This is the second time I come to Vietnam. The first time, I visited attractions in the South and this time I continued my journey to the North. I have done sightseeing in Da Nang and Hoi An by night. After one day of discovering the Hue Citadel and Royal tombs, I prepared for the journey to visit the caves in Phong Nha. From Hue to Phong Nha, I decided to skip DMZ in Quang Tri because I had already visited the DMZ in the South (Cu Chi tunnels). After saving up money, I booked a trip from a Tour Agency. According to the tour company’s information, I knew that I will be exploring La Vang Holy Land and the Vinh Moc Tunnels, which are tourist attractions that I originally thought would be ignored .

The bus picked me up very early, I chose a seat next to the the window to see more. The distance from Hue to Phong Nha is 233km, which is one very long journey by car so our guide pointed out destinations on the way such as La Vang Holy Land, Frame of church, Quang Tri ancient citadel, Ben Hai River, Hien Luong bridge and the history of the Vietnam War. Car navigation on small roads, according to my tour guide said that this is the entrance to the historic district Vinh Moc Tunnels. With my curiosity, I decided to buy a ticket to visit the Vinh Moc Tunnels so I could compare to the Cu Chi tunnels. The Vinh Moc Tunnels were not much different. However, Vinh Moc Tunnels have a way to exit to Cua Tung beach. This is a beautiful beach which is cool and clean. Although the two tunnels are the same, the difference was enough for me to enjoy and feel no regret for sightseeing.

After leaving Vinh Moc Tunnels, we departed to Phong Nha around noon. So all of us were asleep in the car. From Vinh Moc to Phong Nha it is a long journey, so we slept for a while. The guides alerted us when we had arrived in Phong Nha. As soon as I arrived here, I noticed the big caves surrounding the town of limestone. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant, which was nice to stretch and breath in the fresh air.

After lunch the group returned to the car and continued the journey to discover the Phong Nha. We were 10 people in one small boat cruising down Son river. We could see the limestone along the waterfront, as we got closer and closer to the Phong Nha cave. The cave appeared large and wide and we could feel the cold air as we entered each cave. The boat slowly drifting along into the cave to avoid noise and echoes in the cave. With colorful lights and different kinds of limestone, I was totally shocked by the natural beauty that was created by nature. The caves were amazing like the interesting and magical tales that I had heard before. We were in the caves for an hour but it only felt like one minute as I was awed by the beauty of the world’s largest cave. The boats started their engines to go back to shore. My excitement was not quite satisfied so I decided to stay here to explore another cave. I asked the driver to drive me to the hotel in Phong Nha instead of the one in Hue. During that day, I continued to add more dynamic tours such as Paradise Caves, Dark caves and Swallow caves as well. I also know that there are many more new attractions still waiting for me to explore.