Phong Nha Tours Phong Nha Ke Bang Travel Guide Brian and Carly – Hang En Cave Explorer

Brian and Carly – Hang En Cave Explorer

Hang En Cave Explorer: The cave trek was great! The town leading to the caves is Phong Nha, and it consists of 4 hotels and 2 restaurants. It’s only purpose is to house trekkers. So, the morning of the cave tour we took an hour bus along the national park road and then got dumped at a seemingly random spot along the hill. We descended into the jungle with our two tour guides and 15 tourists.

Hang En Cave Explorer

The jungle hike was great because the trees kept us in the shade. When we hiked through the valley we were beaten by the sun, but the hundreds of river crossings kept our legs cool.

A team of porters who had gone ahead of us were already down on the beach, some pitching our tents for the night, others keeping a fire burning ready to cook dinner. As flames flickered, catching on the light breeze being drawn through the cave, smoke swirled upward in the musky, dank air.

Hang En Cave Explorer

Hiking into the cave was amazing, the light comes through over the tops of dense jungle and the cavern is massive. We explored one loop of the cave and the guides explained the geology.

There, we donned our hard hats and headlamps and silently entered single file, darkness enveloping us, just the light of our flashlights illuminating our path. A few hundred feet in, we reached a mountain of boulders. As we scrambled up, the light became more intense as we gained height.

Hang En Cave Explorer

The bathroom was a bucket that you throw rice on, and there was a family of mice living in the hut, keeping you company. The next morning we walked to the other entrance to the cave and it was even more impressive. There was rolling rainforest for miles and miles.

At 300 feet in height and 600 feet across, the cavern is big enough to fit a Boeing 747 with room to spare. The space was flooded with rays of natural light coming in from an arch high above us. The beams of light illuminated a yellow sand beach hundreds of feet below, surrounding a calm turquoise pool.