Phong Nha was on our radar due to my friend’s suggestion for the Oxalis Tu Lan Cave Tour. After much debate, we had to skip the tour with Oxalis because it was too expensive for our budget. However, it appeared Phong Nha had more to offer than just these cave tours, so we added it to the agenda anyways! Independent transportation is a must here, so we both committed to riding motorbikes.
We booked our bus tickets at a tourist shop along the walking streets in Hue (much cheaper than at our hotel). We were “picked up” at the hotel just before 2 pm, and by “picked up”, I mean that a guy riding a motorbike told us to follow him down the street, then sped away quickly. Fortunately, we spotted the bus at the corner and loaded on our bags. The bus ride was about 4.5 hours, with a 5-minute stop for the driver to smoke a cigarette (might have also been a bathroom break?). We were dropped off on the main street in Phong Nha (not a very large town), where our hotel arranged for us to be picked up. Our hotel was called Sy’s Homestay, and Sy (pronounced ‘Cee’) himself picked us up! We ate dinner at the homestay (food was decent enough since we were starving) and then called it a night. Our rooms are plenty large here and the bathroom has an indoor and outdoor shower. The outside shower is glassed off (doors are not fully sealed) and only has cold water but would be great in warmer months! There is also a pool on the property for guest use. We sat by the pool one afternoon, but it wasn’t warm enough to jump in.
We found Vietnam Coracle’s blog (see here) that had several good motorbike route recommendations for exploring the area. Our homestay arranged motorbike rentals for us, so we had two waiting at our doorstep.
“Caves & Country” Loop
On the first day, we followed the “Caves & Country” loop, which was also recommended by our homestay. We decided to do it counterclockwise so we could get our confidence up on the flatter roads before tackling some “mountainous” roads on the east side of the loop. On this route, there are three potential cave stops, botanical gardens (the name is misleading as this is a hike to a waterfall), and a few food/coffee shops along the way (although most of these were on the Ho Chi Minh Highway, which was first for us so we weren’t hungry at the time). We encountered the Dark Cave first after some time on the main “highway” (few cars) and some smaller roads through the rice fields and small towns, all with the limestone cliff-like mountains sitting in the background – really beautiful! It was on the east side of the road shortly after entering the National Park through a small gate that was only regulating cars passing through. The Dark Cave appeared to be less cave, more short zipline/swimming for a steep price tag (450,000 VND/person), so we skipped this and continued to Nuoc Mooc Springs (hot springs). We considered doing this, but didn’t feel like swimming at the time, so kept riding. Now that we were in the National Park, the scenery changed from rice fields to jungle and mountains. There was practically no one else on the roads, so our ride was very slow and pleasant as we tried to soak up the experience.
We finally reached Paradise Cave, which ended up being our first stop for the day. Motorbike parking was 5,000 VND each and the entrance fee was 250,000 VND each, but it was well worth it! We walked along paved path for about 1 km and then climbed many flights of stairs up to the cave entrance. We had no idea what to expect as we headed down the steep stairs into the cave (low clearance, so watch your head!). Our first though – this cave is huge! And then, we realized that it continued much further than we even thought. The stairs and platforms that meander through the cave are in good condition and everything is lit to ensure you can see the interesting cave features. We spent about an hour walking through the cave. The best part – there were very few people in the cave when we visited – we couldn’t believe our luck!
After the cave, we got back on the bikes and kept riding counterclockwise. There were some steep hills to traverse and a few sharp bends, but since there was no one on the road, we had no trouble navigating it. Our bikes did stall on a couple of the declines (10%+ grade), but we just restarted them at the bottom. By the time we reached the Botanic Gardens, we were hungry for lunch. Unfortunately, the café at the gardens had just closed for lunch, and we were too hungry to hike at that moment, so we kept riding into town. Based on what we had read, the Botanic Gardens offer a short hike to a waterfall for 40,000 VND each; we’ve done plenty of hiking on our adventures, so skipping this wasn’t a huge disappointment.
Shortly thereafter, we passed through another National Park gate, this time on our way out into Phong Nha. There are several restaurants that line the Son Con River and offer stunning views, albeit mediocre food. We picked one of the first ones we saw that was open. After eating, we decided to head back to the hotel and sit by the pool for the rest of the afternoon before dinner at Bamboo Café in town (good food, popular with the tourists). Overall, our motorbiking route took about six hours.
