We had breakfast with Bi and Tau. Went to the easytiger hostel to try and find Edward and Chloe that we previously had agreed to meet. We had however just said 8-9 am and no specific localtion. Needless to say we didn't have an easy time finding them. This ment we headed for the Phong Nam caves by ourselves. This was also a problem as you have to rent a boat to get there. The price is set for each boat, the main idea is that you should arrange to share it with as many as you can. Me and Martin had little succes doing that since almost everyone at the ticket office was Vietnamese. That is until Bi drove by. I guess he saved us some money by arranging for us to go with a younger couple and a pair of friends. When Bi spoke to the boatguide however it seemed that the tour would take two hours longer than we though, meaning that we probably couldn't also see the dark cave(Hang Tối). But we figured that two caves are better than none and set of to see the wet cave(Ke Bang?) with a 40 minute boat tour. The cave itself was very big and we started out exploring it by boat. Since the cavern festival was being held the place was cramped but you still could see most of it without people getting in the way(being long has its advantages). Next we went up a short walk to the stairs that led to the dry cave(Tien Son). It had our entire group huffing, but sooner or later we reached the top and Tien Son, which was however not all to impressive. After this we, reluctantly went down all said stairs again. We did however get treated to sugar crane water by Hon(the guy with the blue shirt) at one of the station. This guesture was kinda out of the blue but it didn't feel too akward. Going back to where we started by boat we realized we acutally had made good time and when meeting up with Bi and Tau we had a quick lunch and left for the dark cave. We made in time to be admitted to a slightly different way to visit caverens: An adventure park. First off we had a fairly long wait, gearing up with zipline gear, helmet and safety west. Then we waited 25 minutes-ish to go on the zipline. Having ziplined across the area you found yourself 20 m away from the cave. The twist was that you had to swim to the enterance, it was kinda fun. However we yet again spent some time to allow our entire "group" to arrive before we actually went into the dark cave. And that was it was. Entierly dark. You only had your light on your helmet to see by, it was super fun! Or would've been if my light had worked as it should - this ment I spent much time walking close to others(which you had to do anyway) in order not to fall or get cut(really sharp stones in places!). In the end it was a really nice experiance anyway. The tour ended with a mudbath inside the depths of the cavern and on the way out you could rinse yourself before exiting the cave. After this you kayaked your way to the exit area where you could go for some bathing, more ziplining or what they grandly named "obstacle course". We swam some and did the zipline before noting that we already probably spent too much time and that Bi and Tau was waiting. The ride to our hotel in Dong Hoi was probably the most uncomfortable ride. I guess doing all three caves in a day was a strech of what time really allowed. But we arrived safe enough and was glad to spend an evening doing little at the hotel.

Phong Nam area where the wet and dry cave is located.

1 or 2 weeks of cavern festival meaning that the price to enter the caves was reduced by 20 and 30 %. This ment that alot of locals came around.   

The boats that takes you to and from the caves.    

Enterance to the wet cave.      

Had a hard time getting good pictures, but managed some            

After you went inside by boat you walked out on a arranged track to where the boat waited for you.      
Starting our walk up to the dry cave.

View from top of the stairs!

Enterance to the dry cave!    

And some more stairs!  

While this cave was nice it didn't really shine as much as the wet cave. However it is good enough to warrant a visit(if you can endure all the stairs)     

Sugar crane water!  

Banh Mi as quick lunch before taking off to the dark cave.  

On the road again  

Some of the views going to the dark cave, we got no pictures from the cave itself as I couldn't bring a camera along.    

Our hotel and reststop for the evening in Dong Hoi.

Tomorrow we leave early in the morning for Hanoi by plane, after a day there we leave for Hanlong Bay which is sure to be beautiful! :)

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