Lonely Planet: Phong Nha - Ke Bang ranked second on top experiences in Vietnam.
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“The National Park contains the oldest karst mountains in Asia, formed approximately 400 million years ago. Riddled with hundreds of cave systems – many of extraordinary scale and length – and spectacular underground rivers, Phong Nha is a speleologists’ heaven on earth. The Phong Nha region is changing fast. Son Trach village (population 3000) is the main centre, with an ATM, a growing range of accommodation and eating options, and improving transport links with other parts of central Vietnam.
According to the travel site, the caves are the region's absolute highlights, but the above-ground attractions of forest trekking, the area's war history, and rural mountain biking means it deserves a stay of around three days.
Phong Nha - Ke Bàng is a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Bo Trach and Minh Hoa Districts of central Quang Binh Province in the North Central Coast region, about 500 km south of Hanoi. The park borders the Hin Namno Nature Reserve in Khammouane Province, Laos to the west and 42 km east of the South China Sea from its borderline point. Phong Nha – Ke Bàng National Park is situated in a limestone zone of 2,000 km2 in Vietnamese territory and borders another limestone zone of 2,000 km2 of Hin Namno in Laotian territory. The core zone of this national park covers 857.54 km2 and a buffer zone of 1,954 km2.
Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng is noted for its cave and grotto systems as it is composed of 300 caves and grottos. A 2009 survey brought the total discovered length of the cave system to about 126 km, with many areas still not well explored. The Son Doong Cave, which was discovered in the 2009 survey by British and Vietnamese explorers, is considered the largest cave in the world. Even before this discovery, Phong Nha held several world cave records, including the longest underground river as well as the largest combined caverns and passageways.
“Top experiences in Vietnam” voted by Lonely Planet's include Hoi An, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, Ha Long Bay, Hue, HCM City, Ha Giang province, Cat Tien National Park, Bac Ha markets, Phu Quoc island, Hanoi, Con Dao island, Ba Be National Park, Sapa trekking, Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and Mui Ne.
