Phong Nha - Caves and Ducks

The next stop going north was Phong Nha, Vietnam's adventure capital. The activity to do here is exploring the countless and stunning caves in the area.

So that is what I did the next day. While Amy took a day to rest and recharge, I joined a full day tour to first go see the Paradise Cave followed by the Dark Cave.

Although I am not the biggest fan of caves, the Paradise Cave was truly spectacular. The sheer size of it, plus the massive stalagmites and stalactites were breathtaking. It was a massive cave - 31km long. We only explored 1km, but that already gave me a good little insight into what the rest of the cave could look like. That first kilometer had a proper infrastructure set up to walk through the cave with lights everywhere - there is also an option to go 6-7km deep into the cave with only a head torch and no infrastructure.

It is difficult to put into words, but Paradise Cave was really amazing. I can only recommend! Never been in a cave like this before.

After the cave and a quick lunch, I headed to the Dark Cave, which is more of an action-packed place. This time, there was no infrastructure and the only light came from the head torches on our helmets. Bare feet, we walked on the muddy floor, through cold-ish water that reached our shoulders and made our way through some dark alleys in the cave. All for this: a mud bath.

Once there, we covered ourselves in the mineral-rich mud. We also turned our lamps off and remained quiet for a minute to just take in the sounds and smell of the cave! It was a great experience.

Once out of the cave, we kayaked back and finished off with grabbing a handle, ziplining over the water and then just let go and falling into the water.

The next day, Amy and I hired some bikes to go explore a local village and feed some ducks, which we have heard is a surreal but cool experience. The cycle ride through the local village was wholesome and some kids stopped us and wanted to practice their English - we happily complied. Then came the ducks. I have to say, one of the strangest, but funniest experiences I have had. We were a bit nervous to feed hundreds of ducks straight out of our hand and from between our feet and legs, but it turned out to be super fun. Amy could not stop laughing (watch the video!). So much fun!
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