Quang Binh : Land of the Caves

The region of Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park gets its name from Phong Nha Cave. Not only is Phong Nha Cave one of the most beautiful caves in this region, but also one of the most historically significant and legendary caves in the whole world. Due to this cave’s sheer magnificence, travellers from all over the world find themselves astounded once inside the cave and engulfed in its magic. The stalactites and stalagmites cutting through the cave appear akin to the teeth of a giant monster and you will undoubtedly be mesmerized by the karst formations and 400 million year old limestone that surrounds you.

The crystal blue Son river flows between Ke Bang limestone mountain, creating a unique embellishment in one's journey to Phong Nha Ke Bang heritage site. Three main rivers are Chay, Son and Trooc rivers. The water supply for these rivers is the system of underground karst rivers and streams flowing through En cave, Vom cave, Dark cave and Phong Nha cave

Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park is home to Son Doong Cave, the largest cave in the world ; Hang En Cave, the third largest cave in the world; the film set of Hollywood blockbuster Kong: Skull Island, Tu Lan Cave system with over 10 dry and wet caves of the; Hang Va Cave with some of the rarest formations ever seen; the gorgeous Paradise Cave and many more.

Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park consists of 392 caves with a total length of 220km; divided into three main systems: Phong Nha system, Vom system and Chay system. Phong Nha is one of the world’s most valuable cave systems for its intact geological - geomorphological values, resulted from the process of long-lasting Earth crust creation; Some typical caves in the system including Phong Nha cave, Tien Son cave, Thien Duong cave, Son Doong and Hoa Huong caves,etc.

According to cave explorers, Phong Nha cave is the only cave in Vietnam that meets 7 criterias: cave with the most beautiful underground river; largest entrance; beautiful sandy beaches and reefs; beautiful underground lake; large and beautiful dry caves; fantastic and magnificent stalactite system and longest water cave. And therefore, Phong Nha cave is well known as one of Vietnam’s greatest wonders.

In 1990, some British cave experts collaborated with Hanoi University of Science for an expedition inside Phong Nha Cave. The primary agenda of this expedition was to explore the depths of the cave and document it to the best of their ability.

Numerous expeditions were conducted and it led to the exploration of 10,130m of cave with an average height of 50 meters. After these successful expeditions, Phong Nha Cave became developed for tourism back in 1995.

Phong Nha cave is home of a very large number of fossils that are seen embedded inside the limestone rock wall, that themselves are quite large. Phong Nha Cave is about 2 million years old.

The cave has some very large dry chambers and is divided in three main sections: the entrance zone, twilight zone and the dark zone.

It has been declared that all these three sections have distinct species.

These fossils are believed to be that of marine creatures, like fish, seashells and possibly many others unbeknownst to researchers so far.