Explaining Phong Nha Cave in tour guide style

Explanation about Phong Nha Cave

Today I am honored to accompany you on a tour of Phong Nha Ke Bang Cave - a World Natural Heritage Site first recognized by UNESCO in 2003.

I am sure that this will be a wonderful experience, because after the hard journey, you will be truly satisfied and delighted by the beauty that you have discovered for yourself, when visiting Phong Nha Cave, which is known as the first wonder of this world. And now we will begin the journey, please follow my instructions!

Phong Nha Cave is located in the Ke Bang limestone mountain range, in Son Trach commune, Bo Trach district, Quang Binh province, about 50 km northwest of Dong Hoi city, about 500 km south of Hanoi capital. There is an explanation that the origin of the name Phong Nha comes from the Chinese character, Phong Nha means wind blowing through the teeth, but there is also an opinion that this is the name of a nearby village.

And right now we are standing in front of Phong Nha cave, everyone can see many bats and swallows perched on the cave door, swallows are the herald of spring, however in Phong Nha, swallows are present all year round. Phong Nha cave consists of two parts: dry cave and water cave, in which the water cave is still relatively favored by tourists, because of the exciting feeling of sitting on a boat drifting on the river, while admiring the magnificent beauty of nature in the cave. We will enter the cave by the only means of transport, which is a boat, please get on the boat and wear a life jacket according to my instructions!

From this location we will take a hand-rowed boat to go 1200 meters deep into the cave, admiring the beauty of the underground river in Phong Nha cave, which is considered one of the most beautiful and magnificent underground rivers in the world. Some people commented that Phong Nha cave is like a giant dragon spitting out clear blue water to welcome visitors when they come to visit Phong Nha cave, there are places that are constricted like a dragon's throat, so visitors coming here often feel like they are walking inside a giant dragon, it is really interesting.

As you can see, this is the place with the lowest ceiling in the cave, only about 3.5m, which explains why the boatmen made the roof of the boat low and did not make it any higher or wider. Through this section, before your eyes is the place known as the 'intersection of two light zones', the first is the natural light source entering the cave and the second is the dim yellow electric light source shining from inside the cave, creating a feeling of leaving the dusty reality and entering a fairyland, do you feel that way? There was a poet who, when visiting Phong Nha cave, witnessed this wonderful beauty of harmony, exclaimed two lines of poetry: 'Who comes to visit Phong Nha cave/There is a river flowing, bringing day into night'.

Leaving the daytime world, people will enter the darkness to explore the magical beauty of Phong Nha Cave. Looking to the right, we see many broken rocks stacked on top of each other, this is due to the impact of geological shocks. Looking up at the cave ceiling, visitors often imagine themselves at the bottom of the ocean, the stalactites look like corals with strange beauty, showing the will of the Vietnamese people, amidst desolation or hardships, still standing tall, brave, trying to rise up to overcome difficulties in life.

After this section, looking to the right is Hang Tien, which we will visit while turning back, and now we will continue to go deeper 1 kilometer to admire the beauty of the underground river and the stalactite system on the cave ceiling. And right in front of our eyes is a large stalactite, located right in the middle of the water surface, people see it has the shape of a statue of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, and this is also the only stalactite in the cave that can still receive sunlight, when all the electric lights in the cave are turned off, this light is likened to the halo of Buddha, extremely magical, illuminating the living creatures in the cave, and tourists when visiting and passing by the feet of Buddha, are also blessed with peace. Occasionally you will see drops of water falling from the ceiling, people liken this to drops of nectar that Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara gives to visitors.

And now you are going to the place with the highest cave ceiling, which according to the British Royal research team, people measured it to be about 30 meters high from the water surface to the cave ceiling, and the water depth here is also about 30 meters. This is the highest and deepest place in Phong Nha Cave. When visiting here, visitors will see that the cave dome here has a pyramidal structure and is pointed on both sides, reminding people of the communal house roof of the ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands.

Vietnamese people believe in toads very much, our ancestors believe that toads are the gods who bring rain, and as long as the toad grinds its teeth, it will rain. Yes, it is amazing that right in front of our boat, there is a stalactite growing out of the wall shaped like a toad. This is the animal that led the group of creatures to the sky to pray for rain, and was later named 'the son of the sky' and came here to rest. Looking to the right, we see many stalactites hanging down from above, like brocade curtains hanging down in the king's palace, so people often compare this to the palace of the water king. Below the water surface, you will see a stalactite shaped like a turtle resting.

Phong Nha Cave was formed 30 million years ago, but until now people still do not know who was the first person to discover this cave complex and when. It is only known that a long time ago, when people came to settle here, the cave was already known and had human footprints. In traditional concept, caves are a very mysterious and sacred place, a place for gods and saints to return to, and are not allowed to offend, so people do not dare to go too deep into the cave. Around the 9th century, the Cham people came and chose this place as a place of worship, and called this cave Pho Nha. 

Everyone looks to the right and we see stalactites that look like Cham towers of the Cham people, next to them are two crocodiles, one stretching up, one facing down, symbolizing the god of fire, according to the concept of the five elements, fire is yang, below is water which is yin, symbolizing the harmonious relationship between yin and yang. And here, please look up to the cave ceiling to admire a stalactite that is considered unique in Phong Nha cave, it is estimated that it weighs about 10 tons, growing from the cave ceiling down, like an artistic chandelier, next to it are smaller stalactites like lanterns, contributing to beautifying the cave ceiling. Visitors feel like they are lost in the ancient town of Hoi An on poetic full moon nights. Looking to the left, you will admire a unique structure that is rare in water caves, which are natural sandbanks scattered throughout the cave. The origin of these sandbanks is that during the rainy season, water from upstream flows down, carrying a lot of sand and drifting here to form large sandbanks.

Next, we see that the cave begins to narrow, on the right we see a rock protruding, through the process of water erosion and abrasion, now the rock looks like a tiger's head protruding from the cliff. Right next to it are rocks hanging down to the water surface, like elephants letting their trunks play in the water, and people call this combination of two rocks with a very attractive name 'elephant facing tiger' or 'heroes meeting'. In front of the boat's bow we continue to see a stalactite shaped like a Maitreya Buddha with his hands clasped in front of his stomach with a compassionate smile. During the war, this cave area was also a place for our soldiers to meet, take shelter and treat wounded soldiers. People say that because it is very sacred, any wounded soldier brought here for treatment will recover very quickly.

So we have finished the 1200 meter long underground river tour. Before leaving, please look down at the water surface again, we see a ceramic jar, this ceramic jar was discovered by Phong Nha Ke Bang Tourism Center on March 20, 2013, archeologists concluded that this is a Vietnamese ceramic jar, maybe during the flood it was washed away and stuck here. And now the boat owner will take us back to the next tour, you can admire the beauty of the cave again, before going ashore.

And finally, thank you for listening throughout the journey, wish you an interesting and meaningful tour. Goodbye and see you again soon.

Kareem Winters

Update 20 February 2025