Ninh Binh to Phong Nha

We decided to take a train from Ninh Binh to Phong Nha as we were pretty fed up with buses! The train was an 8 hour trip to Dong Hoi and then a half hour taxi journey into Phong Nha. The train was a great experience as we got to see lots of the locals and because we took it during the day we got to see more of the beautiful Vietnam!

We were staying at Central Backpackers in Phong Nha (if you ever travel in Vietnam these are the best party/social hostels you will get!), so that evening we had our ‘free beer’ from 7 (which the hostel offers) and then went for a cheeky curry … (it was a Friday night so we thought we’d treat ourselves).

We came to Phong Nha for 2 main reasons. The first was the famous ‘Duck Stop’ and the second was the caves. Our first day we decided to head to the Duck Stop. Now I can honestly say this was the FUNNIEST experience of my life. So i’m going to explain from the beginning.. We took a taxi from our hostel to the duck stop and travelled through muddy fields and bumpy roads to get there. When we finally arrived we were greeted by a Vietnamese man (who as wearing a t shirt saying ‘what the duck’) and were told to sit down. He then explained what the day would consist of. Another man then came over and said he will be taking us to the ducks first. He made us take off our trainers and put on what were like jelly sandals and gave us both a traditional Vietnamese hat. He then took us over to the ducks.

Now unfortunately I am not the biggest lover of birds and especially not ducks so I was actually a bit scared entering a small area with about 100 ducks surrounding me … however travelling is all about facing your fears … right? We entered the small enclosed area and there were 100 furry white creatures all looking up at you waiting to be fed. The guy took a handful of food and the ducks immediately went towards him, he threw it to them and did this a couple of times. It was then our time to do the same thing. As soon as you picked up the food the ducks came for you .. I was petrified, but I soon learnt all they were interested in was the food. I had to then walk about the area with the food in my hands and the ducks were literally chasing me. The guy then made us sit on a bench on the other side of him whilst the ducks were with him. He then threw the food towards us and ducks came charging at us.. the guy then told us to make a circular shape with our feet and I immediately knew what was going to happen. He put duck food in our feet and the ducks were eating from our feet. I am also EXTREMELY ticklish on my feet and so at this point I was in stitches of giggles and I could not control my laughter. The last part we had to hold a duck (which totally freaked me out.. so george went first) and throw it into the water.. I picked up the duck in my hands (!!!!!) and then threw the duck into the water. My face in the pictures just absolutely says it all.

We then moved on to see the buffalo. To be honest I didn’t really know what to expect of this part so I was taking it as it came.. The buffalo was huge and weighed 700kg. The guy (a different guy to the duck guy) then said ‘ladies first’ so I immediately said ‘oh no george can go first’, but he was adamant that I would go first. He took he over to the buffalo, where he then made me stand on his hands to jump onto the buffalo’s back. The buffalo then began to move and I was petrified but at the same time wetting myself with laughter. This was such a funny experience especially when the guy made us do a photo shoot on the buffalo – the pictures below explain this!

So the Duck Stop was an absolutely hilarious experience overall and if you ever visit Phong Nha you HAVE to go. It was super quiet there too which meant it wasn’t very touristy and we also got a taste of Vietnamese culture from the men and food too!

On our second day of Phong Nha we paid for a tour to take us to the Paradise and Dark Cave. The first stop was the paradise cave where we climbed 550 steps to reach it. The cave inside was amazing and HUGE! It was 31km in total and we only walked 1km of it. When we visited the caves in Ninh Binh and Ha Giang they were quite small caves, however this was absolutely massive and really amazed us both!

The Dark Cave was a totally different experience. This part of the tour contained water sports, swimming through very cold water and a mud bath! In order to reach the dark cave we had to zip line over a river to the cave. This was so so so fun! We then reach the cave where we had to swim in to reach the dark part. Now I thought the water would be warm but it was absolutely freezing! As we approached further into the cave the cave got darker and darker (and I got more scared and more scared). We had to put our head torches on at this point and we were literally swimming in a pitch black cave with just a small torch, it was SO cool! We then reached the part where we had to get out and walk the rest to reach the mud bath. We walked through a very narrow part of the cave which was muddy and quite slippery. After walking for about 15 minutes we came to the mud bath which we all swam in. This was pretty gross at first but once you got in it was absolutely fine. After taking a muddy bath we walked back the same way as we came and swam through the fresh water (which was really nice as it got all of the mud off) and then swam to the entrance of the cave.

The dark cave was definitely not something for someone with claustrophobia or someone who is afraid of the dark. It was so thrill seeking and you were on edge the whole time. It was an amazing experience and something I’ll never forget!

That evening we got back to our hostel and had to wait a few hours for our bus to Hue. Phong Nha was an amazing experience and we laughed and had so much fun (and even conquered our fears!). If anyone is ever travelling to Phong Nha the Duck Stop and the caves is a must! Next stop … Hue!