimming back through the waters and leaving the darkness of the Dark cave, our chariot awaited us (a kayak) so that we could head back to the other side of the river.
Here there were all kinds of river fun. Ziplines, rope swings, rope courses above water and platforms. We were able to enjoy them for a little while before the cold set in and we had to call it quits.
What a day this was. So much to see, so much to do and so much to learn. We will never forget our time at Phong Na.
Returning to our hostel we were given a free beer and had some time to kill
before hopping on another night bus heading for Tam Coc, finally reaching the
northern parts of Vietnam. We had some
dinner and drank a few beers at a restaurant next door with some likeminded
Australians. There was also a playful puppy in the bar - the servers son and the puppy were a hilarious pair to watch. Of course we had our fun with the little guy as well. Great times as usual. 
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