Tag 5 - Explore the surroundings of Phong Nha by motorbike

Our day today (almost) began with sleeping in. Since we are exploring the area today, we were able to start with a late breakfast at 09:00, which is unusual for the tour.

Our first stop was the 'Paradise Cave'. This is Vietnam's largest stalactite cave. It is truly impressive what nature has created over millions of years. The challenging ascent over more than 600 steps at 38 degrees was quickly forgotten inside the cave. The temperatures inside were much more pleasant at around 20 degrees.

We had our lunch following the customs of the local population, eating with our hands from a banana leaf. We sat on the floor on a bamboo mat. The second cave we wanted to visit was overcrowded and we would have had to wait a long time. Also, we would not have been able to explore the cave as we had imagined. For this reason, we decided to spend the rest of the day back in the national park and by the pool.

We rode the motorcycles a few kilometers back along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. At a viewpoint, we took a break and were able to follow a small path into the jungle from there. We didn't see any extraordinary animals, but even Madlin found the nature impressive 😉.

After returning to the hotel, we enjoyed the pool together with Dung and then ended the evening with a very delicious dinner. We are a little sad that the 6 days with Dung are almost over.

After only driving about 100 km today, we have another 240 km route along the coast back towards Hue tomorrow, and in the evening, the night train towards the north.