Vietnam - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 861

in imperial Vietnam evident in an
immense citadel and wealth of royal
tombs. he coastal city of Da Nang boasts
some spectacular cave temples, while
further south still, the riverside town of
Hoi An is one of Vietnam's most charming
destinations and a highlight of the region.
Renowned for its hundreds of tailor
shops, crafts, traditional Chinese
merchants' houses and temples, and some
of the best food in the country, it also
makes a good base for exploring the fine
ruins of the Cham temple complex at
nearby My Son .

here runs at a sedate pace, apart from
during the raucous celebrations for the Tet
festival (see p.837). It's an easy bicycle or
motorbike ride 10km through the
countryside toward Dong Hoi to reach
Khuong Ha , a smaller village with some of
the best accommodation.

Phong Nha Cave
Discovered in 2005, Phong Nha Cave is
the park's most popular attraction,
reached via a 45-minute sedate ride in a
dragon boat from Son Trach dock.
“Phong Nha” means “cave of teeth”, and
the “teeth”, or stalagmites, are indeed
numerous, illuminated by multicoloured
lights along with the turrets and stony
cascades of myriad other rock formations.
Visitors may only access a 1km section of
the cave, though the cave is actually a
staggering 55km long. As the boat enters
the cave mouth, the boatman turns off
the engine and switches to oars, rowing
silently as you watch the subtly lit rock
formations pass by in the semi-gloom.
You're then deposited on a sandy beach,
from where you make your way out of
the cave on foot to the boat landing.
Outside, a steep flight of 330 steps leads
up to the smaller Tien Son Cave , used as a
makeshift hospital by the Viet Cong
during the Vietnam War. Even if you
don't enter the cave, the climb is worth it
for the expansive views over the
countryside; the pools of water in the
fields are former bomb craters.
You'll need to purchase tickets for the
two caves (60,000VND each) and for the
boat (320,000VND) at the jetty in Son
Trach; if you can get other people to
share your boat, it works out significantly
cheaper per person. Seasonal flooding
means that Phong Nha Cave may be
closed in November and December,
and on weekends, especially in summer,
both caves tend to be mobbed by
Vietnamese tourists.

11

PHONG NHA KE BANG
NATIONAL PARK
Consisting of 885 square kilometres of
unspoilt jungle, the mountainous PHONG
NHA-KE BANG NATIONAL PARK stretches
up to the border with Laos and is an area
of incredible biodiversity. A UNESCO
World Heritage Site since 2003, its ancient
karst mountains hide extensive cave
systems, many of which haven't yet been
explored properly, and are home to more
than one hundred species of mammal,
including tigers, elephants and monkeys,
as well as more than three hundred species
of bird. he subterranean highlights are
Phong Nha Cave, one of the longest in the
world, and, Son Doong, the world's largest
cave, properly explored for the first time in
2009 (see box opposite).

WHAT TO SEE AND DO
As this was the most heavily shelled region
of Vietnam during the Vietnam War,
there is no question of solo treks into the
jungle, though guided jungle treks
combined with caving are available (see
p.866). A beautiful stretch of the Ho Chi
Minh Trail also passes through the park.

Son Trach
he largest village in the park is SON
TRACH (or Phong Nha Town), a spread-
out, mostly one-street settlement that sits
along the slow-flowing Song Con River,
surrounded by karst mountains covered in
lush vegetation. his is where you find the
boat dock, a smattering of budget hotels
and restaurants and other amenities. Life

Paradise Cave
he third-largest cave in the park, and
reputedly the world's biggest cave without
any water source, Paradise Cave (daily
7.30am-4.30pm; 150,000VND) is
greater than 31km in length, though