AROUND AMAZING PHONG NHA

But it doesn’t end there, Phong Nha keeps dishing up the natural attractions, grab a boat from the tourist office, if you are alone or just a couple, wait around until you have enough people, it won’t take long.  Or organize the night before with people from your guesthouse or over a cold beer at the Easy Tiger, you pay 350k ($35 au) dong for the boat, so the more people you have, the cheaper it is.  This will take you up the river and into the Phong Nha cave.

The Phong Nha Cave is a small opening in a huge limestone cliff face that is accessed by river, they will paddle you in and then drop you off to wander around the cave system.  I didn’t get the full story, but it was used during the Vietnam war to hide out and store boats, supplies etc and I’m pretty sure it was used as a ‘highway’ that came out somewhere else.  You can see marks in the first cavern where US airforce pilots had sent missiles in to stop this supply, but failed.

Just the riding around the area alone make it worth the trip, plus the town just has this aura that draws you in and I fell in love with the place instantly, as do most that visit.  The amount of people that come for a day or 2 and stay longer is unbelievable, some of them never leave!

  As soon as I spent a little time here I thought ‘what a place to invest and setup a business’, the place is lacking so many facilities here that an outsider investing and helping the locals would actually be welcomed.

I pretty much spent my time here going on different rides through the National Park, swimming when warm enough, lazy afternoons at ‘The pub with cold beer’, back to the caves, meeting new travelers by the fire at night, generally just enjoying the abundant beauty of the place and the unique vibe about the place.  You could get ‘trapped’ here if you’re not careful!

The traveler’s I met here were some of the best people I have gotten to know over the last 2 years and I have formed many friendships here that will outlive just our time in Phong Nha.  But I am getting side tracked giving you all the tourist info. 

I originally came to town for 2 nights and ended up staying 5 before I decided to head back to Dong Hoi and get the rest of my gear.  With Tet coming up it was either find somewhere new and wait it out there or stay here.  Not much of a decision really.

During Tet, all transport is pretty much sold out and it is a really bad time to be moving as a lot of places are closed, no Vietnamese wants to work over Tet.  I ended up staying 2 weeks there, riding, exploring, swimming, caving, meeting new friends, fishing, just loving the atmosphere of this place.  I wasn’t sure I would ever leave! 

But I knew there was so much more of Vietnam to explore and it was time to head off.  After talking with Ben and Joel from Easy Tiger my plans changed again and I decided to head off down the Ho Chi Minh West Highway to Khe Sanh and explore this apparently amazingly beautiful part of Vietnam.

A mate I had made here heard my plans and quickly decided he was coming too, Pete is also from Western Australia and does seasonal farm work, allowing him to visit Vietnam for 3 months at a time, twice a year.  Most of that he spends at Phong Nha where he can live ridiculously cheap in between riding around the country.  So a plan was set and we were to head off in a couple of days.

Some funny pages from the 'Pub with cold beer' menu

Pics around Phong Nha

Entrance to Phong Nha Cave

PHONG NHA cont...

Pepperhouse Farmstay is more for those on a budget and is situated right in the thick of village living, but very quiet, surrounded by nature and rice paddies.  The perfect place to go if you like to lay undisturbed in a hammock and chill out or read a book. 

It is also not far from the famous ‘Pub with Cold Beer’ aka ‘The Chicken Lady’.  Don’t miss a trip out here, you can float on the river with tubes or just have a swim, when you’re done, relax at ‘the bar’ with some cold beers and great food.

At 'The Pub With Cold Beer' they have a few items to choose from including freshly picked and roasted peanuts but the place is famous for you being able to pick out a chicken and send it to it’s death.  

She will kill it right there and an hour later, time for a couple more cold beers, she will serve you up a delicious bbq chicken, with veges, rice and the most delicious fresh satay sauce you have ever eaten.  They also house one of the roughest pool tables you are likely to play on and her 2 young daughters, maybe 4 and 6, are hysterical to interact with.  Be sure to visit.

There are plenty more caves in the area to see, some requiring a 2 or 3 day trek into the jungle and camping out in them, but the almighty Son Doong requires a week long expedition costing $3000!  It is already sold out for this year and there are limited numbers that go every season. 

But fear not, if that isn’t in your budget there is plenty to see around the town itself, with the easily reached Paradise Cave being absolutely stunning.  There is a nice waterfall on the way and simply riding out there will have you taking in some of the most amazing scenery I have been lucky enough to ride through.

If you are doing Paradise Cave, once you exit, get back on your bike and onto the ‘bitumen’, keep going in the same direction, don’t head back the way you came in.  It will take you on a loop back to town and seriously almost the best little section I have ever ridden as far as scenery goes.  

There are small farming villages, rice paddies, a beautiful river of the most amazing blue colour on one side, towering limestone karsts surrounding you, local kids on bikes all waving and saying hello.

