Vietnam - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 863

Tour operators Oxalis Adventure Tours, ( W oxalis.com
.vn) run extremely professional, well-organized caving
and trekking tours to the Tu Lan cave system and Hang En
cave. Oxalis is also the only operator that has permission
to lead seven-day adventure tours into Son Doong cave
(see box, p.865); beware of dodgy operators in Dong Hoi
who fleece travellers by charging them $1000, promising
to take them to Son Doong and taking them to another
cave altogether.

wife Tham, has expansive views over a lake from the
terrace, a lively bar and restaurant and spacious en-suite
”rustic chic” villas and bungalows, the latter with own
garde n a reas. To ny h as motorbikes for rent ($10/day).
Dorm $8 , double $35
Thang Dat Hotel T 052 3677328. The pick of the budget
hotels along Son Trach's only street, this centrally-located
option is friendly, comes with com fortable beds, clean
rooms and reliable wi-fi. Double $12

ACCOMMODATION
Easy Tiger Son Trach T 052 3677844, E easytiger
[e-mail]. Orange, Aussie-run multistorey
backpacker magnet, with clean, comfortable dorms and
staff who know t he ir stuff. All manner of local adventures
organized. Dorm $8
Ho Khanh's Homestay Son Trach T 091 6794506,
W phong-nha-homestay.com. At the western end of the
village, 2km from the centre, this delightful homestay
run by Khanh - the hunter who originally discovered the
world's biggest cave - and his welcoming family consists
of three cosy, fan-cooled doubles overlooking the river.
Happy puppies scamper about the property and you're
greeted in the morning with strong, sweet coffee a nd vi ews
of the mist-shrouded karst across the river. Double $30
★

EATING AND DRINKING
The guesthouses listed here all offer good food.
Cavern Bar Son Trach. Friendly bar serving a good mix
of Western and Vietnamese dishes. The owner goes out
of his way to be helpful and is full of useful info about the
area. Daily noon-10pm.
Easy Tiger Son Trach. Easy Tiger's on-site restaurant
dishes out shepherd's pie, burgers and other Western
comfort food, as well as hefty breakfasts, Vietnamese
fried rice, spring rolls and noodle dishes. Mains from
60,000VND. Daily 7.30am-10pm.
Pub with Cold Beer Kuong Ha. Cycle south down a dirt
road from Kuong Ha (arm yourself with a map from your
homestay), haul your bike across the river, fling yourself
into a hammock and enjoy a cold beer. If you're hungry and
there's several of you, the friendly proprietress will kill and
cook a chicken. Daily 7am-8.30pm.
Viet Binh Son Trach. Though it looks nondescript, this is
the best spot in town for Vietnamese food, with tofu
dishes, sticky ribs, stir-fried morning glory, steamed fish
and excellent French fries. Mains from 40,000VND. Daily
11.30am-9.30pm.

11

Pepperhouse Kuong Ha W pepperhouse-homestay
.com. Sitting amid tranquil countryside and surrounded
by pepper trees, this is the home of loquacious Aussie
“Multi”, a fount of local knowledge, and his wife Diem.
The dorm and doubles are basic but comfortable, the
home-cooked food is delicious and the co mmunal nature
of the meals encoura ges socializing. Dorm 200,000VND ,
double 400,000VND
Phong Nha Lakeside Resort Kuong Ha, Hung Trach
T 012 64746876, W phongnhalakehouse.com. Besides
the most luxurious dorms that you're likely to see in
Vietnam, with proper two-tiered beds and mosquito nets,
this Australian-run guesthouse, owned by Tony and his

THE DMZ
Under the terms of the 1954 Geneva
Accords, Vietnam was split in two along
the Seventeenth Parallel. he demarcation
line ran along the Ben Hai River and was
sealed by a strip of no-man's-land 5km
wide on each side known as the
Demilitarized Zone , or DMZ . he two
provinces either side of the DMZ were the
most heavily bombed and saw the highest
casualties, civilian and military, American
and Vietnamese, during the American War.
So much firepower was unleashed over this
area, including napalm and herbicides, that
for years nothing would grow in the
chemical-laden soil, but the region's low,
rolling hills are now mostly reforested and
green. here's not that much to see here
nowadays, besides the museums at Ben
Hai, Vinh Moc and Khe Sanh, but Quang

TREAT YOURSELF
Phong Nha Farmstay T 094 4759864,
W phong-nha-cave.com. Phong Nha's
most luxurious accommodation is this
lodge, with its tall ceilings and dark wood
accents, delicious Asian and Western food,
a pool table and bar, and motorbikes and
bicycles for rent. Cosy en-suite rooms offer
great sunset views over the rice paddies
and there's a swimming pool for dipping.
Helpful owners Ben and Bich can not only
advise you on the surrounding attractions,
but al so arrange excellent tours of the
park. 600,000VND

★