“Bong Lai Valley” Loop
On our second day of motorbiking adventures, we decided to follow the “Bong Lai Valley” loop. This loop was much shorter than yesterday’s at only about 15 km total. It was drizzling in the morning, so we waited until around 11 am to start our ride. We headed southeast on the Ho Chi Minh Highway (opposite direction as yesterday) until we reached the start of the loop, riding counterclockwise. Once you turn off the main road, most of the roads are dirt – some well graded, others very bumpy. It was actually a lot of fun to ride on the dirt roads! Again, very few cars or trucks on these roads, so the drive was very low stress. Our first stop was on a little side road off the loop – Ồ Ồ Lake Silence – where we got two iced coffees with milk, very heavy on the condensed milk. I couldn’t even finish mine because it was so sweet! The café has beautiful gardens and plenty of places to sit near the lake. If it were warmer, we could have even jumped in off their dock. We hung out for about 30 minutes before moving on.
The second stop was “The Duck Stop” where for 150,000 VND per person, you get to enjoy a beer, small pancake/rice paper snack, feeding the ducks, and riding a water buffalo named Donald Trump. It’s a bit gimmicky, but we signed up for the whole package. We had a blast feeding the ducks and having them eat around our feet (tickles). After the ducks, we took a short ride on Donald Trump, posing for pictures at the end. Patrick fell off the water buffalo trying to pose for one! The next common stop on the loop is “Pub with Cold Beer”, where you can kill your own chicken for lunch. It’s also popular for tubing down the river. We were not hungry yet and it wasn’t warm enough to tube, so we skipped this and headed to Swing Nature Farm instead for a beer and views overlooking the valley. Ever stop on the loop has its own tourist experience and here they have swings that go out over the valley or a cricket experience (watch, catch, cook, eat fried crickets). If you spend over 50,000 VND in food/drinks, you can take pictures on the small swing, but I opted to pay for the large swing at 50,000 VND instead. They strap you in and push you out over the valley. Very fun!
On the way to the fourth and final stop, we crossed over the Bong Lai Suspension Bridge and took a small detour to see the small-town Church. Then we rode to Moi Moi for an early dinner. It was around 4:20 pm, but cooking time can take about an hour. We ordered way too much food – roasted chicken, dumplings (tapioca noodle dumplings with pork, peanuts, and carrots), and pork cooked in bamboo (seemed to be a favorite). The chicken was freshly killed just for us – actually very interesting to watch. The woman slit his throat, dumped boiling water over him which makes the feathers fall off easily, cleaned him, and threw him over the fire. All the food was delicious! The dumplings may have been my favorite. By the time we finished eating, it was dark out. We both weren’t thrilled about riding back in the dark, but both motorbikes had lights and we took it easy. The worse part was dealing with the small bugs getting into our eyes. All in all, another great day on the motorbikes!
“Backroads & Bridges” Loop
Since our flight to Hanoi was in the evening (see below), we had a bonus day on the motorbikes to explore some more of Phong Nha! It was a warm and sunny day, so we just wandered through the rice fields and along the riverside. We didn’t end up following this route to a tee but used it as a base for exploring. We enjoyed our casual motorbike ride for a couple of hours and then headed into Phong Nha for lunch. Patrick was in the mood for Indian food and Omar’s Indian Restaurant had good reviews. A little pricey, but the food was tasty. We returned to the hotel afterwards and enjoyed the day sitting by the pool until our car picked us up to take us to the airport in Dong Hoi (about a 45 minute to an hour drive).
Phong Nha to Hanoi
We debated where we wanted to go next and how to get there. Ninh Binh was a relatively easy next choice, a typical backpacker destination, but getting there isn’t great – either a 10-hour bus ride or an hour bus ride with a 9-hour train. Neither of these suited us, so we bought flights from Dong Hoi to Hanoi for only $142 USD total. The drive to Dong Hoi is about 45 minutes, so we also booked a private car to the airport for about $25 USD. Expensive, but worth it for us to avoid the long travel day. We arrived plenty early for our flight, especially since check-in and security only took about 5 minutes. The plane was a little late, but overall, an easy, quick flight. From Hanoi, we can explore many areas in northern Vietnam (including Ninh Binh)!