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| Cooling
off: Boats wait for visitors in front of the cave
entrance. |
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| What
to choose: Visitors have the choice of staying in the
boat or stretching their legs on sandy beaches at the
various swallow holes found in Phong Nha. — VNS Photos |
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How
to get to Phong Nha
To
get to Phong Nha you must first go to the town
of Dong Hoi, 50km to the southeast, which is
accessible by road and rail.
A
24km bus ride takes you from Dong Hoi to Bai Da
Nhay (Boulder Hopping Site) where you then take
a 30 minute boat trip up the Son River and to
the mouth of the cave.
Independent
travellers can also take a motorbike taxi (xe
om) to Bai Da Nhay from Dong Hoi. But beware,
local guides are in short supply.
However,
there are no hotels in the park and the nearest
available rooms are at Nhat Le beach, some 30km
to the east.
Phong
Nha is a stop on some central coast tours, which
leave from Ha Noi, HCM City and Hue and vary in
price and duration.
The
package tours stop at other places along the
way, such as Da Nang, Hoi An, Hue, the DMZ; Dong
Hoi, and Nhat Le Beach in Quang Binh.
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Phong
Nha caves open up to outside world
by
Tri Binh
The Phong Nha –
Ke Bang park on Viet Nam’s central coast was acknowledged this month
as a World Heritage site – Viet Nam’s fifth. Known for its
outstanding cave system and limestone karst formations, many of the
underground chambers remain a mystery, even to the most seasoned
adventurers.
The UNESCO World
Heritage Committee listing recognises the work done by many explorers
and geologists who have tried to unravel the many mysteries of the
system over the past decade – how the caves formed and where the
subterranean river begins.
As outlined in its
statement of recognition.
"Phong Nha
displays an impressive amount of evidence of the Earth’s history. It
is a site of very great importance to increase our understanding of the
geologic, geomorphic and geo-chronological history of the region."
The diverse area
contains about 65km of caves and underground rivers, tropical forest
with a high level of biodiversity and numerous species found nowhere
else on Earth.
Preliminary
surveys have identified 461 vertebrate species and over 800 fauna
species, many of which are included in endangered species lists.
Specific
features count
Much of the cave
system is still unknown as the park’s remote and rugged location have
deterred extensive surveys. The World Wildlife Fund estimates the vast
forested limestone plateau covers over 10,000sq.km, 94 per cent of which
is covered with old growth forest.
Several French and
British expeditions of the park and caves were launched in the late 19th
century. But it was not until the 1990s that the British Cave Research
Association and Vietnamese researchers began the first extensive
studies.
The British Cave
Research Association says the Phong Nha caves boast seven unique
aspects. The system has the longest water cave; highest and largest
entrance; most beautiful swallow holes; largest and most beautiful
grottoes; most magnificent and unusual stalagmites and stalactites;
longest subterranean river; and the most beautiful and largest stone and
sand beaches.
British explorer,
Howard Limbert, said after 16 years of caving in many countries he
regarded Phong Nha as the most beautiful cave in the world.
And yet president
of the Viet Nam Cave Association, Nguyen Quang My, said the
Vietnamese-British team led by Limbert could only manage to travel 30km
of the cave’s length.
They were not able
to find the other end of the cave by following the underground river
that flows beneath the karst plateau and originates somewhere in the
Truong Son Mountain range separating Viet Nam from Laos.
Travellers’
note
The team also
climbed Ke Bang Mountain where they discovered other water caves which
they say are more magnificent and longer than Phong Nha, such as the En
Cave.
The En Cave, named
after the swallows which nest there, is believed to be Viet Nam’s
longest water cave at 18.9km. Other caves of interest in this area
include Thung, Cha An, E and Toi.
The park’s caves
are now taking their rightful place as a premier destination for
adventurers and tourists, with the number of tourists surging over the
past seven years.
Ha Noi University
professor Ha Dinh Duc, travelled to Phong Nha last year as a tourist but
also out of professional interest.
Duc said the
oldest signs of human life in the cave are letters carved into its
walls. The 79 letters are believed to be the characters used by the
ancient Cham people, famous for their My Son towers which are still
standing in central Quang Nam Province.
A history book of
Viet Nam, the Dai Nam Nhat Thong Chi, first issued in 1909, mentions
Phong Nha Cave and a particular place of worship known as the Fairy
Cave.
"From the
entrance of the cave, following the river for over 100 truong (330m)
one can see a vast opening with a cave covered with white sand. Formerly
this cave had a stone statute of a fairy where local people used to
worship."
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Marvellous:
Visitors
feel exhilaration on entering the unknown. — VNS
Photo Tran Dinh
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| Towering:
Stalagmites and stalactites lit up. |
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Duc’s boat ride
into the cave, just 50km north-west of Dong Hoi Town, was primarily to
seek relief from the hot weather of the day.
"The
temperature suddenly dropped from 39 degrees to about 18 degrees Celcius
when we entered the cave."
But as he was
enjoying the cool respite he was struck by the marvel of the hundreds of
stalagmites and stalactites which appeared before him.
But Dinh Nhu Hoan,
another recent traveller to Phong Nha experienced a different reaction.
Hoan said the drop
of the temperature had little effect on him as the sight before him was
so mind boggling.
"A whole
world of plants, animals, mountains, rivers, the earth and celestial
life are all present here in the different shapes of stone. Travellers
must wonder if it is their belated arrivals that made this fairy world
which had awaited them for so long turn to stone, and that the whole
petrified world would wake up if a prayer was said."
The further
visitors travel into the cave the more unique the scenes which await
them become. Local guides have already discovered some of the more
interesting features and shine their torches on these queer and
glittering shapes when taking tourists through.
Soft sand beaches
dotted along the river provide access to smaller but no less beautiful
caves above the water level.
Many tourists
comment on the deceptive appearance of the caves.
"From afar I
thought the cave was had low ceilings similar to many other limestone
mountain caves. But standing at the entrance it promises a brighter
aspect as the ceiling is about 10m high while the dome inside looks much
higher," Duc said.
Duc’s guide told
him the cave’s ceiling is as high as 50m in some places and acted as a
logistics depot for the Vietnamese liberation army during the American
War.
Now the caves have
been granted heritage status, the Quang Binh Tourism Company plans to
take advantage of the increased interest from tourists by wiring parts
of the cave to light the interior.
Tourists will be
able to travel the system by boat and get out at certain points to walk
around the beaches and dry areas of the caves.
The company also
plans to offer more adventurous journeys where visitors trek deeper into
the cave to discover its treasures for themselves. — VNS |
