13.03 Day 58 Phong Nha
Wednesday 13th March - Phong Nha (Day 58)
Green Homestay has a large front courtyard with tables for guests of the 8 rooms, but is also open to the public where guys (usually) have coffee (usually) and a cigarette (usually). Here we have breakfast which the kids are delighted contains pancakes on the menu. The ever smiley host Dat - whose English is terrible, but then, my Vietnamese is much worse and I certainly don’t smile as much as he does - serves up a hearty breakfast to propel us into schoolwork. Seb has an 8am online class that he finally attends for the first time, whilst Sienna has one at 10am - both sessions on Maths, on this, apparently World Maths Day.
Our expedition for the day is Phong Nha Cave, which is usually just 1 of 3 activities on a common organised day tour, but we prefer the ability to linger longer if we like something or waltz through if not, rather than being beholden to when we need to reboard a bus. The downside is the need, in this case to tackle the two stage ticket process, in off season (less tourists to be shared amongst the locals) of getting tickets for us four, plus a boat to take us to the cave.
The boat seats 12 and costs 550k vnd regardless if 1 or 12 people are on it. The waiting boat owners are therefore keen for you to ride solo so they get more trips. Thankfully, we’re prepared via google reviews and so latch onto any other slightly lost looking tourists. Which means within 10 minutes we are a group of 10; us 4 plus pairs of young(er) Dutch, English and French travellers.
We board one of the long covered blue boats waiting on the river and journey towards the cave, the homestays and homes thinning out as we splutter along for 20 minutes. Reviews talk of the spectacular scenery, these dark tree covered karsts rising up beside you, but it would perhaps be enhanced if you were deaf so as to block out the loud engine which means you have to shout to be heard.
The Phong Nha Cave entrance looks small in comparison to the mountain in which it sits, but this wet/dry cave allows us to motor straight in, the engine cut out as we do so. At that point the captain uses an oar at the back, and an old lady an oar at the front to paddle us through this huge cave.
The tin roof of the boat is peeled back revealing stalactites and stalagmites throughout. The spikes of minerals hanging down have the effect of making it seem like you’re in an aeroplane looking down on a mountain range. There are spotlights to emphasise the rock formations and the quiet season means we only pass two other boats in the cave (on the way back along the main river I count over 250 of these exact boats moored on the far side of the river, with “only” dozens working today, testament to how busy it can get).
On our return out of the cave we are dropped on a small beach 100m shy of the entrance to stroll along a wooden walkway to get up close to these impressively intricate rocks. Some look like giant jellyfish, where each metre long tentacle is then made up of other smaller jellyfish. We take a heap of photos despite knowing none will do it justice.
In the warm midday air outside, it’s time to ascend to Tien Son Cave. It was only an extra 80k vnd (on top of Phong Nha 250k, plus boat 220k), so what is there to lose? The kids patience, that’s what. Thankfully Kate has a reserve pair of Chupa Chup lollies and suddenly they’re bounding up the last few stairs. We are almost the only people heading down into the cave, following a loop in the nice cool air. Again photos won’t really bring it to life, but it was thoroughly impressive.
When I ask the kids if it was worth the stairs, I get a begrudging “I guess so”. Is there any higher praise? Certainly Kate and I enjoyed it and glad we opted for this area over more Vietnam war history sites. After a well deserved ice-cream at the bottom - both Seb and one of the Dutch guys losing half theirs to poorly engineered construction - we find our waiting boat to take us back to Phong Nha proper.
Given that the hundreds of steps up to Son Tien Cave were certainly not factory produced; some as high as Seb’s knees, it’s impressive the kids have the energy to jump straight into the pool on out return to Green Homestay where, bar a brief foray back into schoolwork, most of the afternoon is spent.
Dinner is at Paradise Homestay where the kids wolf down a treat of pizza and a burger + chips with mango smoothie. Planning our next leg, after the kids are in bed I walk out to the main drag and check out some of the buses coming and going. There’s an array of ‘sleeper’, ‘VIP’ and ‘Limousine’, some with decals claiming all three at once. Our overnight train journeys so far have been a success so I’m trying not to end up with a dud bus in 48 hours time. Time will tell if I’ve picked the right one.