The Son River
By boat past rice fields.
[Tycho] talk , http://shansov.net — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Bùi Thụy Đào Nguyên — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Andre Hospers — CC BY 4.0 · Edgardo W. Olivera from Montevideo, Uruguay — CC BY 2.0
Phong Nha Cave is the cave that gave its name to Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It runs for 7,729 metres through 14 chambers, and the Son River flows out of its mouth after about 19 kilometres underground; its name, Wind and Teeth, is said to come from the stalagmites that once stood at the entrance. The visit is a boat trip: the boat runs up the Son River from the Phong Nha tourist wharf between rice fields and limestone peaks, then cuts its engine and slips into the cave, where boatmen paddle through the dark between lit stalactites and stalagmites. Visitors may go only about 1,500 metres in, most of it by boat, with a walk through a dry section before the return. The whole trip takes two and a half to three hours. In the flood season from September to November the cave can close when the river rises, so check before you go. Tien Son, a dry cave on the slope above, has its own ticket.
By boat past rice fields.
Paddled through the dark.
Lit along the way.
On the Son River, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, Quang Tri province
The ticket is 150,000 dong per person, and the boat about 700,000 dong shared by up to 12 people, so the cost falls as the group grows.