Vietnam Part 7: Phong Nha

Scootering through the jungle!

Phong Nha is the the ultimate middle-of-nowhere place. It is a stunningly beautiful national park in the centre of Vietnam, famous for its jungles and having some of the largest caves in the world. Most of the caves have only been discovered in the last decade or so because it is so remote. We happened to hear about it by reading the Lonely Planet (an actual book!) and decided to spend one night and one day there on our way to the islands.

Our accommodation for the night - a lakefront villa. One rainfall away from being flooded.

One of the top rated attractions in Phong Nha is the Pub With Cold Beer, a cult backpacker type of venue off the beaten track, then another 45 minutes cycle along a mud track. Our hotel gave us bikes in the afternoon, warning us to be back before dark. No problemo!

Eric speeds ahead of me to the Pub with Cold Beer. 

When we finally reached the Pub With Cold Beer we were underwhelmed. The young-and-free party setup of hammocks, long tables and volleyball courts could not be utilized to their full potential as there were only two other people there. We finished our beer, played a game of pool at the worlds most remote pool table, then headed back via a different route so we could ride across a cool looking bridge. Big mistake. We had inadvertently taken the long way back and dusk was upon us. Mosquitoes rose from the swampy farm lands and aimed like kamikaze pilots towards our faces and mouths. The dirt path turned into a muddy bog, almost indistinguishable from the fields around it. We had to get off our bikes and push them, wondering the whole time if we were actually heading towards the main road.

Darkness fell and our levels of concern and regret increased. The numerous semi-domesticated dogs living on the farms became feral, barked, growled and began to approach us. This is it, I thought for the nth time in Vietnam, ankle deep in mud wheeling a bike. We're going to be mauled by a pack of feral dogs.

The cool bridge we risked our lives for.

We arrived back at the hotel past dark, muddy, cold, and disheveled. Eric had used his dog speaking skills to keep them from biting us as we waded past, the rest of the journey being a combination of luck and determination. We spent the evening cowering over food and cocktails, promising ourselves we would not stay out after dark again.

The next morning, feeling refreshed and confident after a relaxing kayaking session on the lake, we hired a scooter from the hotel and headed out to visit the caves. Scootering in Phong Nha was much better than in Hue as there was hardly any traffic, however...

Roadblock!

Another roadblock! Turn back and take the long route. Seconds after I took this photo, Eric pressed the accelerator and almost ran me over whilst not even riding the scooter. 

We visited two caves in Phong Nha. The first, sensibly called Phong Nha Cave, was a river cave only accessible by boat. To get there, we joined forces with a group of backpackers and hired a private boat (of questionable structural integrity) which took us up the river. When we reached the cave, we disembarked and got on to smaller row boats which were manned (and womanned) by locals who paddled us through the caves.

Approaching the cave entrance in our big boat - BYO beer. 

This was a very impressive cave, but not as impressive as the second cave we visited; Paradise Cave was discovered in 2005 and is 31km long, though only the first km or so can be accessed without a guide. To get to this extremely remote cave, we scootered for 45 minutes and then completed a hike through the jungle (there was a snake!). The opening of the cave is a small hole in a rock halfway up a mountain, which leads to the top of a colossal cavern (for a size comparison, think Mines of Moria but with a boardwalk and lights instead of Orcs and dead Dwarves). Being a dark cave, I couldn't really capture its size on camera, but here are some pictures of the coolest formations inside it:

A big slimy rock. 

A llama with two people riding it?

Fancy cave ponds (no signs of life).

Having explored two of the caves, there was only one thing to do which was get back to the hotel before dark. Unfortunately, my jungle navigational skills are sub-par, and so, after heading 20 minutes in the wrong direction, the sun was starting to set and we were beginning to involuntarily eat mosquitoes again.

"Can the tigers run faster than this scooter?"

I call this one "Lost in the Jungle".

Phong Nha was a really cool place and is definitely worth visiting, despite it being difficult to get to. If you're up for an adventure, physical activity, and enjoy getting a bit muddy, this is the place for you.

Next Stop: Cat Ba Island! (back up to Halong Bay)