The kids excitedly called out “hello” to me as I rode by.
The mountains rose up out of the ground as if spontaneously popping up to greet me.
The rice terraces seemed like a an endless green carpet leading to an eternity of natural beauty.
Farmers smiled and raised their hands to make a peace sign.
Our biker gang rode by, each person in turn yelling a similar hello or flashing peace right back.
I’m speaking of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park near Hue in Vietnam.
Is this paradise? It’s darn close.
Phong Nha wasn’t really even on my radar until I teamed up with my Vietnam travel buddy, grill master Double D, who told me about the famous caves in the area.
I had certainly heard about all kinds of caves in Vietnam, but had no idea how amazing and still unchanged these caves would turn out to be.
Apart from that, renting motorbikes and exploring the area for a couple of days in a row made this area the most beautiful, enjoyable, and amazing part of my entire month in Vietnam. Here’s why:
The Dark Cave
This cave is accessed by either kayaking or swimming to the cave mouth, and requires a guide. This ended up being the most expensive part of the day, but was so much fun, so we were happy to pay.
The cave is darn muddy. At first, I just accepted that, yes, I was going to have some really muddy feet. Then my legs got involved as the mud got deeper. Before I knew it, I was waist deep and, while rounding a corner, huddled behind a rock as a barrage of mud balls came raining down on me.
It was time for a mud war!
Our group of five ended up practically swimming in the mud by the end of it, throwing mud at each other every now and then and finally just accepting the muddiness and fully immersing ourselves, hair and all! The guide even got in on it, all of us laughing and playing like children again.
When I finally washed the mud off when we got back to the mouth of the cave, I realized that as the mud washed off it left my skin and hair incredibly soft. People pay good money for this kind of thing in fancy spas!
If you’re a confident swimmer, bypass the kayaks and just swim to the mouth of the cave to save some money. Do this whole thing in a bathing suit, or clothing that you’re OK with getting muddy and wet.
Paradise Cave
Paradise Cave is absolutely massive. Unlike the caves visited during a typical Halong Bay tour, this one has no graffiti, has not been changed at all (the walkway is a wooden deck added in rather than a paved walkway that changes the natural flow of the cave), and the lighting is all natural colors, rather than the reds and greens I saw in the other caves.
One could spend hours in here, marveling at the shapes and seeing various things in them, subjectively, much like cloud or star-gazing.
At the entrance of the caves one can either walk or take a little open-air shuttle bus to the cave entrance. Enjoy the walk and save your money. It’s an easy stroll in the shade and not worth the extra cash to bypass.
The Pub with Cold Beer
This is known as the place where one can “buy a chicken” live, have it plucked, butchered, and then cooked for lunch. Though I didn’t personally buy a chicken (it’s a 200,000 VND price tag), I was present when a few other tourists did.
I have now seen a chicken from the living stage to the plate stage. It was a little grizzly.
That’s all I have to say about that.
The drive out, though, was beautiful.
Fair warning, the road turns into a dirt and rock road with lots of potholes on the way to the pub, then ends at a river that needs to be crossed on foot (or bike, if you’re particularly adventurous and confident). No matter what you do, if you are motorbiking be sure to have travel insurance – it’s just the right thing to do.
The incredibly friendly locals in this area, and the natural beauty, made it very worth it.
The awesome Side Roads
My favorite thing was getting lost on the little side roads around the national park. The reaction from the locals was absolutely awesome.
Much in the way that the kids ran out of their little shacks in Kratie, Cambodia, yelling hello, the kids (and their parents too!) did the same on the small side roads here in Phong Nha. Honestly, what feels better than being welcomed every few minutes by the locals? It’s my favorite part of traveling and definitely makes a place that much more amazing for me.
The complete lack of traffic and generally good main roads made this an easy drive.
Even better, a first time rider came out with us and fell in love with motorbiking, much like I had my first time driving myself on a motorbike in Pai, Thailand. It’s tons of fun!
*All of the above can be done with a tour, but I tend to avoid tours and prefer doing things on my own. I spent about half what the tour cost was, but am comfortable driving a motorbike, which is essential on these roads, particularly those on the way to the Pub with Cold Beer.
