Travel Guide
Attractions
Phong Nha Grotto
This is one of the most beautiful grottoes in vietnam. It is located 50 kilometers northwest of Dong Hoi city. It takes tourists by car to son trach district town; where a boat is waiting for a 30-minute ride along the Son river to reach Phong Nha grotto. The grotto is 7,729 meters long. Made up of various stalactites and stalagmites, Phong Nha grotto offers imaginative spectators to see several stalactites and stalagmites resembling a woman dancer, an elephant, a tiger and other visionary formations. The recommended season to explore the grotto is between January and August.
Bird island
Another name for this island of birds is Hon Ong. It takes visitors on a four-hour boat ride from Hong Hoi town to get there. This is an isolated place, home to different kinds of sea gulls. The number of which, can be by the millions.
Da nhay beach
The white sand swimming beach lies at the foot of ly hoa mountain pass. The beach is frequented by many, thanks to its long strip of white sand. This beach is ideal for sunbathing and swimming as the sea water is gentle and clear-cut blue.
Nhat le beach
This beach is located in the northeast of Dong Hoi city; away from the central part of town. There are several seafood restaurants and a few beachside hostels located along the beachfront. This white sand beach stretches farther than one can walk, and is quiet and peaceful.
Phong Nha caves
The world’s longest underground river winds through Vietnam’s Phong Nha cave system, the name of which translates as “the wind’s fang”. Entering this cave is like venturing into the mouth of a giant beast, all the more mysterious since the cave rings with strange noise. Locals say it is music from a banquet hosted by the mountain God, but the acoustic tricks are actually echoes, which bounce off the limestone cliffs of the cave. Shaped like a tube with a roof curved like the hull of a boat, this cave has acoustics properties similar to those of the fingal cave in scotland.
Phong Nha caves, also called troc caves, lie in the limestone cliffs of Phong Nha ke bang national park in Quang Binh province, 50 km northwest of Dong Hoi. Like most of the caves in this area, the Phong Nha caves were shaped by the Chai river.
The farther one gets inside the Phong Nha caves, the more illusory the stalactites and stalagmites look as they glitter when bright light is shone on them.
Most importantly, all the primitive stone caves were preserved in their original form. Thus, visitors have a sense that they are going on a trip to the center of the Earth.
The Son river flows into the mouth of the cave and continues underground, where it is known as the nam aki river. It emerges 20 km to the south near pu-pha-dam mountain.
The main cave system contains 14 chambers, linked by an underwater river that runs for 1.5km. Secondary corridors branch off in all directions. The outer cave and some of the inner caves have roofs that tower between 25 and 40 meters above the water level. From the 14th chamber there may be other corridors leading to similarly large chambers, but this area is more dangerous due to ongoing erosion of the limestone. Some 800 meters into the cave we reach the shallow cave, where we step out of the boat to explore a fantastic landscape of sand and rock. Stalactites and stalagmites jut out like strange trees, exciting our imaginations.
Caves have always held a primitive fascination for people, as if they are meeting places for the real and the imagined. The word “magical” is used all too often but in the case of the Phong Nha caves, it is fitting. A visit through these caves will present you with a rare opportunity in this modern age: the chance to explore nature’s magic and reconnect with the Earth.
Quang Binh border gate
This architectural construction made of a porch and walls was built in 1630 to protect the remote capital of Phu Xuan of the Nguyen dynasty. Due to several battles and the passage of time, the border gate has suffered heavy damage. Fortunately, it has been restored to its original design. Visitors crossing the territory of Quang Binh will be delighted by the wonderful landscapes surrounding the Quang Binh border gate.
Tien Son cave, a tourist marvel
Tien son cave originally called a dry cave, lies in Phong Nha – Ke bang tourist complex that comprises of natural beauty-spots in Quang Binh province (central Vietnam). The site is now on the list to be recommended to UNESCO as a world heritage site.
Tien son cave was discovered in April 1935 in the limestone mountain of Phong Nha Ke Bang. It is approximately 400 meters away from the famous Phong Nha grotto and stands at a height of 135 meters. Tien son cave is more than 980 meters long. Going into the cave for about 400m, visitors will see an abyss, about 10m deep. Then comes another part of the cave, about 500m long, which is rather dangerous for walking. At present, nearly 400m of the cave has been installed with a lighting system to make it safe for visitors.
The cave looks marvelous inside with hundreds of stalagmites and stalactites of different sizes and shapes. Some look like a man or an animal, and there is one that looks like the leaning tower of Pisa in Italy. On the cave ceiling, there are glittering gold and silver-like veins. Some stalagmites produce an echoing sound when gently knocked.
Limber Howard, chief of the british royal team of cave researchers, who visited and made studies of the site, said that tien son cave may have been formed tens of millions of years ago. A river ran through the limestone mountain and eroded it. Then huge rocks fell and separated the mountain to form the cave. An underground river ran through the lower part of the mountain, creating Phong Nha grotto. Thus, tien son cave is older than Phong Nha grotto and they do not link with each other. Geographical tectonics in tien son cave are rather stable, so the cave is safe for visitors.