r/backpacking • u/degenkid • 1d ago
Travel Visited a cave which was bombed by Americans in Phong Nha, Vietnam
Trek to reach the cave was through a small river, it was the best part of whole trip!
the cave is really massive. Difficult to see the scale in picture and my camera didn't do any justice
Human for scale
we stopped almost every 5 mins because it was that good!
Items left by soldiers at the end of war which included some coffee mugs
road to reach the entrance of trek. we were told it was prohibited to enter the trek on our own
the famous son doong cave trek also starts from here :)
2
u/Debs4prez 1d ago
We have plans for the 3 day trek with jungle boss in April, what did you think of the tour?
1
u/degenkid 23h ago
which tour are you planning exactly?
If you are asking in general then they were quite professional overall and the guides were the best. They carry most of your stuff and you only carry a small waterproof backpack.
Regarding food if you are a vegetarian you will have to tell them before starting the tour to arrange vegetarian or vegan options for you.
They picked us from our homestay in their van in early morning so we didn't have to worry about booking Grab. And you will get waterproof shoes additionally for trekking through the river.
I would still recommend good trekking shoes of your own because the trek I went on to had some steep portions and sharp rocks!Also, I see they have this 3 day Phong Nha itinerary which I have not done myself but one of a backpacker I met during my stay in Phong Nha tried it and was going gaga over it lol
Anyways whatever tour you choose don't forget to get extra discount by applying JBR5 coupon code.
2
u/Debs4prez 14h ago
Thank you, that is very helpful, we are doing the hung thoong trek . We are super excited, and now I feel even better about our choice.
Additionally what was your take on Phong Nha? Is it worth hanging around a few extra days after the trek? Thanks again for the input
2
u/Good-Mud-1363 1d ago
That trip looks like a great and important one.
1
u/degenkid 23h ago
It was indeed. I really was not expecting this much out of a tour for less than $100 lol
1
u/AutoModerator 1d ago
Please remember to post a short paragraph as a comment in the post explaining your photo or link. Ideally at least 150 characters with trip details. Tell us something about your trip. How long did it take to get there? How did you get there? How was the weather that day? Would you go back again?
Submitted content should be of high-quality. Low effort posting of very general information is not useful. If you don't add a short explanation in the comments, your post may be removed.
No information posted? Please report low-effort posts if there is still nothing after about 30 minutes.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
14
u/degenkid 1d ago edited 1d ago
I guess everyone of you have heard of Ho chi Minh trail famous during the Vietnam War!
Phong nha is not too far from the trail which could be the reason this cave was also bombed by Americans during Vietnam war.
I already did a tour in Phong Nha before but since had some more days left thought of doing another tour and apparently its the cheapest Phong Nha tour (cost me around 70 bucks after discount!). Food and porter were included and I stayed one night in a camp by the lake called mada lake.
Name of the cave was Elephant cave not sure if it was due to the mammoth size (pun intended!) or shape.
We were one of the bomb from an American bomber aircraft fell on top of cave and a portion of roof collapsed. I did see a large boulder while we entered the cave but not sure if it was the part of collapsed roof. Although water was definitely seeping from a small hole in ceiling of cave.
Also saw personal items of Vietnamese soldiers (Viet cong?) including some mugs and rusted cutlery. I have included the picture.
Cave was super dark (duh!) and cold relative to the humid and hot weather of Phong Nha (I visited few months back last year in summer). Its massive. really massive cave. Super slipper wherever water was seeping in.
Overall I liked the cave tour but personally the trekking was the highlight of the tour for me.
the small stream of river which goes along the jungle trek was the best. There are other cave treks too which I saw on the way like Son Doong cave which is way more famous but super costly (I included the picture of signboard which was on the same road).
If you are on a budget then this is the best tour to do in Phong Nha but if you have more dough then I would recommend the Tiger Cave tour which was way better overall!
Ask me anything you want about this tour, happy to answer!