Phong Nha – a spot on the most narrow part of Vietnam. Home to the largest cave in the world (no, we didn’t actually see it, since a) it takes a 7-day trek to get there, b) it costs USD 3’000.- and c) it’s booked out for all of 2015), which could actually fit all of Manhatten inside. And still have enough room for a chopper to fly over. But even if the big guy remains on the wish list for most ordinary people, there’s still an abundance of impressive caves to see.
See: Caves, caves, caves. They’re impressive. Like, huge and endless impressive.
Do: Take a tour to see the Dark Cave. Other than it actually being really dark, it features a tight mud path. Single-line tight and up-to-your-chest-in-mud. Epic, creepy experience.
Mud. Much of it.
Don’t: Book a tour to see Phong Nha cave. Just grab a couple of lost backpackers and get on a boat, there’s dozens waiting to take tourists through.
Random (sad) fact: Unable to find the Ho Chi Minh trail, which was used to smuggle goods from the North to the South during the war, the Americans chose to simply bomb the entire width of the smallest part of Vietnam – which happened to be the area around Phong Nha. There are still thousands of unexploded mines and bombs around. An international anti-mines NGO recently estimated that, even though they were cleaning them at full speed, it would take them another 10’000 years to find and clean them all.
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