The Caves of Phong Nha

Today we did a tour of some of the caves in the Phong Nha national park. There were 12 others in our tour and a Vietnamese guide. On our way to the first stop the guide explained a bit about the Vietnamese war and the history of the caves. There are a total of 300 caves in the national park, including the biggest cave in the world ($3,000 for a trip inside that one!). We arrived at the the 8 ladies cave - now a memorial site to remember the 8 men and women that died inside after a rock avalanche, caused by American bombing which blocked the exit. After paying our respects, we continued in the minibus to the Paradise Cave, where we got a buggy 1.6km and then walked a further 500m up stairs through the rainforest to get to the entrance. By the time we arrived we were all very warm (and certain hungover members of our group finally stopped complaining).
Paradise Cave (Thien Duong) is 31km in length, making it the longest dry cave in Asia. Inside it has vaulted ceilings with huge stalactites and stalagmites. I don't think our descriptions could ever do it justices, and neither do the pictures; the place is mighty and beautiful. An hour later we headed back down the stairs and towards the next stop - the Dark Cave.
Lunch was presented to the group on a large platter of banana leaves with rice, bits of meat (well, bone), noodles and salad. It was also a good chance to get to know some of the other travellers - meeting a second person from West Yorkshire.
Next, we changed into our swimwear, picked up a helmet with a head-torch, harness and lifejacket. We climbed more stairs to reach the top of a zip-line, hooked on one-by-one we flew down, across the river below to land just outside the next cave. Leaving our harness behind we creeped into the chilly water and headed into the Dark Cave. Walking barefoot over slippery wooden planks, sharp rocks and slimy mud we made our way 500m into the quiet cave to reach a mud bath. We bathed and covered ourselves with the mud before heading back via a mud slide.
Next we hopped into some blow-up kayaks to paddle back across the river. Here we had some time to play - including swinging down short zip-lines into the water below. Once dried off we went back to the restaurant to find a bottles of local rum and coke waiting for us before the drive back.
In the evening, we had a starter in one restaurant, some drinks and shared a main in the Easy Tiger Hostel, before finally sharing a curry and roti in an Indian for dessert. Completely and utterly stuffed we rolled back to our hotel.Read more