VIETNAM – PHONG NHA CAVES

MARCH 2, 2026

From Da Nang we went to DONG HOI. Our purpose in stopping in this area was to go to PHONG NHA CAVES and the DMZ (de-militarized zone). The train stopped in Dong Hoi and the tour was the same price whether we stayed in Phong Nha or not. Hotel prices were higher in Phong Nha and there would have been an extra cost to take a bus there, so Dong Hoi it was!

The tour bus picked us up at our beautiful REX HOTEL. Phong Nha was our first glimpse of the egg shaped limestone mountains.

We picked up some other passengers then headed to our first stop: PARADISE CAVE. We had a long hike up many steps to get to the entrance of the cave. It looked like nothing from the outside. There was just a small opening. Inside was another story. There was a long staircase that took us down, down, down where we found a wooden walkway. The walkway only took us one kilometre (0.6 mi) into the cave. The cave goes on for 4-7 km but requires special equipment and training to go further.

It is impossible to describe the size and beauty of the caves that we saw. The caverns were large enough to fit a small apartment complex. There were stalactites (hanging) and stalagmites (standing) so massive they must have taken hundreds of thousands of years to form. Some sparkled like diamonds. Some hung down as gracefully as a velvet curtain. Others commanded awe from its sheer size.

Some looked like animals, but you really had to use your imagination to see it, like this elephant.

I think my favorite was this giant pine cone and bamboo looking combo.

We then headed to the boat launch for our tour of PHONG NHA CAVE, for which the entire park is named. Phong Nha means “tooth cave” for the stalagmites that used to stand at the cave entrance.

The SON RIVER is an extension of an underground river that flows 19 km (12 miles) and emerges at the mouth of PHONG NHA CAVE. The cave is 7729 metres (25357 ft) long, but tourists can only go 1500 metres (4921 ft). The entrance is massive and several large boats can go inside at the same time. The boats are rowed by hand as the engines would deafen us as well as cause pollution inside.

We went about 1 km by boat then continued on foot. We walked a bit further inside, which eventually wound its way back toward the entrance.

To give a scale of how large some of the stalagmites were, compare this one to the walkway. It is easy to see how during the Vietnam War, it was used as an armory, hospital, and air raid shelter.

We walked back to the dock site and boarded our boat to take us back to town. I took hundreds of pictures, but none come close to what it was like. The size of these caves is impossible to compare to anything that I know of. The massive stalactites hanging above us gave us pause, as there were chunks the size of a small car laying on their sides, letting us know they are capable of falling. The wonders of nature never cease to amaze and astound us!