Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park, Vietnam Plan a trip

The Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park is an impressive site for any traveller. It’s home the oldest karst mountains in Asia. They’re almost 400 million years old! The Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park is in the western Bo Trach district – right next to Laos. Tucked between the Annamite Mountains, ridges in this park rise to around 400 metres.

This lush, verdant park is made up of 85 square kilometres of unspoilt jungle. It even has a series of caves and underground rivers. It’s recognised the world over as an outstanding area of natural beauty and was made a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2003. There is a network of approximately 300 caves for you to discover in Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park. Many are available for visitors to explore, including Phong Nha Cave, Paradise Cave and Hang En. You can even camp overnight.

Despite this, several caves remain undiscovered. So, if you feel adventurous you can go looking for hidden treasures. Make your way past the looming stalactites and stalagmites to see what you can find! New things are being found all the time in this park; in 2009 Hang Son Doong was discovered and named the largest cave in the world. So, who knows what you might see this time!

Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park sits just to the north of the 17th parallel (where Vietnam was split into the north and south sections). This means that there are many historic battle sites in the park, so ask a local to tell you more about them. It’s no surprise that such an impressive landscape has been scouted as a location for many films. Most recently it appeared in the Hollywood blockbuster Kong: Skull Island. However, the area’s fame is slowly having an effect. Surrounding towns such as Son Trach are urbanising and creating better transport links, accommodation and eating options.

On the surface this sounds great, but it does mean that this park might be trampled by mainstream tourists and touts very soon. So, visit quickly before there are any big changes.

Plan your trip to Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park today.