The caves of Phong Nha
When you are on the road you meet people that share their travel experience with you and that, more than anything, will shape how you then travel that country. For Vietnam I had been told that there was not much to see between Hoi An and Hanoi and that I was better off flying rather than taking the 20 or so hour long bus journey. Then I arrived in Vietnam and I met people that couldn't shut up about the Phong Nha caves and so off I went to see what all the fuss was about and what an amazing day we had!
I met two English boys on the way there and the next morning we went off with an Easyrider each to explore the National Park. Easyrider is basically just a taxi bike that you pay a set price for a day of touring an area. In our case we paid 250 000 Dong (95 SEK/€10) each to the drivers to take us to Paradise and Dark cave, which in turn cost 250 000 Dong to get in to each cave. This in comparison to going on an organised tour which was starting from 1.2 million Dong (460 SEK/€50).
Our first stop was the Paradise cave which was breathtaking with colossal stalagmites throughout the 31km cave system. Though we were only able to visit the first km or so.
I don't know what I expected but this was above my expectations. Truly amazing.
As if the day couldn't get any better we set off through the mountains again and headed towards the Dark cave which is sort of an activity center as you start by ziplining across the river before you swim to the cave entrance.
Here you are dressed in life jackets and helmets with headlamps as you navigate through the dark cave and eventually get to a small opening.
Once we made it through the narrow mud covered walkways we arrived to the biggest mud bath I've ever seen. We tried to swim, some people jumped.
Then there was Kit who decided a head to toe dip was the only way to do it.
Once we had a quick wash in the river we kayak back over the river before the infamous obstacle course 8m above the river. As I jumped to get hold of the net my hands slipped and I fell ass first back down in the river and made a very impressive splash! There was also another zipline which Kit convinced me we should do and the best strategy would be to hold on until the very end. Not a good idea! As you hit the end, your body swings upwards and you go down back first once again making a nice splash.
But my favourite thing was without a doubt to simply sit on the back of that motorbike and enjoy the amazing scenery surrounding us. So when in Vietnam, go see the fantastic caves in the Phong Nha National Park and do it on a motorbike!
I met two English boys on the way there and the next morning we went off with an Easyrider each to explore the National Park. Easyrider is basically just a taxi bike that you pay a set price for a day of touring an area. In our case we paid 250 000 Dong (95 SEK/€10) each to the drivers to take us to Paradise and Dark cave, which in turn cost 250 000 Dong to get in to each cave. This in comparison to going on an organised tour which was starting from 1.2 million Dong (460 SEK/€50).
Our first stop was the Paradise cave which was breathtaking with colossal stalagmites throughout the 31km cave system. Though we were only able to visit the first km or so.
I don't know what I expected but this was above my expectations. Truly amazing.
As if the day couldn't get any better we set off through the mountains again and headed towards the Dark cave which is sort of an activity center as you start by ziplining across the river before you swim to the cave entrance.
Here you are dressed in life jackets and helmets with headlamps as you navigate through the dark cave and eventually get to a small opening.
Once we made it through the narrow mud covered walkways we arrived to the biggest mud bath I've ever seen. We tried to swim, some people jumped.
Then there was Kit who decided a head to toe dip was the only way to do it.
Once we had a quick wash in the river we kayak back over the river before the infamous obstacle course 8m above the river. As I jumped to get hold of the net my hands slipped and I fell ass first back down in the river and made a very impressive splash! There was also another zipline which Kit convinced me we should do and the best strategy would be to hold on until the very end. Not a good idea! As you hit the end, your body swings upwards and you go down back first once again making a nice splash.
But my favourite thing was without a doubt to simply sit on the back of that motorbike and enjoy the amazing scenery surrounding us. So when in Vietnam, go see the fantastic caves in the Phong Nha National Park and do it on a motorbike!
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