About Phong Nha - Visit Phong Nha
Visit Phong Nha - experiences the real Phong Nha country side rural and best caves in the world
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About Phong Nha

The Phong Nha area is a spectacular part of Vietnam, and is developing into a world renowned tourism destination based on the rugged beauty of the National Park, the gorgeous rural landscapes and adventure activities related the the caves. Including the worlds biggest, Hang Son Doong. western Quang Binh was a poor farming area. It is now economically developing, and a fast growing tourism industry is leading the way, based around the UNESCO Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, with its incredible jungle-clad mountains, and the huge caves found within them.

 

Phong Nha-Ke Bang was given a UNESCO status primarily in 2003 for the Limestone Massive that forms the mountains and has led to a unique set of circumstances that caused the region to be the home of a unique climate, biology and geology, producing so much diversity.. These epic cave systems that stretch for hundreds of kilometres within the limestone have led the area to become known as “the Cave Kingdom”. And the activities around the area, have led it to be known as the Adventure Capital of Asia.

 

Then, in 2015, the National Park was finally recognized by UNESCO for its rich biodiversity contained in the rainforest that blankets the Phong Nha Massive. Due to the location of Phong Nha, and it’s unique climate, the National Park has up to 45% of all the biodiversity found in Vietnam, and up to 30% of all the biodiversity found in South East Asia – not bad for an area just over 800 square miles. To read more about the biodiversity found in this area, please see Nature & Environment.

The Cave Systems of Phong Nha

The Phong Nha region has 4 main cave systems, three of which are in the National Park: the Vom Cave System, the Nouc Mooc Cave System and the Phong Nha Cave System. The remaining System is the Tu Lan Cave System, located approximately 90 km north of Phong Nha and only accessible through professionally guided tours. This system isn’t included in the UNESCO listed area, primarily because little if anything was known about it in 2003 when the National Park was listed.

 

The Phong Nha Cave System includes the world’s biggest cave, Hang Son Doong, and the world’s 3rd biggest cave, Hang En, as well as Phong Nha Cave and Dark Cave to name but a few.

 

The Vom Cave System is home to the massive and impressive show cave called Paradise Cave and is the longest cave system in Vietnam.

 

The Nouc Mooc cave system is a bit of a dark horse. Very little is yet known about it. This cave can be seen by visitors to the area as a resurgence located on the side of the main road tourists use to get from Paradise Cave to the Dark Cave, the Ho Chi Minh Trail West. In recent years the area has been developed into a fairly lame tourist attraction in the form of some clumsy bridges and rope swings over the river exiting the cave from deep underground. This river does not flow due to Phong Nha’s local weather pattern and strangely is affected by the weather of the Laos side of the Truong Son mountain range. Flowing heavily during Laos wet season, in what is Phong Nha’s dry season.

The Other Side of Phong Nha

One of the biggest misconceptions about Phong Nha is that, though we have amazing caves and beautiful jungle, that this is the ONLY reason to visit this amazing place. We disagree! While Phong Nha is based around the National Park, it is also one of your best opportunities to get out and visit the beauty of rural Vietnam by exploring the buffer zone to the National Park. Getting around the area either by boat, bicycle, scooter or walking will allow you to interact with the local community, contribute and to get some great rural experiences and memories. The Bong Lai Valley, The Old French River Road, Farmstay village and the North Side of the river can all be easily accessed using the free map download on this page. While you are here for the caves, be informed that a day on a bicycle around the valley could be one of the most rewarding days out of your holiday and definitely one of the more inexpensive ones at the same time. Expect to see rich green rice paddies, beautiful sunsets, meandering rivers, small villages, and so much more – Phong Nha is turning into a destination where everyone, from young travels on a tight budget to more mature travelers and families, can find things to do. People used to spend a day or two here, now they spend 3, 4 or more days!

 

For more information on the area, please check out the information and inspiration available on this website and feel free to drop in at Phong Nha Farmstay or Victory Road Villas for inspirational historical information from their resourceful noticeboards or from their english speaking staff, on the Phong Nha area. These are the people who put this website together, to advise all people coming to Phong Nha to get the most out of the area. Find out more about the team behind visitphongnha.com and our aim.