Blogs from Phong Nha Ke Bang, Quang Binh, North Central Coast, Vietnam, Asia - page 3

I have to confess now - Phong Nha is my favorite place in Vietnam. The natural beauty of the national park, in particular the caves is unrivalled and the recent wartime history provides another edge to the place. Everyone I meet that is thinking of going to Vietnam I urge to visit here. Unfortunately Lonely PLanet have also picked up on the place and have the listed both the national park and the farmstay in their top ten lists of places to go to in the recently published edition. The area is already the second most visited place for local tourists - LP featuring it will mean a crush of foreigners. Tthere goes the neighbourhood! When we arrived the previous evening we were graciously recieved by the owners of the farmstay - aussie Ben and his ... read more

The sleeper buses in Viet Nam are actually not too bad, depending on what type of bus you get and how far away from the toilet you sit. Thankfully I had a sleeper seat in the middle on the ground floor, which meant I did not have to endure the pungent aroma of strangers poop, nor endure the crumple zone of the bus, more frequently used in Viet Nam than anywhere else I have been as the bus drivers are a bunch of flagrant lunatics with no awareness of traffic laws (I heard one story from a guy I met about two buses overtaking each other, both on the wrong side of the road). So, once settled I tucked myself in for the night, spooning my bag to fend of thieving little shits (again a common ... read more

I know I was impatient to get out of Hue, but BOY I had no idea what was in store for me. Finally, we said goodbye to that hotel in Hue where we stayed for way too long and boarded a bus. This time, not a sleeper like the others, just a little converted minivan where we squeezed in with about 200 Vietnamese people. Before we left we had to sit in this weird bus stop, the first place where no one spoke English, where a woman was so entranced with our wavy brown hair that she just had to sneak up behind us and touch it. The ride was long and stinky. Vietnam is the land of a thousand smells. About 95% of them I could live without, but at one point I swear it ... read more

We left Cam Lo this morning with 14 people in the Mercedes Van 15 seat to Phong Nha, Quang Binh province. We took duong mon Ho Chi Minh road and passed by Dong Hoi before reaching Phong Nha which is about 130 km from Cam Lo. The weather is beautiful with clear skies and temperature is a bit hot 35C. The Phong Nha caves are certainly bigger than the ones in HaLong bay and are recognized as UNESCO World heritage sites. On the way back we went to visit Vinh Loc tunnel and then passed by Cua Tung, Cua Viet beaches and finally back to Cam Lo. We will spend tonight here in Cam Lo and go back to Hue to visit this city tomorrow.... read more

I am now sick with a bad cold or the flu or some such nonsense. But earlier this week I was having a much much better time. Monday, Mr. Vinh and I took the car on the road around the park to take promotional photos and to check distance and difficulty for each section of the proposed biking route. We also re-visited the Tam Co or "8 Volunteer" or "8 Girl" cave where 8 youth volunteers were killed during the war when the cave where they were taking shelter in collapsed during an American bombing raid. There is a temple built to all youth volunteers killed in the war and the cave entrance contains a shrine. We also visited a Botanical Garden and hiked the trail that winds through the forest. I stayed overnight in Phong ... read more