The inspiring spires of Cat Ba left us wanting more mountain. (Ok, I’ll admit that everything leaves us wanting more mountain.) Without hesitation our next destination took us to the Boulder-esque town of Phong Na. Known for the recently discovered world’s biggest cave, it’s a natural wonder both inside and out.
Its hot here. But not hot enough to rule out Pho for breakfast. Vietnam knows how to do breakfast right. After sweating out our morning coffee, we motorbikes through the gorgeous terrain to get to the Paradise Cave. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Paradise Cave is beautiful and lovingly taken care of.
Discovered by a local man in 2005, this was considered the longest cave in the area. The limestone formations are breathtaking, as are the man-made wooden staircases that flow through it. We were told it would be packed with tourists, but it seemed that we made it there at just the right time, as the cave was basically empty and we had it to ourselves.
Our bellies full with amazement, we toured around the picturesque town on our motorbike. Spires, local life, and bright green farms treat your eyes as you wander.
In Vietnamese history, Phong Nha is famous for being a defiant place that the Viet Cong used to hide. In the Phong Nha Cave, the Vietnamese would hide boats and bridges that could carry trucks across the river. For months, they stumped the Americans as to how their supplies were arriving on the banks of Phong Nha. Finally, the US soldiers fired rockets into the Phong Nha Cave at night, lighting it up, and were able to see the hundreds of boats waiting there.
Now, you can tour this cave which is double its size due to the Americans’ exploratory rockets.
When you’re spending your days in beautiful places, full of people with true smiles and kind hearts, it’s not always your instinct to go somewhere called the “dark cave.” However, some friends we met at our hostel insisted it was worth it, so off we went. We were told it was muddy. And dark. Ok. Most subterranean places are, right?
We ziplined over the river to the mouth of the cave, where in our bathing suits, we started our walk inside. Indeed, our friends weren’t lying, it got a little muddy. A little muddy turned into a lot of muddy, and before we knew it we were wading through waist-deep pure mud. Our guide was cracking up at the squeals of our group of four as every step made insanely loud fart noises, and the mud creeped up higher and higher.
Soon we were in a pitch-black cave room where the mud was up to my chest! We leaned back into the surrounding substance, not able to see a thing, and trusted. Suspended in 4 feet of mud, we played around for 20 minutes it the bizarre and cooky liquid that we surrendered ourselves to.
Both finally and too soon, our guide directed us out of our “spa” and into a fresh water spring that we swam through peacefully and washed ourselves off. Chilly and refreshing, we swam silently through the stunning cave, spying lines of light as they stole peeks at us.
We kayaked back to land, to play on zip-line jumps into the river. We couldn’t bring cameras into the cave, but here’s a look into what it was like.
Showered, laundered, and skin feelin’ FABULOUSSSSS, we biked to an overlook bar to watch the sun go down above Vietnam’s famous rice paddies.
