Vietnam Day 22: Paradise Cave

Phong Nha Be Kang National Park is famous for its caves. There are so many to visit depending on your budget, length of stay, and fitness level, including the world's largest cave. With only one day to explore, we decided to go to Paradise Cave. 

From the hike to the Cave

We knew that Paradise Cave was huge, but we could not keep saying, "Wow... it just keeps going..." over and over. It was cathedral-like... times 10. It was also very easy to navigate inside because of its boardwalk system. 

Down we go...

Craig, for scale

It's so hard to capture its grandeur in photos. It is 31km long in total, with it reaching 72m tall in some places. Only the first kilometer is open to tourists, but even that felt mammoth. 

Afterwards, we had lunch at a wonderful spot with delicious smoothie bowls. Note the purple dragonfruit! So fun!

We had a relaxing afternoon with a couple of highlights: playing in the pool and...

... going to a head spa. 

According to our host, Vietnamese women don't wash their hair at home; they go get a hair treatment every few days. It was a super relaxing experience for all 5 of us ladies, especially the halo facet! It took about half an hour total and included a scalp and neck massage, wash, condition, and blow dry. Our hair felt so silky afterwards!

The best part!

It was fun to try something new and be pampered a bit. 

Let's finish off again with another cool bug photo!

Vietnam Days 20 & 21: Phong Nha Be Kang

Day 20 was a travel day for us. We went from Ninh Binh to Phong Nha Ke Bang. We still weren't feeling awesome so the 5.5 hour journey was a bit painful but we got there. We were greeted by a really lovely host, Linh, and got ourselves settled. Erin took advantage of his wife's spa across the street and the 20% discount he was offering on services. She enjoyed an hour long, full-body massage including hot stones and a warming eye mask for only $14 CAD! It helped to recover her body and spirit after the physically and emotionally draining days before. 

Day 21 was a recovery day. Erin and Adventure Girl spent some time in the pool. We joined up with the whole team for a beautiful sunset dinner on the Con River. 

 

One of the best meals of the trip!

Erin thoroughly enjoyed her Phong Nha speciality... you roll your own fresh spring rolls right at the table, complete with rice noodles, veggies, herbs, and this incredible dill-covered fish straight from the griddle! 

Too many sunset pictures? Never!

Vietnam Days 18 & 19: Homesick & Travelsick

Day 18 was the most stressful of the trip. Both Erin and Adventure Girl got food poisoning and kiddo spent all of Days 18 and 19 down for the count. We were really concerned that she wasn't able to keep any water down and there was a moment when we thought we were going to need to brave a Vietnamese hospital. Thankfully, she got through it and started to rebound on Day 20.

When the situation had improved, Craig headed out solo to the Tam Coc boat dock to do the river ride there. Tam Coc is slightly less scenic than Trang An but it has a beautiful section that winds through the rice fields. One highlight is getting to see the oarspeople row with their feet! Another is the short, steep hike up to a viewpoint of the river. 

Here are a few pics of his trip:

Vietnam Day 17: Ninh Binh

There are two main places to do boat tours from in Ninh Binh: Trang An and Tam Coc. For our first day, we went to Trang An to do Route 3, which is the most popular. "Tour" doesn't quite feel like the right word because there was no guide. It was more like a boat trip. 

About to enter Dot Cave!

We departed the boat dock together, with each family in their own wooden rowing boat. It was a very smooth operation with hundreds of boats on the water at the same time, split between three routes. It still managed to have a very peaceful atmosphere. The valley between the karst mountains is so narrow; it is incredibly beautiful! We all agreed that we liked it even more than Lan Ha Bay!

There was a current but even still, our oarswoman was working hard in the heat to propel us forward. We had only just started and we were already thinking of the generous tip we were going to give her for her tremendous effort. The river wound between the hills and we stopped to visit a temple right on the water. Then came the Dot Cave which is almost a full kilometer long! We were expertly navigated through the lit cave, often needing to duck way down low so we didn't hit our heads. 

Dot Cave went on forever! It twisted and turned so many times that we completely lost all sense of direction. There were several large caverns but mostly it was a tight space like the photo above. The cool cave also gave a much needed break from the Vietnamese heat!

After Dot Cave, there were two more temples and two more caves to go through. The last temple had a lovely boardwalk with flowering lotus blooms all around it. We came away with hundreds of photos!

We'd highly recommend going to Ninh Binh and experiencing this breathtaking beauty firsthand!

The day ended with another stunning sunset dinner overlooking the mountains reflected in the river. 

Vietnam Day 16: On the Boat or Off the Boat?

We left early the next morning to catch a bus to Ninh Binh. The bus driver RACED along the coastal roads at speeds we had yet to hit on this trip. It became evident pretty quickly that he was trying to make the ferry and we were glad we weren't on the water side of the road in case we tipped! We arrived in time to pull aboard... kind of... There was lots of backing up and pulling on and turning and maneuvering and us being at the back of the bus meant that we could tell we had definitively NOT cleared the edge of the main part of the boat. But according to Vietnam standards, we had. So we got OFF the bus for the ferry ride in case our bus slipped into the water partway across!

That red and white gate is meant to
swing across behind the bus

Our view from the back of the bus window. 
Yeah... that gate isn't going to close!

What followed was an uneventful three hour bus ride.

Adapting to playing without a table:
Discard pile on Alex's leg,
Draw pile between Erin's legs, 
Card we're attacking in Alex's pocket, 
Played cards facing out, 
Our hands facing in!

When our bus arrived in Ninh Binh, we had to catch a 20 min taxi to our place. On just the short ride, paradise unfolded before us. Ninh Binh is known for being the inland Ha Long Bay. With its tall karst mountains, narrow valley, and winding river, it was clear why. We were really excited for the days ahead of us!

10 Steps from our front door

Our Cabin

Sunset dinner views...

Vietnam Day 15: Panoramic Views

Our last day in Cat Ba was Easter Sunday. We decided to do a short morning hike, then surprise the kids with an afternoon Easter celebration. 

Adventure Girl's jellyfish sting was still pretty sore so she and Craig stayed home. Erin joined b.e.a.n. travels for the 3km hike straight up the mountainside. It was really hot and humid so despite the hike being short, it was tiring! The air quality here is also really terrible. There are nightly burnings of garbage and cleared trees and leaves. We hardly saw the sun or the sky the entire time we were here. The pollution added an extra challenge to our lungs while hiking. 

The path has carved stairs out of stone and switchbacks through the jungle towards the peak. Once you reach the top, the views are incredible! It's a true panorama with tree covered karst hills all around you. 

Back at our place, the kids enjoyed a scavenger hunt to find a bag of Easter treats. They also made some decorations and surprised Craig, Alex, and Beth with a "fancy" table for all seven of us. We each did a phone call home, too. It can be hard travelling long term (over a month for us and 6 months for b.e.a.n. travels) so little things like this can help everyone, especially the kids, have a taste of home. 

The dairy free chocolate Erin found!
We did a taste test of the cacao beans 
grown in 6 different regions around Vietnam

To cap off our time in Cat Ba, here's a picture of a random, crazy-looking bug!