Cave Swimming, Chicken Killing, & Country Living in Phong Nha

Our overnight train was short and sweet--we got on in Hanoi, went right to bed, woke up, and got right off in Dong Hoi, a small city on the north central coast. After a 45 minutes' drive, we arrived at our home for the next 4 nights, Phong Nha Farmstay.  While not exactly a farm itself, this fantastic small hotel is surrounded by plenty of beautiful, peaceful farmland.

We decided to visit this area because of 1.  The elaborate caves of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park; 2.  The rave reviews of Phong Nha Farmstay; and, 3.  Our desire for more rural time after enjoying Yangshuo, China.

After some breakfast and a introduction to the area's history and sights from a Farmstay host, we headed out on bikes to explore the surrounding area.  We saw lots of water buffalo and cows along the way, both in the fields and on the roads.

Our route took us along small roads through tiny villages, like this one that was so pretty with Vietnamese flags flying.  People were constantly waving and calling out "Hello!"--not trying to sell us anything, but just to be friendly.  It was really nice.

We hit some patches of mud, which required careful navigation and sometimes a bit of walking.

It was hot and humid, but at least it didn't rain on us as we biked through the beautiful Vietnamese countryside.

We eventually made it to our lunch stop--the Pub with Cold Beer, which is as "farm to table" as you can get.  You pick out your lunch, which is still pecking around in the chicken coop, and then about an hour later you eat a grilled chicken meal.

The boys were interested to "pick out their lunch".  Since it's really easy to disassociate the chickens we see running around from the packaged meat we buy in the supermarket, Bob and I thought the process of seeing a chicken go from animal to meal would be a good reminder for us all of where that meat actually comes from.

The mood turned somber after the picture above as the gravity of what we were doing sunk in for us all.  Not to be melodramatic, but we did all have a moment of realization that this living animal was about to die for us.  The restaurant allows its patrons to kill the chicken if they want to themselves, but none of us had any interest in that.  We told the boys we could walk away after picking out the chicken, but both said they wanted to stay.  So we watched, silently, as the cook slit the chicken's neck and drained the blood.  A bit later, we watched as the cook defeathered the chicken and prepared the meat for the grill.  

The whole process was a bit uncomfortable to watch.  Turns out it's quite a bit nicer to disassociate that chicken running around with the chicken dinner on my plate.  But I'm a strong believer that learning is sometimes supposed to be uncomfortable, so I'm glad we watched the whole thing.  As we waited for our lunch to arrive, we talked about eating meat and what we'd seen.  I don't think we've scarred our boys for life (they did eat lunch without a problem), but it was definitely a meal we'll all remember for a long time.

After eating, we enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and hung out with the other patrons.  We all enjoy the conversations we have with other travelers, and we've met so many friendly and interesting people along the way so far.  We've also found that 20 year old backpackers, in particular, love to chat with and include our boys in their activities.  These guys, who'd been playing pool on their own, quickly invited our boys to play as they all chatted (in Dutch, nonetheless!).

We got back just before the sunset, which was so beautiful reflected in the water-logged rice fields surrounding us.  

The boys swam in the pool and met some Australian girls who were as chatty and outgoing as they are.  :)  At one point, I overheard Emmett and the older sister discussing differences in schools and also the American and Australian political systems.

The next day, we left the Farmstay bright and early for a group tour to two of the nearby caves.  The jungle scenery along the way was especially beautiful with the mist on the mountains.

Our first stop was Paradise Cave, which had stunning stalactites and stalagmites.

One of my favorite spots was this pool of water that reflected the surrounding cave formations.

After Paradise Cave, we made a quick stop at The Cave of Eight Ladies.  This is a spot where eight people were buried alive during an air strike in 1972 (the name of the cave was already in place before this time, according to our guide).  Their remains were not removed until 1996, and 10 years late a small temple was built in the cave to remember them.  The cave is off of Route 20, which is part of the Ho Chi Minh system of trails that was used to move troops and supplies from north to south during the Vietnam/American War.

From there we began the highlight of our tour--the trek to and in Tra Ang Cave.  This cave was discovered in 2014 and was only opened to tourists in August 2016 (2 months ago!).  To get there, we first had to hike about a mile through dense jungle on a small path.

