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Phong Nha

Phong Nha - Ke Bang grotoes are situated in the Ke Bang limestone Mountain and about 50km to the northwest of Dong Hoi district, Quang Binh province. Phong Nha – Ke Bang is known as “the kingdom of grottoes”. Since 1920, this area has been known as a famous cave system.

Since 1937, the Phong Nha cave was organized for visiting by the French. Under the American war, this spectacular cave was used by the Northern Vietnamese as a field hospital and it has the scars to prove it. The front face is pockmarked from attempts to lob bombs into the entrance by US helicopters, in the hope of collapsing the entrance. Fortunately, their attempts were all unsuccessful as the cave makes for a fascinating visit.

Phong Nha cave is explored mainly by boat, though there are a couple of raised areas where your guide will walk you around and explain the various points of interest. The cave was not officially surveyed until 1990, however, the cave walls show evidence of it being a popular place to visit for quite some time.

The tour consists of a boat trip to the cave entrance taking around 45 minutes, then an hour drifting through the cave guided by a couple of gas lanterns. It is an eerie feeling as all you can hear is the gas lantern hissing away, and the water dripping as you slowly drift from chamber to chamber. The cave is over 7kms long but the tour only visits the first 800m or so. There have been some enterprising travelers who have managed to bargain a few more hundred meters for the guide, and it is apparently well worth the expense.

Nowadays, the cave system here has been discovered and measured in detail by the British Royal Cave Association, the Science University of Ha Noi National University. They found and recorded the outstanding values of the cave system in Phong Nha – Ke Bang