I think nothing could prepare us to what we saw next at Phong Nha Ke Bang. This is a national park that has been open to the public for only a few years now after the discovery of some of the largest caves in the world. In fact the largest, Hang Son Doong is a 7 day trek from the park visitor center and only about 200 people every year are allowed to visit. Even without visiting this “largest” cave, there are a dozen others, each bigger and more beautiful than the other. The area is protected as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
For the first 2 caves, you need to hire a boat to reach them which makes a very nice trip.
After a nice boat ride, we reach the entrance of the first cave, the Fairy Cave. To reach it, you have to walk up a few hundreds stairs. It was silly to think that this actually was a major deterrant to most tourists there.
Nice views from the stairs going up the mountain.
The entrance. Not much considering what we saw next.
We’ve got the place to ourselves!
Right next to the Fairy cave, the most famous cave of the park “Phong Nha”, which you visit by boat. It is 7 km long, 14 grottos and an underground river. Hard to grasp!
Impressed!
Happy faces!
Beer celebration.
The next day, we rent scooters to go and visit another impressive cave. Riding on a scooter is super fun!
A little bit of vietnamese coffee to get ready for the visit.
To give you another impression of this place, here’s a little video.
Time to go back. Here’s a few pictures taken from the motorbike on the way.
The following morning, we take a van back to Dong Hoi to catch the train to our next destination, Huế.
The train is a lot of fun!