Along the way, we passed a bomb crater from the Vietnam/American war.  This province was one of the most heavily bombed during the whole conflict.  Not only was a lot of damage done then, but it's estimated that 10-15% of the ordinance did not explode, leaving thousands of unexploded hazards scattered throughout the province to this day.  While the areas we were in had been cleared, the effects of those unexploded ordinances continue to be devastating for the people and land.

We arrived at the entrance to Tra Ang cave--it's on the other side of the water in the break between green trees.

We had some time to relax before lunch.  Colin got to partake in one of his favorite activities--throwing rocks into water.  While we relaxed, a team of local men prepared a delicious "jungle BBQ" for us.

When it was ready, everyone (tourists, guides, and cooks) sat down to share a communal meal of "make your own spring rolls".  This involved rolling the grilled meat, tofu, rice, and herbs in rice paper, then dunking the roll in chopped peanuts and/or a pepper sauce.  It was so yummy!!

After lunch, we got geared up to enter Tra Ang cave (using life jackets, head lamps, and gloves).  The cave is filled with water and completely dark, so to explore it we'd be swimming!

We then traversed the water (which was surprisingly strong) while holding onto a rope.  As Emmett was hooting and hollering, excited to be swept off his feet by the current, Bob and I were both realizing that it was a much more dangerous crossing than we'd anticipated.  Bob used to rescue people swept away by swift water in moments like that.....but fortunately we all got across safely.

After that, we climbed large boulders in order to reach the mouth of the cave.

Then we climbed into the water!  While the cave didn't have the formations of Paradise Cave, it was really cool to explore a just-opened cave in the (almost) dark while swimming.

We swam about 600 meters to the back of the cave, and after a short stay there we turned around and swam back to the entrance.  We even turned off all lights at one point and bobbed in the water in complete darkness.  Overall the boys did great, though Colin got a bit cold and tired midway through.  Bob and I alternated helping him along, as did one of the fabulous guides who even swam with Colin on his back for a short time.

This was looking back towards the entrance of the cave.

After climbing out, we bouldered back down and recrossed the stream, this time with a lot more caution.  Without us asking, another tour participant positioned himself downstream, ready to jump in to grab one of the boys, if needed (which, fortunately, was not necessary).

Before leaving the Tra Ang cave, we got a shot of our whole group.  This was one of the best tours we've been on, both due to the activities and the great mix of people we spent the day with.  And Colin now officially holds the record for "youngest person to enter Tra Ang Cave" (with Emmett being the second youngest)!

Hiking back through the jungle, I got my foot caught in a root and completely face planted onto the ground.  A huge bump formed on my right shin, but I was fortunate my injury wasn't worse, given how rough the trail was.  Fortunately, the Farmstay had ice and cold beer, both of which helped ease the pain...as did the beauty of the stars coming out in the clear night sky (as seen from the chair where I spent a good chunk of that evening).

The next day we just relaxed at the Farmstay.  It was good timing given that 1. it was a rainy day and 2. I was limping a bit from my jungle injury (sounds so adventurous to say that!).  That evening, Bob and I watched the Farmstay's showing of Good Morning, Vietnam until torrential rains began and strong winds briefly knocked out the power and knocked over the movie screen, ending the movie early.  The rainy season here is no joke!

For our final full day in Phong Nha, we headed into town to visit the Phong Nha caves.  We passed more livestock and beautiful scenery along the way.

Together with some other friendly travelers, we hired a boat that took us all to the cave entrance.  

We passed more beautiful jungle scenery and even water buffalos swimming in the river.

Normally the boat gets to the cave and then cuts the motor, rowing several hundred meters into the cave before the passengers get out to explore.  The water level was too high for the boats, however, so we disembarked at a beach just outside the cave entrance.

From there we walked into Phong Nha cave, which was enormous.  During the Vietnam/American War, the North Vietnamese Army used this cave to hide men and supplies during the day that would be pulled out at night.  It was heavily bombed during the war, and you can still see damage on the outside of the cave.

We also explored Tien Son Cave, which required 330 steps to get to.  Colin was pretty much over the climb well before step 330, but eventually he made it to the top (albeit not really pleased, as this photo shows).

The climb was worth it, though, as the formations in Thien Son Cave were fantastic.  As an added bonus, for most of our time in the cave we were completely alone.

And the view from the steps leading to Thien Son Cave was pretty, too.

After walking back down 330 steps, we met up with our group to take the boat back to Phong Nha village.  Then we biked back to the Farmstay to enjoy our last night there.  With that, our time in beautiful, calm Phong Nha came to an end and it was time to move on once again.