Phong Nha National Park

Phong Nha National Park is home to the largest cave in the world: Hang Son Doong. Not the LARGEST cave system, or the longest, (which is Mammoth in Kentucky) but the largest single cavern.  Now, truth be told, we did not specifically visit Hang Son Doong, as it cost thousands of dollars and requires a 4 day trek.  We did, however spend 4 days in the area and visited several interesting caves (some members of our group may suggest we saw TOO many).  But if it's raining ALL day, you might as well spend your time in a cave.  Sadly the Rainy Season had enveloped the entire region.  Cloud cover obscured those classic karst views that I was looking forward to.  We had fleeting peeks of the layers upon layers of those humpy hills on the horizon, but at times could not see any contours beyond the valley floors.

Paradise Cave
These caves did have some great formations, compared to Mammoth which is largely dry and "dead" these are still clearly living and growing.

We stayed at Phong Nha Farmstay.
This was another case of not knowing what to expect from the area as you attempt to blindly pre-book a room without understanding the logistics of the location.  We realized that The Farmstay was 6 miles removed from the town, but it seemed like the town was so small that it would have been of no consequence.  You have everything you need at The Farmstay if you are content with relaxing, drinking on the veranda, biking anyplace within biking distance in bad weather (which is no place, really), and eating exclusively at the guesthouse restaurant.  This was not an ideal setting for us.  The town, though skewed towards backpacker hostels, had plenty going on to have kept us.  We prefer the freedom of finding cheap local restaurants or eating from the market, or just walking around a town and people watching.  The Farmstay was a collection of guesthouses down a rural lane. There was "no room in the inn", so to speak, for our size family at the courtyard-pool-adjacent rooms.  So we were lodged 100m down the muddy road in a newish but rustic family bungalow that had cows and chickens in the driveway.  While the room had A/C, the bathroom was somewhat open-air.  By the end of the 1st day ants had infested much of the food we had imported from the grocery in Danang.
Overall, the weather really put a damper on our perception of the place and our moods.  Anyone else who stays at The Farmstay cannot help but gush that "it's just LOVELY!" (in non-American accent)

From The Farmstay we arranged treks and tours into the National Park.  The first one we did was MaDa Valley. It included a 9km trek through thick jungle, leeches, and poison ivy, then a stop at (another) elephant cave, fording the stream, swimming and cliff jumping at the blue MaDa lake, then swimming though Tra Ang Cave.  It turned into a rainy day and I was not happy about the water temperature so I passed on the dip in MaDa pool.  However when we reached Tra Ang, there was really no choice but to fully get in and go with the program.  With life jackets, helmets, and head lamps, we swam 600 meters to the dead end of this large cavern then back out.  The water was surprisingly not freezing, deep, and had a noticeable current.  That is one and a half times around a track - one way, swimming awkwardly in sneakers, in the dark!  The current helps the swim out.  I felt this was an incredibly unique experience and was glad to have done it! 

One morning (that The Farmstay host promised it would not rain until 2pm) we took the complimentary bikes out to try to find 2 churches, whose steeples we could spy across the river.  The map he provided specifically states that "not many tourists venture to the other side and you will be a rockstar if you go visit the locals".  After passing many brown cows, running over one small snake, wondering if we were lost, hailing a ferryman from across the River Song to fetch us, we did in fact receive a warm welcome and many cheerful "Hallo's", "Where are you from?" from many friendly people.  By the time we arrived at the first church (below), it started raining.  Thank GOD (LOL) for the wrap-around porch of this Catholic church.  We camped out there for 2 hours while it rained.  (I fully disclose that we let the girls watch YouTube Mermaids on the phone). At 11:30 people began arriving.  It was Sunday and perhaps there was a mass at noon, but we couldn't stay to find out as it stopped raining so we booked it across the nearest toll bridge and made a course for home.

"Madonna of the Golden Dragons" (j/k)

The end of another day-long cave tour.  Contemplating the view at a scenic overlook... or what might be a view had it not been misty!

     The second day-tour we did was Paradise Cave and Dark Cave.  Dark Cave was known to be a wet, muddy endeavor which may have appealed to our typically adventurous nature had we not been wet, and everything we own getting musty for the past 3 days.  We almost backed out, but decided to tough it out for the sake of not wishing to plan an alternative.  As a surprise the guide rearranged our itinerary to do Dark cave first, (due to rising water). So we could potentially be wet and muddy for the entire remainder of the outing!  We were experiencing significant Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) by now.
     In another effort to suck it up and just do it, we resolved ourselves to the DARK CAVE experience.  It begins by crossing a river (which would have been an idyllic green in dry times). If you are within a certain weight limit you can zip line across.  Maya wanted to try that so I did it with her and Jeff and (lightweight) Genna crossed on kayaks.  I was nervous that Maya would chicken out on the zip but she wanted me to go first and leave her to follow.  In reality, you have no choice, as the handler gives you an irrevocable shove after clipping your harness in.  It was a nice thrill!  Upon landing you make your way to the mouth of the cave.  After fording the knee-high cave river for a hundred yards or so you take a right turn into a side cave canyon.  We felt it so closely resembled our familiar desert slot canyons, except for being dark and totally enclosed.  After a few ups, downs, and turns, you arrive at a dead end which is a pool filled with thigh-deep liquid mud where you can bathe, slather, or wallow (or like me, just cling to the edge and investigate the clay until everyone has had their fill).  Then it is out the same way to wash off in the river of the main chamber.  Again, I felt that the experience was such a unique adventure it left a more positive impression than I expected.  No where in America are they letting you defile the fragile ecosystem of a cave with this sort of recreation.

Phong Nha Cave entrance.
The boat motors you a mile from town, then 2 oarswomen row your heavy craft with 12 large tourists 2km through the cave with the thinnest paddle you can imagine.