Phong Nha Cave - Mystery of the Nature

Ending a roller coaster 2021 and starting a hopeful 2022!
I have read some good news about tourism of my country Vietnam in a new year. From Jan 1, many international flights have been resumed as regular flights. There are more domestic tourists have started to satisfy their itchy feet to Hue City. Some of my colleagues have been back to tour so it is good news for us. I hope I could be back as soon as possible to travel around with my foreign clients. And I wish you all a great new year!
Happy New Year!
Looking back some photos captured 2 years ago in a tour to Phong Nha National Park, I can feel how much I want to be back on tour, back to my favorite job and back to free days.

Son River and limestone mountain of Phong Nha

Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park is about 220 kilometers from Hue which takes us about 3 hours to get there. Phong Nha - Ke Bang is famous for its systems of caves in limestone mountains. There are many underground rivers and caves and grandiose landscapes in this destination. Therefore, it was chosen as one of places for filming Kong Skull Island in 2016.
We visited caves Phong Nha and Paradise caves which are popular because they are easy to visit. There are many more like En cave, Son Doong cave but the tours to there are only operated by Oxalis who is qualified for adventurous well-trained challenges.
I would love to tell you here about Phong Nha Cave which we needed to use boat to go inside while you can walk to visit Paradise cave.

Boat terminal for departure on Son River

We arrived the boat terminal on Son river which leads us to Phong Nha Cave. The source of the river is underground and that is the cave we would visit. We bought tickets from here for boats and entrance tickets at rate $7 each. We can also visit Tien Son cave next to Phong Nha cave and you have to buy tickets in advance from ticket booth here.
After giving boat ticket to a boat curator, we were showed the designated private boat which transfer us on a beautiful green clean river.

Riverside of Son River

We spent our time relaxing in cool air with nice and green villages on river banks. There were corn fields, church, cottages and limestone mountains of course.
It was a bit noisy from boat engine and we had to wear life vests. However, I and my clients could talked well and we had nice jokes. I wish I could do it again soon and love to share about my country more.

Boat terminal in front of Phong Nha cave gate

Here we are! We arrived another boat terminal where the boat driver stopped for permission to go in the cave. We did not to get out of the boat then. From here, we could see the gate of Phong Nha Cave. It is quite small from distance comparing to how big the mountain is. However, when we got in, it is very large inside.

Gate of Phong Nha Cave

There are many bats in the cave gate and the gate is quite low. The boat drivers had to bent down a bit not to knock their head. The engine was turned of while going inside the cave and drivers used sticks to push and paddle. We could feel the cold from stone water inside the cave. The feeling was amazing!
I took off the boat cover so my clients could watch the ceiling and widen their angles.

Oh my gosh! The view inside the cave is spectacular! There are many stalactites and stalagmites which create beautiful shapes. From this time, our imagination needed to work to see a tower, lotus, communal house of limestone. The boat took us deep inside and the more strange shapes appeared in columns, straws, draperies, flow-stones.
One of my clients joked his wife there was a crocodile next to the shore. She believed! Actually, it was a rock! We was silent in the mystery of nature.

A system of lights with colors are set up in Phong Nha Cave so we could see well and the colored lights create amazing light effects on wall and ceiling. The cave was created about 300-400 million years ago by Son underground river. It is considered as the longest underground river found in the world. It can lead to Laos with its 7729 meter length! But about 600 meters of rowing, the driver took us back to a sandy part with great stalactites and stalagmites near the gate.

We walked around and took photos. From here, we could see the water dripping from ceiling which creates stalactites and stalagmites, flow-stones or columns. They "grow" about 0.13 mm a year. Looking at them and their age of 300 - 400 million years, I remind myself how short a life is. The little creature named Homo Sapiens only 200,000 years ago and a little man named Quang appeared 32 years ago. How funny it is! Life is too short and we are too busy to live.

Me taken by my clients :D

I really miss this moment: happy and free! For me, each minute in our life is priceless. It creates parts of us, no matter how good or bad it is. If it is good, luckily, it gives us tenderness; if it is bad, fortunately, it gives us strength.

Way to walk back from the cave

From here, we could walk back to the boat terminal. If someone want to visit Tien Son Cave, they can start from there. We took a rest and had some ice cream, used bathroom before getting on the boat again. The 35 minute boat trip took us back from a mysterious world. The nature is always amazing, that is the reason why Phong Nha National Park is recognized as a World Natural Heritage by UNESCO.

Countryside of Phong Nha

Nature is there, warm heart is here, itchy feet are ready and 2022 is waiting for us! Wish you all the best for a great new year!

Photo credits to me, Shy and friends
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