If you have a chance to visit Vietnam and you want to experience its natural beauty, come to Phong Nha. The Phong Nha area is set on a number of rivers and streams that carve through limestone karst mountains. The Phong Nha National Park is littered with caves carved from the limestone. It also contains the largest cave in the world. Beautiful farmland provides the buffer zone around the Park. Rice paddies and corn are the staple crop. We stayed at the Phong Nha Farmstay, a wonderful accomadation owned by an Ozzie and Vietnamese couple (Ben and Bich). The Farmstay is located on a dirt road overlooking Bich's family's rice and corn fields. There's an open pit fireplace that rolls into the night, an outdoor rooftop patio overlooking the paddies and even a pool table and pool. The folks to work there are awesome and the people who come to stay are just as cool. We went on a number of tours. The first tour went to the Dark Cave, where we put on headlamps and swam into the darkness. Super cool. We also saw Phong Nha Cave, a cave you get to ride a boat through. This tour also included biking and several hours of river boating. It was a very relaxing and exciting tour. The second tour we did was more like an afternoon activity. We rode our bikes to a remote little home called, "The Pub With Cold Beer", where we went net fishing, swimming and ate the freshest BBQ'd chicken ever. Soooo good. The lady killed the chicken right there. The chicken was served with tasty veggies, rice and the most delish peanut satay. The last tour we took covered the Paridise Cave, a huge cave that could fit a battleship in the main cavern. Rediculously huge. Very, very cool. We also went swimming in a river that gets its water from an underground river thought to come from across the mountians in Laos. The guide told us that that particular river is likely the largest cave system in the world, but because it is underwater, it is near impossible to explore. Anyways, we have to get back to teaching these wonderful kids at Sapa O' Chau. We leave tomorrow for Hanoi after a quick morning teaching session. We will update soon and possibly add more to this entry once we get to Hanoi.
-Geoff
