Hello everyone,
How is everything going? I wish you all a wonderful weekend with your loved ones. Today I'd like to take you to one of the most popular destinations in Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park, Phong Nha River Cave, which is one of the most famous caves in Vietnam. Phong means the wind, and Nha means teeth in Chinese characters. The wind blew through the stalagmites and stalactites that resembled teeth. That is why they refer to Phong Nha as such.
Our journey started around 9 a.m., and the taxi driver drove us for 45 minutes along with the breathtaking views of Ho Chi Minh Highway to Phong Nha's downtown.
Due to the level of this vacation, this trip was much more relaxing than previous expedition trips we had taken. The views inside the caves, on the other hand, were breathtaking and overwhelming. We had to pay an entrance fee and purchase boat tickets to visit this cave. It means you'll spend time on the boat, similar to a river cruise on the Son River, before exploring the cave.
So, why did the locals refer to the river as the "Son" River?
It is due to the fact that the upstream of the river, where the other side of the Phong Nha Cave is connected to the Laos Border, contains a lot of red soils, and when flooding season occurs ( between October and November every year) in Phong Nha village. The water that emerges from this type of soil turns red, resembling "lipstick" colour," which means Son in Vietnamese.
On the boat, we could see extremely peaceful villages on both sides of the river, where children swim and locals collect the water mosses from the river's bottom to feed their fish. Our amusing and friendly boat owner, Nam told us stories about the locals' lives and how they dealt with flooding during that terrible time when the water could reach even the first floor of the houses. He told us that if they wanted to stay here, they needed to build a higher house, as high as possible, or they need a floating house because the historical flood in Phong Nha occurred in 2010, and the water had risen about 5-6 meters.
Picking up the snails in the river bank - By Hoang Trung
Water moss collection for fish
It took us about 1 hour to get to the Phong Nha Cave entrance. Mr Nam showed us how the rocks have been damaged on the top cave entrance where the Americans dropped boom there during the Vietnam War. The Vietnamese Army chose Phong Nha cave as a location to be, store food, weapons, or even serve as a hospital, which is why the US Army attempted to drop booms in the vital military base.
View of Phong Nha Cave's Entrance
When we arrived at the cave, we realized it was most likely a massive air conditioner that was running 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It's a completely different sensation. That is a lot cooler. Mr Nam claims that the temperature in the cave is always between 22 and 26 degrees Celsius. For the first 500m of the underground river, we had discovered the spectacular rock formations by boat. If you're lucky, drips from the top ceiling of the cave will land on your head. we then returned, Nam showed us the way to the dry passage while continuing to paddle out of the cave. We'd see into him again at the cave's entrance.
View of Phong Nha Cave's Entrance
The dry cave is only about 400m long, but the cave formations are incredible, with different colours derived from the mineral calcite in limestone. On its own, the environment surrounding the cave is pristine. We had the impression that we were the first to explore this area. We were not allowed to touch any formations and were only allowed to follow the path strictly. We appreciate how the staff here protects the environment for future generations.
After 3 hours in the cave, we returned to town for lunch before returning to Dong Hoi. We had a great time despite the fact that it was a short trip.
Thank you so much for reading.