Phong Nha is a small town and was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003. The area boasts some of the oldest mountains in Vietnam, some 400 million years old. It’s also known for its caves, which was one of the main reasons we came here!

We stayed at an incredibly quaint homestay just a short bike ride outside of town. For just $12 a night we got a private little cottage and breakfast was included every morning (we’re talking some serious breakfast like a massive plate of fresh fruit, the best banana pancakes ever, omelets, toast, and iced Vietnamese coffee).

The property could not have been any cuter: Across the street from the homestay was a river dotted with blue fishing boats, and lush, green mountains in the background. It was a wonderful and much needed change from the energy and chaos of the cities we have been staying in.Our first evening, we borrowed two of the complimentary bicycles and took a little cruise around town. The town itself is basically one street but it has quite the selection of restaurants, bars, and accommodations to chose from. For dinner, we opted to have “family dinner” with the people who owned the property. This consisted of an extended family of aunts, cousins, and grandparents, all of whom we could not communicate with except for hand gestures and a few Vietnamese phrases we had learned. It was perfect.

A mat was rolled out on the floor and we all ate together from a communal platter with small, individual bowls. Tristan making friends with baby Chip, our favorite family member: The best part about dinner might have been when the grandfather placed a small tea kettle on the mat. He took out a few small glasses and proceeded to fill them, and handed them to us. We assumed it was tea, since you know, it came from a TEAPOT. Then the grandfather has us all chant “mot! hai! ba! yo!” as he clinks his glass to ours, then we all drank. Fun fact: it was actually alcohol, and the grandfather did this three more times throughout the meal. We may not have been able to talk with the family but the dinner is one we will never forget.

The next day, we booked a tour into the caves and it was the most adventurous tour we have ever done in our lives. The only other people on the tour were a brother and sister duo from Canada (Sean and Madison) who were also staying at our homestay.

A group shot on the drive up to the cave:We drove about 45 minutes out of town and started our trek to the caves. Along the way, our tour guide, Ngoc (pronounced “nock”) showed us around a peanut field aka Tristan’s dream.

Peanuts fresh from the ground:Peanut butter boy in his absolute ELEMENT:We also need to take a minute to quickly mention the attire for this tour. We were told to wear pants (because of leeches and poison ivy) and were supplied with shirts and shoes. The shirts were a lovely (and unflattering) shade of neon green. The shoes, as you can see clearly in the photo above, were, well…oddly reminiscent of what Taylor wore in fifth grade. We were told they were “trekking shoes” but let’s just call it like it is. They were jelly shoes. That’s it. And no, they were not what anyone should wear to go trekking through the jungle or in a cave, but when in Vietnam, do as the locals do!

At one point Tristan said he looked down and didn’t recognize his own feet because they looked so feminine:We spent an hour trekking through farm land and crossing over a few small streams. As we were walking, Ngoc would point out all the plants we should avoid. But it got to the point where it somehow seemed like everything was dangerous so we were walking very cautiously.

Taylor having flashbacks to the summer of 2013 when she had poison ivy head to toe: We proceeded to cross tiny bamboo bridges and jagged rocks on our way to the cave entrance. At one point, Ngoc said we all had to “hold hands for safety” as we walked down a slippery section of the trail, which in hindsight was hardly a dangerous leg of the journey.

Teamwork makes the dream work!Crossing over a “sturdy” bamboo bridge:A view of the cave entrance behind us:We then had a picnic lunch which consisted of a DIY-style spring roll set up which was amazing. We fueled up, then it was time to finally hit the cave. To get to the entrance, you had to hike up a steep 300-meter mountain side that was covered in sharp limestone rocks and mud. We eventually made it to the top and got our first view of the cave. It was huge, and pictures can hardly do it justice.

Picnic lunch with our tour guides:Geared up with helmets and headlamps for the caving part of our adventure:Where “fashion” meets “adventure”:For the next hour, the jumped, climbed, and crawled through Ruc Mon cave. The experience was a wonderful mix of adventure, excitement, and fear. Unlike the many safety precautions that take place in America, tours in Vietnam are a little…different. We scaled across huge limestone walls without ropes and at some points had to hop across gaps connecting two parts of the path (with a lovely drop off below). It’s safe to say our parents would not have enjoyed seeing this.

Taylor scaling down a rock wall like a champ:The group with tour guide, Ngoc (demonstrating a fabulously deep squat):Tristan crushing it:There were also a ton of orbs in the caves, and we all know what that means…ghosts:Once we were deep in the cave, Ngoc had us all turn off our headlamps to experience the total darkness. It was absolutely the darkest place either of us have ever been. You couldn’t see your own hand if you held it up to your face. It certainly wasn’t the place you would want to be trapped without a light.

We continued on our trek and were then faced with the task of descending sections of metal ladders down 300-meters to the water below (that’s almost 1,000 feet!). At one section, you had to basically go down hunched over and sideways because the hole we had to fit through was so tiny. The final (and most terrifying) section was a single, individual ladder, that dropped straight down about 100 feet. For this section, we were thankfully given a harness that attached to a rope via carabiner for safety, though honestly, it didn’t feel like the most safe thing we have ever done. We just took it one step at a time and when we finally reached the ground we let out anxious laughter because we were so happy to have made it.

Looking down the last ladder:At the end of the final ladder, we were able to jump down into the river and float out of the cave, back into the sunlight. We were all in disbelief that we actually finished the tour without injury and were so happy to have had such a crazy experience together.

Reflecting on our cave expedition while looking quite dashing in his trekking shoes:On our walk back to the bus:That night, we got dinner and drinks with our new friends from Montreal, then called it a night. It was one of the most wild adventure days we’ve had and we will always remember our Vietnamese cave tour.

Today we spent more of the day in a coffee shop, enjoying some WiFi, and writing these delightful blog posts for you all. Tonight, we take an overnight bus up to Hanoi to spend some of our final days here in Vietnam. Thank for you the visit, Phong Nha!Until next time, love from T&T!