Phong Nha

Hit List

Song Toan Homestay. This was our accom and was only a 5 min walk into the centre of town. ‘Centre of town’ is a loose description also, as Phong Nha is literally 1 street of accmodation, dining and tour providers. It will no doubt boom in years to come as the caves in the surrounding areas are nothing short of amazing.
- Our accom included breakfast and their pho (Camo) and pancakes (Chantal/Finn() were outstanding.
Phong nha coffee station. Directly across the road from Song Toan, and opening at 730 (one of the earliest in Phong Nha) this place did amazing coffee
3 caves.
- Phong Nha cave. This was the first tour we did leaving from the ‘town centre’. We paid for a boat for ourselves and hence had plenty of time to explore. We paid for both the ‘dry cave (about 400 stair climb to enter) and ‘wet cave’ (Where you enter and view by boat. The dry cave was amazing as we were the only people exploring this cool structure. Fiin however still had remnants of ‘cave trauma’ after visiting the Thai cave, and kept asking If it was raining outside
- Dark cave. You can access this cave via zipline (Which Chantal did) or Kayak (Camo & Finn, as Finn was too light and you couldn’t tandem). Once inside we journeyed a few hundred meters through narrow cervices only guided by our head torches. We reached the end of the ‘trail’ and were greeted by a mud pool where we had fun throwing mud at each other and enjoyed a mud bath’. Most tour groups visit paradise cave first then dark cave on the way back to Phong Nha – we did the opposite and hence had the whole cave to ourselves!! Included in the entry and part of the venue is a waterpark which includes a zipline where you drop into the river, a slide also into the river as well as a few other fun activities (Trampoline and obstacle course). Finn loved the slide (it was FAST) even though he lost control first go and smashed himself round to get here.
- Paradise cave. We took the long way round, and definitely saved the best for last. This cave was incredible. Entering through the tiniest stair case, it opens into a vast cave that stretchs for 10’s kms. There area variety of tours where you can journey deep into the cave, but we took the boardwalk to the end and back, and were a little bit naughty and sent our drone up inside. This cave was definitely the pic and justby change, reckon we explored each of the caves in the ‘best’ order (if there is such a thing).
The motorbike rie to each of the caves was impressive in itself. Apparently the ride from Phong Nha to Khe San (hello Chisel fans) is amazing. From Phong Nha there is a return loop to paradise cave and dark cave, and they day we rolled around the loop was the same day as the Phong Nha marathon. Finn (moreso Dad) enjoyed beeping at struggling punters navigating the hills giving them encouragement. Wouldve been a tough marathon with plenty of sharp hill sections!!!
Duck farm. A short motorbike ride out of town was this cool family-run operation where you could feed buffalo. Ducks and have lunch (Ban Xeo – deep fried omelette) for $5AUD each.
Cold beer pub. Not too far from Duck farm was a little set up that served beer that was indeed cold. Worth visiting for a frothy or 2 if you’re in the area.
Bamboo chopstick restaurant. One of few solid dining options, this was a regular stop for us – Of note was the lemongrass chicken and rice cooked in a bamboo shoot!!

Shit list

Bus trip into town – we did an overnight bus, and we’re still getting used to the system of getting picked up and dropped off on the side of the road at 3am and hopping into a random ‘taxi’/transfer that then drives you another 40 mins to your accom.
The area is still developing, but as mentioned there were limited food options for dinner. In time though, I’m sure that this will explode!