Then there is the Dark Cave which finds you swimming through the dark, sometimes muddy river into the cave to explore, you will just have to see for yourself.  Fancy a swim?  Head to Nuoc Mooc, a beautiful little oasis, a swimming hole on the river with that famous blue coloured water to cool off in, a series of paths and little bamboo bridges will lead you there.  

On the way there is a natural spring that feeds it, you wouldn’t even know it was there, but it is an underground wet cave that apparently leads all the way to Laos.  Don't miss Nuoc Mooc.

Most caving tours can be booked through Oxalis Adventure Tours, the leader in caving around Phong Nha

PLACES TO STAY IN PHONG NHA

There are some farmstays outside of town, maybe 7 or 8km and they are amazing, but the price goes up accordingly.  There is the Phong Nha Farmstay, the owner of which also has the backpacker hostel in town, The Easy Tiger, the most happening place in this tiny village. 

Ben, an Aussie, is co-owner of both and has been a driving force in setting up facilities and getting the town on the tourist map.  Tourism here is in it’s infant stage and has really only opened up in the last couple of years with the discovery of the world’s largest cave Son Doong.

The Phong Nha Farmstay is, well, spectacular to say the least, you have to see it to believe it, those on a slightly bigger budget will want to stay here, though they are definitely not overpriced.  We spent Tet (Chinese new year, but the celebrations continue over a week or or more) out here on their rooftop bar watching fertilizer bombs and fireworks going off all around us in the small village and rice paddies.

Yes, I said bombs!  It was classic, you could feel these things going off as you watched a massive flash across the fields.  

That night we went back in to town and there were massive parties and campfires in the main street, everybody was dancing, eating, drinking and they made us tourists feel like family.  Everywhere over the course of Tet people would invite you to stop, eat and drink with them and it led to some rally great experiences.  Man these Vietnamese sure know how to party!

The Easy Tiger has dorm rooms only and at $8 a night also come with free breakfast, wifi and a pool table, plus you are never far from the action or from meeting a great bunch of fellow travellers.  I don’t do dorm rooms so can’t comment, but food wise they have plenty of western fare. 

Though for me, The Cavern Bar is my favourite place in town to eat, a locally owned ‘stylish thatched hut’ basically, that servers up great food at a great price.  Be sure to try the sweet & sour pork.  They also have free wifi.

There is also the Lakehouse Farmstay, situated right on, you guessed it, a lake just outside of town!  They have dorms or up market rooms, with great staff and some of the best food around, Tony is also from Australia and is a great guy, I used to go up there and fish nearly every day, followed by a few beers and dinner.  A fantastic way to spend the afternoon, away from the 'hustle and bustle' of town!

 DONG HOI TO PHONG NHA BY SCOOTER

They spoke just enough English at the Anh Linh and were expecting me through my Agoda booking, it makes things so much easier when you get to a new town, send the details to your phone, show the taxi driver the address and you’re away.

  No running around town comparing prices and rooms, that’s what the internet is for.  They also cooked me some dinner even though it was getting late, it wasn’t that good but it filled the gap.  The breakfast was much better, though it’s pretty hard to stuff up fried eggs and a baguette now isn’t it?!

I think the readers will know by now that first order of the day (and don’t say ‘have a beer’) was to commandeer a scooter and explore this place.  Too easy, the Anh Linh can help you there also and soon I was off into the unknown, well the town of Dong Hoi anyway.  It is a cool relaxed town, set where the river meets the ocean, I instantly mellowed and the craziness off Hanoi was soon forgotten.  Now I was enjoying Vietnam.

I had read about Phong Nha and the caves there so decided I would do the trip by bike for a couple of days to have a look.  I left my luggage at Anh Linh and set off with just my backpack and my computer bag strapped to the bike.  I took the coast road up which was the long way round but worth the extra time.  Nothing special but it was great to be seeing Vietnam proper, the rural settings and small towns.

A couple of hours later, after a few detours and some sightseeing I was in the quaint little town of Son Trac, aka, Phong Nha.  Once again I had used Agoda to full effect and ended up in the possibly the best place in town, they are all similar and the same price but what you get at one place is vastly different from what you might get next door (as I would find out later)  The place is Thien Thanh and you won’t find anywhere better in the town for that price.

At $10 a night including breakfast, this place was a winner, the owners are extremely friendly and helpful and I was regularly invited in for beers and dinner.  They speak pretty good English and the whole place is just really well run, unlike many other guesthouses in town.  You can rent a bike there and they will point you in the right direction for anything you may need, I arrived a guest and left as a friend. 

When I returned a week and a half later I was greeted like an old mate of theirs.  My number 1 choice in Phong Nha.  It’s not that the other places deliberately do a bad job, they are simply still learning the industry and some are clearly keener than others to secure the tourist dollars.