Do it yourself:
- From Hue, there are several ways to get to Phong Nha. One can take a small minibus for 500,000 VND per person that goes from Hue Backpackers to your guest house of choice in Phong Nha. I can only verify that this most expensive option works, because that was my only choice given the Tet holiday, during which the public bus I wanted to catch wasn’t running
- If you’d like to take public transport from Hue, there is *apparently* a bus that leaves from the North Bus Station daily at 10:30am with “Phuc Vu” written across the front of it. Its rego plate is 73L9790. Otherwise, get to Dong Hoi either by bus or train and catch the 2pm bus from the bus station. A taxi or private car can also be hired in Dong Hoi for anywhere from 125-500k VND per person depending on group size
- Some online guides I read state that the only guest houses are Easy Tiger Backpackers and the Farm Stay. This is not true. There are plenty of options in the very small main road, though most people hang out at Easy Tiger whether they’re staying there or not (I happily stayed there, personally)
- Rent a motorbike from your guest house for 200,000 VND per day
- Enter the national park for 40,000 VND. Barter at the dark cave for a guide, which will run about 200,000 VND+ each
- Paradise and Phong Nha caves are a standard price, posted at the entrance
Read Next: The ultimate guide to planning your Vietnam adventure
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Leo says
Another great article!! I’ve visited one cave in France like the Paradise one and even though it was not as big, it was beautiful. I don’t like motorbikes that much but I think I should learn how to drive ( and get a license of course xd) consering the amount of stuff you can do on your own if you can drive one 🙂
Kristin says
Thanks Leo! I don’t have a motorcycle license. They don’t care in Southeast Asia. They don’t check when you rent a bike 😉
Leo says
That’s good to know! I just have to learn how to drive one then 🙂
Kristin says
I didn’t bother with that til I got to SE Asia either!
Leo says
You’re the best xd
Jenny @ Till The Money Runs Out says
Oh Wow, you had me at mud war and then those cave pictures sealed it! Thanks for helping me plan one of our Vietnam stops!
Kristin says
No problem! I’d love to hear your feedback after you go!
Jen says
Great post Kristin! The scenery looks stunning and it sounds like a place you could have a lot of fun.
Kristin says
It’s incredibly stunning. I wish photos could do it justice
Catherine says
Ah, the caves look amazing! Love the fact you stopped for a quick mud fight 🙂
Kristin says
Entirely necessary!
Lisa - Wee Wanders says
I’ve added Phong Nha to my Vietnam list for July…it’s getting longer and longer! I can’t wait to visit, it looks like you had a blast.
Chris says
I just visited the national park and loved it! The mud in the dark cave was absolutely fantastic. Next stop is Hoi An! I’m so excited, thank you so much for your posts, it helps a lot!
Kristin says
I’m so glad you liked it! Enjoy Hoi An, I really loved it.
Julien says
Hi,
great article.
I will go there with my wife and our 4-year child. I would prefer not to motorbike with my daughter behind me. But I plan to come with a baby seat that can fit on any bikes (bicycle). So two questions:
– is it possible to rent bikes in Son Trach ?
– how far are the sites within the park ? Is it doable to reach Paradise cave by bike ?
Thanks
Julien
Kristin says
It would take a really long time on bicycle but there are van tours that you can do and then cycle around the paths closer to son trach separately.
Jenia from HTL says
We are so glad that we found Phong Nha! It totally wasn’t on our radar until we were planning a motorcycle route from Hanoi to Hoi An, and it turned out to be a convenient stop on our multi day tour. We ended up doing a quite expensive Paradise Cave tour, which was fun, but next time we are riding around Vietnam, we will be sure to DIY our own day in the park. Thanks for the great post 🙂
Kristin says
Definitely take a motorbike around. The smaller roads are wonderful!
Eoin Boult says
The pictures in the post were amazing and also the description was so much lively that I felt like I am with you in your trip.
Kristin says
Thanks so much 🙂
Carolyn says
Love the pictures! What kind of camera did you bring into the caves?
