Tips for your trips: Backpacking in Vietnam. Journey into the nature. (Part V)

In this article you can read how to get to Paradise Cave: one of the most beautiful caves I have ever seen in my life, contemplate the amazing landscapes of Tam Coc on a boat and find many more spots from the beautiful nature of Vietnam.

After our small motorbike adventure our journey in Vietnam took us to an exploration of its beautiful nature. The beginning of July started with extraordinary landscapes and places I have never ever thought I will discover.

Phog Nha and Paradise Cave

My next stop was Phong Nha region- a spectacular underground gallery of caves with beautiful shapes and above the ground you can enjoy even more spectacular views of the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park.

Getting there

Son Trach village is the main centre of Phong Nha region so this is the place you need to go.

If you haven’t tried riding a train in Vietnam, here is your chance. There’s a train from Hue to Dong Hoi (the closest point to Son Trach).

We took the first train from Hue, departing at 05:30 am. Our journey to Dong Hoi took us around 03:30h. The ticket will cost you 99 000 VND.

How do the trains in Vietnam look like? Well, not much more different than the trains in Sri Lanka or India :) You shouldn’t expect any luxury when you are traveling like a local.

Travel like a local in Vietnam

Once when we arrived in Dong Hoi we had to find Nam Ly bus station which was kind of a difficult task. Ask locals for Phong Nha and most of them will show you the way.

You won’t find any official information about the timetable of the buses which is also a problem.

Me and Emanuele were just sitting next to the sign (the only one thing marking the existence of the bus station) waiting for our bus to arrive.

Nam Ly bus station

Finally, around 10:30 am a small bus stopped and we jumped inside straight away. After an hour of a bumpy ride we arrived in the village of Son Trach (or Phong Nha town). The ticket will cost you only 33 000 VND.

After well-deserved lunch and local beer we were ready to see the caves.

Since we were having our backpacks with us we had to find a place to leave them. I had to use a bit of my charm to get our backpacks stored but that wasn’t an issue. :)

The real problems came when we decided to do this trip on our own.

The most famous cave here is Phong Nha Cave but the only one way to reach them is by a boat. You will find a ticket counters in the Visitor Center but the tickets were extortionate.

That’s why me and Emanuele decided to visit Thiên Đường Cave or Paradise Cave. For that purpose (I’m sorry I have to say that) you need to rent a motorbike.

So yes, just 2 days after we crashed on a motorbike we were renting another one!

Those stupid tourists!

I wish someone could have seen my face when Emanuele told me this is the only way to see the cave without any organized tours. I was still so scared of what had happened so I didn’t even want to think about riding a bike again.

The next minute we were already sitting in Backpacker’s Hostel in Phong Nha, signing the papers for our new bike.

Of course the lady that we took the bike from, didn’t even ask Emanuele about the driving license but looking at his bandages wrapped around his arms, she asked straight away:

“Are you sure that you can get on that bike?” :D

Renting the bike cost us only 100 000 VND (4$)

Of course after we took the bike we had to refuel. The instructions we received from the hostel took us to the most creative gas station I have ever seen in my life :)

The scenery on the way to The Paradise Cave is fantastic. I highly recommend you to ditch the organized tours and do this on your own:

After the enjoyable ride we arrived at Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park. There’s a parking so you can leave your motorbike against a small fee.

The ticket for The Paradise Cave will cost you 250 000 VND. The entry of the cave is located around 1.5km from the car park. You can pay additional fee and use a golf cart but I will recommend you to walk on the paved road.

The cave itself represents stunning gallery of beautifully shaped stalactites and stalagmites. The special lightening makes the view even more special. Here are some photos from Paradise Cave:

On the way back to Son Trach we took a different road and continued enjoying the beautiful landscape:

Ninh Binh

Our second problem for the day wasn’t late - we had no place to stay in Phong Nha and we wanted to continue with our next spot - Ninh Binh.

For that purpose we were thinking to go back from Son Trach to Dong Hoi with a night bus. From there we were supposed to take train to Ning Binh.

Of course the things didn’t happen in the way we were expecting. By the time we came back and left the motorbike it was already dark. There was no buses anymore and we had no place to sleep.

At some point I even had the crazy idea to try hitchhiking (don’t waste your time with this in Vietnam) ;)

When you travel the right solutions will always find you in the right moment. We saw on the street a sign advertising buses, going directly from Phong Nha to Ninh Binh.

A small hotel, run by a local family, called “Rose Hotel” saved our plans that evening.

I still don’t have any idea how it happened but the staff from “Rose Hotel” managed to arrange an overnight bus for us which picked us up at 22:00h (1hour delay). The ticket cost 200 000 VND each.

