I enjoyed my visit to Phong Nha cave. My friend and her family rented 2 large boats, each with a capacity of about 18 people, lined with folding chairs on an uneven wooden deck. A small outboard motor took us up the river to the cave entrance, where the motors were cut off, and the old woman steered our boat, while her very young daughter propelled the boat with a long wooden pole, walking the precarious edge of the boat barefoot, from one end to the other.
Inside, we landed on a beach, in a large room littered with columns. Photographers eagerly await tourists for (very inexpensive) souvenir photos. The cave is well lit, and you could tell it has seen significant traffic; however, we visited on a drizzly Sunday, making for a pleasant day with few visitors. I recall a British couple, and numerous Vietnamese tourists from adjoining regions. Outside the cave, we walked up to an open-air temple, offering a fantastic view of the region, and the mouth of the cave below. A trio of visiting Vietnamese men, were teasing each other and giggling over the lanky Americans hiking up the trail. We stopped at a small stand, where a woman was selling [semi] frozen chocolate dipped ice cream cones. Someone came up from behind, grabbed my hand and gave it a slight tug. I turned thinking it may have been one of the children from our party, only to find it was one of the three men from the trail. His two buddies were standing a bit further back, watching what was going on with their brave friend. In broken English, his face beaming partly from nerves, and partly from trying to hide his embarrassment, he began to speak. "HI! I am Vietnamese. Picture with me?" His friends, now in awe that their buddy truly speaks English, began waving me down to stand with them at their chosen location, the mountain and river in the background. My friend James was recruited for the photographs, each man gleefully handing over their iPhone for the shot. Showered in "tank you"s, and "I love Americans!"we rejoined our party. I am planning another trip to Vietnam, set for April of 2016. We will again be visiting one of the caves in Quang Binh province, potentially Hang Son Doong, if I can spare the $3k and 6 days from the itinerary. Every even year there is a festival in April, the next being 2016. our plan is to visit the festival, cave, and Da Nang, for its resort on the beach. There will also be a short visit in Okinawa, and Japan. If anyone is interested in joining us, or planning on going on their own accord, feel free to contact me, for my not so humble opinions. Jess On Nov 2, 2014 8:11 AM, "Preston Forsythe via Texascavers" < [email protected]> wrote: > Yes, read this in yesterday's online paper. Fascinating huge cave, but > doubt I ever return to Vietnam.....Preston in West KY > --------------------------------------- > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* Sam Young via Texascavers <[email protected]> > *To:* cavers texas <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Sunday, November 02, 2014 7:25 AM > *Subject:* [Texascavers] Caves of Viet Nam > > This morning’s New York Times has an article about the Viet Nam caves > which are being commercialized. I hope you can see this without being a > subscriber. > > ........ Sam Young > > > http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/02/travel/deep-in-vietnam-exploring-a-colossal-cave.html?ref=travel > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com > [email protected] | Archives: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers > > > _______________________________________________ > Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com > [email protected] | Archives: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers > >
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