Phong Nha National Park
Phong Nha is an adventurers dream.
A national park and Unesco world heritage center, showcasing an awesome display of the world’s beauty.
Limestone peaks, untamed jungle valleys and huge cave systems.
All even more amazing when you consider, as Doug reminded me, that the limestone in Phong Nha and indeed across much of South East Asia was formed under the sea. It was once one sheet of sea bedrock. After the sea receded, natural forces have gradually worn this down to the peaks seen today. And nature has claimed these peaks with the lush jungle greenery seen today.
We stayed at Easy Tiger hostel in Phong Nha town due to the rave reviews from we heard from a number of people. It did not disappoint.
The perfect mix of chill, and party with a great social atmosphere. It also served as an adventure hub for the town. With daily information talks, helpful, knowledgeable staff and a book full of tours.
This hostel was the shit. Hammocks, a pool, a pool table, huge communal space, live music, free bicycles and a favourite of mine free water refills. Small gestures like free water I always really appreciate, shame they are so rare.
The Caves
Phong Nha is home to many limestone caves. Including the recently discovered Soong Dorm cave, the largest cave system in the world. This place is so big it has it’s own jungle, river and climate!
I would have loved to explore this cave but at a price of over 1000 dollars a trip, it was out of my price range. It would have been a legit adventure though. Not the usual tourism style of the other caves. No lighting, no wooden platforms, and no tourists. Proper caving.
We visited two other caves during our stay. Dark cave and Paradise cave.
Dark cave was an average overpriced activity\adventure park with zip lining, shit kayaking, and a 500m walk into a dark cave, which being dark was essentially a 500m walk in the dark. The only part of note was the mud bath, which was an interesting new experience for me.
Paradise cave, however, was impressive. A huge underground cavern and passageways lit up so you can marvel at the beauty of the limestone formations. Huge stalactites and stalagmites.
Other Activities
We also went to the botanical gardens for a short walk around and to check out a pretty cool waterfall which you could climb up next to.
Just driving around Phong Nha is incredible. All the activities we did lay on a beautiful loop through the park. Up and down mountains and through the valley.
However, motorbiking wasn’t our only mode of transport here. One afternoon we took bikes down Bong Lai valley. A valley with great potential for a day session. Potential we didn’t fully utilize. Managing only 3 of the 8 or 9 drinking establishments along the route. Poor effort I have to say.
We did set off late (3 pm), and this requires a morning start. It gets dark at 6 and biking in the dark was not a fun experience. It was also raining, it was always raining while we were in Phong Nha.
The 8 stops are spread across 12km so bikes are the only reasonable mode of transport. It makes for a scenic flat ride which was good because our bikes had no gears.
A lot of the farms run their own tourist activity. At one, you could kill and eat a chicken. We didn’t make it this far though. We did make it to the Duck Stop though. A farm where you can pay to feed the ducks and ride a water buffalo.
Although me and Doug opted to just drink the beer. Each beer came with a hefty portion on full roasted peanuts which we were told to eat with a full peppercorn and some chili salt. Delicious. We polished off a couple.
Also, you can end in a homestay with a pool owned by Easy Tiger. So you get to take a refreshing dip in the pool have another few beers and catch a lift back to Easy Tiger. They even provide towels.
Although we didn’t make it to all the pubs I guarantee this would be a quality day out, especially if it was a sunny day.
Snipadvisors top tip:
Get up early and head into the valley for a lovely bike ride and a day of drinking if you are into that. You won’t regret it.
Maria and Shanti
We spent most of our time exploring Phong Nha with Maria. An interesting, bubbly American girl who adopted a young street puppy named Shanti in India. Shanti is quite a character and a lovely dog even if she is slightly racist. The two are very much in love, Shanti follows Maria everywhere. It was cute.
The pair of them made great travel companions for our 4 nights in Phong Nha. They are currently traveling Vietnam on a scooter which Shanti happily sits on.
Made us remenice about Binbe and what could have been.
The Weather
The weather was awful!
From our last day driving all through the 5 days we spent here an continuing after we left it rained. It rained heavily and regularly. We had to embrace the rain and learn to love it or we wouldn’t have got anything done. I didn’t even have a good poncho.
The problem that arises when it rains like this is dry clothes. Or more importantly dry shoes. It was impossible to get anything dry and putting on wet smelly shoes every day is far from pleasant. They still stink!
Food
During my stay here I first realised I was in the middle of a Banh Mi drought. I hadn’t eaten one since Hue, that was over 4 days ago! This drought went on for a good ten days, I was having some serious withdrawals. I finally got my Banh Mi hit in Hanoi. I had 3 in the space of 2 days. You never know when you will next get the chance.
Although there were no Banh Mi’s Maria introduced us both to a delightful northern dish. Bun Cha. One of the tastiest Vietnamese dishes I have eaten so far. If you are anywhere near Hanoi keep an eye out for it. Make sure they have a BBQ outside or its probably fake Bun Cha and nowhere near as tasty.
That’s it for Phong Nha. Probably my favourite stop of the trip so far. I would have liked to do some of the tours like a day trekking through a jungle valley but the weather and the price of them put me off. Next, we headed to Nimbin to see some more rocks, this time in a lake.