The family took a great care of us. We had dinner at their place and they were absolutely helpful.

The company that provides the buses is called HƯNG THÀNH TRAVEL.

My overnight bus looked like it came from a Sci-Fi movie: huge bunks like a space capsules, neon lights and crazy crazy driver!

I couldn’t close my eyes for a minute because I was in a bunk in the middle aisle, which means every time when we had to take a sharp turn I was thinking that I will be thrown away from the bed :P

The journey takes approximately 07:30 h according to google, but our mad driver made it for 6 hours!

Around 04:00 am we were literary spitted out of the bus with our backpacks somewhere nearby Ninh Binh.

We had no place to stay but you shouldn’t worry about that. Even at these small hours some clever businessman will cross your way.

A taxi stopped in the middle of the way and a man came out from his car, offering us a room for 8$ per night. Well, in 4 am that is good option or at least is an option so we didn’t think too much.

The place we stayed is called “New Queen Mini Hotel”. (I had the feeling that every third hotel in Ninh Binh has the same name)

Our room was neither new nor clean

but at the end of the day it will cost you only 8$ (180 000 VND) :)

"New Queen Mini Hotel" - my choice for the first night in Ninh Binh

My 2nd night in Ninh Binh I stayed in “Go Ninhbinh Hostel”. Honestly, I don’t know what is going on with the hostels nowadays. Before, a hostel was a place where you can find cheap bed and you can socialize with other travelers. Just for the record the price in the backpacker’s hostel for a double room was 17 $ (390 000 VND) - a real rip off!

“Go Ninhbinh” is one of those “shiny” backpacker’s places where is full of people who think they’re really cool just because they carry a backpack and a “Lonely Planet” guide with them.

“Go Ninhbinh Hostel”

Tam Coc

Ninh Binh which is the capital city of Ninh Binh Province doesn’t catch the eye of the traveller with anything special apart from the tasty noodles and cheap local beer.

Of course we didn’t miss the chance to visit the local hospital because Emanuele had to change his bandages.

If you want to marvel some beautiful landscapes you should definitely go to Tam Coc village.

Getting there

The distance between Ninh Binh and Tam Coc is less than 3km. The most comfortable way is just to get a taxi. It will cost you around 90 000 VND.

The perfect boat ride into the nature

Tam Coc is the perfect place for a boat ride. If I have to compare it to The Mekong Delta tour, the experience I’ve had here was much better.

If you don’t book a tour, the ticket will cost you 195 000 VND (150 000 VND entrance fee + 45 000 VND for the boat)

The drinks and snacks on the entrance are overpriced so load your backpack with some water.

Another tip for you: take your Vietnamese hat and a sunscreen lotion with you if you have a sensitive skin. The sun is strong.

Fully equipped for a boat ride :)

Interesting fact: the locals, who make a living by taking tourists on the boats, are so skilled so they learned how to paddle with their feet!

The boat goes through a nice passages of caves, you will be able to see some wild life (mainly eagles high in the sky or wild goats, doing amazing acrobatics on the cliffs). The landscape is out of this world.

So here I am, having one of my most enjoyable days in Vietnam:

A beautiful part of the boat ride is the floating market where you can see something similar to the Bangkok Floating Markets.

The only one thing which can disturb your peace are the local “photographers” which are taking photos of you from the nearby boats and after that will try to sell it. Just decline the offers and let them see you’re not interested.

At the end of the trip would be nice if you give some tip to the boatman. Their job is definitely not easy.

Off the beaten track: Mua Caves (Hang Mua)

The second half of the day was even more exciting. Me and Emanuele decided to visit Mua Caves.

I didn’t want to take any taxi so we decided to go on foot - not very clever decision, having in mind the afternoon heat.

Despite that we were fascinated by the peaceful landscape of cliffs and rice fields.

We probably walked around 4 km until we reached the entrance of the caves. There was no signposts to mark our way so I was using my GPS to keep the right direction. It’s a good feeling when you know that not many people would go the same way you do.

Off the beaten track, on the way to Hang Mua

Once when we reached the entrance, we were surprised to find that there’s an entrance fee. We paid 100 000 VND (almost 5$ - apparently the caves became too popular among the tourists so locals decided to take actions).

However, the place is totally worth it!

I have to admit that, after walking 4km in the afternoon heat, seeing 500 steps that I had to climb to reach the top wasn’t exactly what I wanted that day (still,compared to my experience climbing few thousand steps in Sri Lanka that was a piece of cake).

The caves, which are located at the base of the hill are not that spectacular themselves, once when you climb to the top your efforts will be rewarded with a 360 degree view of the valley and Ngo Dong River.