Phong Nha Caves Vietnam – Abandoned Valley Trek
Designated a World heritage site in 2003, Phong Nha Ke-Bang National park is home to some of the most beautiful cave systems in the Southern Hemisphere. The trouble is that most of those travelling through this incredible area only have a few days, and limited funds to do so. Not only are there a multitude of options when it comes to cave tours, they are all quite expensive. So which is the best cave tour in Phong Nha? I can not comment on all of the options available to you, however I can tell you that going on the 12km Abandoned Valley jungle trek was one of the best experiences of my life so far.
Accommodation in Phong Nha.
Just a quick side note, if you are looking for accommodation in Phong Nha, the only place to stay is Easy Tiger. Not available on hostel world, booking or any other online agency, this social hotspot relies purely on world of mouth and direct booking, reaching maximum capacity so often they had to open a sister hostel down the road. I stayed in said sister hostel called Shambala and would still recommend staying there if Easy Tiger is full. You get access to all you would if you were staying at easy tiger including the hour of free beer and awesome pool, just with newer beds and facilities.
The Caves.
Now, back to the cave options. Ranging from single, to multi-day tours across all of the caves there are plenty of opportunities to see everything you want to when in Phong Nha. I chose to do the Abandoned Valley tour. “12km of trekking down the Ho Chi Minh trails in the Abandoned Valley to explore the other end of the Dark Cave and swim through E cave.” This included a barbecue lunch, water and if required footwear. Now I’m not going to lie to you. This was hard. Although 12km might not sound that difficult, when combined with the blistering heat and the steepness of some of the trekking, I was pretty puffed at some points.
Abandoned Valley Trek.
What really drew me in to doing this particular tour was, that it was far more personal than most of the other options. The company that runs this tour, Jungle Boss, are the only ones allowed to trek to these points in the National park. This meant that instead of shuffling through a highly touristed, jam packed cave, we were the only ones, wandering or floating through these ancient caverns. There were 6 of us, including the staff, that trekked into the jungle to the back entrance of the Dark cave and across to the E-cave.
After about 5 minutes of climbing, ducking and jumping our way further into the Dark cave, we reached a sandy platough and were told to all take a seat and turn off our head torches. This resulted in absolute darkness, and a tranquil silence in which all you could hear was the sound of running water. It’s moments like this that you would never get to experience going to the other, more popular caves, and the exact reason why I’d urge you to venture into the jungle and experience it for yourself.
The E-Cave.
The true highlight of the tour was when we finally arrived, sweating and overheated to the entrance of the E cave. This jungle oasis with turquoise, refreshingly cold waters and steep cliffside above was without a doubt, one of the most beautiful spots I’ve ever been. Nothing could possibly have been better than throwing off our shoes after a long, hot hike and jumping into this stunning, natural pool of coolness.
After a lovely, barbecue lunch of handmade rice paper rolls, we put on our life vests and head torches to float into this untouched jungle cave. Once again after feeling like the only people to ever discover this paradise and swimming deeper into the cave we switched off our head torches and floated in pure darkness.
The trek back was quite difficult in the heat of mid afternoon. We frequently had to take breaks to sit down and have some water as the steep inclines and distance back to the truck seemed infinite. Breaking through the trees and making the final descent to the road we were met with a cold beer that was without a doubt the best beverage I’ve ever had in my life.
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Don’t stop wandering.