Kristin says
That was this one: https://www.bemytravelmuse.com/backpacking-asia-packing-list/
I’ve since switched to this one: https://www.bemytravelmuse.com/how-to-take-travel-selfies/
Dodge says
Great post Kirstin! I’m going to add in Phong Nha into part of my Vietnam trip after reading your post. Just one thing, would you be able to provide more details on the tours? Like any specific agency name that we should look out for when we’re there?
Kristin says
I didn’t take any tours! I self-drove and self guided. Easy Tiger hostel offers them, though
Macarena says
Amazing post Kristin! I’m going to Vietnam in two weeks and this will be a must stop! We are planning to go from Hoi An so… Questions:
– how many days did you spend in Phong Nha?
– do you know how to get there from Hoi An? Motorbikes maybe? Or too far away?
Thank you so much! So looking forward for this adventure!!
Kristin says
You could motorbike there. It’ll take some time but if you have time on your side could be fun. I took busses in Vietnam. I think I was there for 3 or 4 nights total. Enjoy it!
Molly says
How long did it take to drive from Hoi An?
Kristin says
Hard to recall now but I took a bus and it made a stop or two. A few hours.
Adam says
What a great post – thanks for sharing! We’re planning a Vietnam trip next for 2017, and have bookmarked this post for future reference. ?
Shandra says
Thanks for the detailed post! I’m in Phong Nha right now looking into non tour guided info and this was very helpful! Happy new year!
Nishtha Gupta says
Can I get through the dark cave if I dont know how to swim? Also, do I need to pre-book a guide or do I get it there only? Can I get safety equipment and zip line fun there only or I need to prebook a tour? Thanks!
Kristin says
They won’t let you go in without a guide. You can kayak instead of swimming. The cave itself is just muddy so you walk through that. No idea about ziplining. I didn’t know there were places to zip line there.
Maddie says
Paradise cave is so beautiful! Your pictures are also great, especially the landscapes.Thanks for sharing!
Daniel Cowen-Rivers says
Reading this blog post makes me want to go back to Vietnam.
Nathalie says
When you’re in Phong Nha don’t miss Ruc Mon cave! I’m telling everyone cause it’s magical and not well known. It was just discovered in 2016 by a local guy, and they’re waiting to get it measured but it has the potential to be the 2nd biggest cave in the world (the biggest in the world is also in Phong Nha). There’s a few different tours for the cave cause it has two entrances, and the one I got to go on was so magical, we went on a beautiful hike to the entrance and had a huge lunch on banana leaves, and then spent a few hours swimming through the cave and climbing. We literally were scaling the sides of the cave with headlamps, it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done to be honest. The guide brings a DSLR to take photos inside the cave and sends you the photos for free. And the man who leads the tours is the man who found the cave (and spent 2 years exploring it to prepare for tours). For us it was a more worthwhile experience than walking around in a lit-up cave with a thousand other tourists. It was much more down-to-earth, the family was so nice, and we even stopped at a local village on the way back and drank rice wine and sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves with some of the locals(:
Kristin says
What an amazing experience!
rui says
can you visit both places in the same day? dark and paradise cave?
Kristin says
Yep!
Maxime Godin-Murphy says
Great article. I been in Phong Nha after reading this article and really enjoy these caves and the countryside around the little town. Once I was there, I decide to stay longer because I was offer to join a new tour to go further in the National Park to meet the local tribes leaving deep in the National Park. After a 1h30 car ride on a beautiful jungle road we started to trek from village to village and learn more about the life of these tribes. The village got electricity with solar panel since only 1 year (2017) and this tour started to operate in February 2018, before that no foreigner was admit in this area because it’s a frontier area with Laos protect by the army, so the life of these tribes is untamed and untouched by modern civilization. On the way we swam in two amazing waterfalls and at nights we drank local rice wine in a little village lost in the middle of the jungle. It was such a great experience that I want to share it with you to let everybody know about that. If people plan to go to Phong Nha they should consider to stay at least 3 nights to have time to visit these tribes in the jungle.
Kristin says
Nice how can they get there?