Quang Binh Province’s tourism industry has strongly developed in recent years. It is considered as a key economic sector in the province.

Quang Binh received more than 2.4 million visitors in the first seven months of this year, doubling the figure of the same period last year.

The New York Times named Quang Binh as one of the most attractive destinations in Asia and eighth out of the world’s 52 top must-go sites for 2014.

The American Business Insider Magazine has recognized Son Doong cave system in the province as one of the world’s 12 most impressive. The National Geographic Magazine, Russian version, said the tour to Son Doong is a top adventurous tour for 2014.

The world’s largest cave has been also listed as one of famous places in the world, which will become “hotspots” for visitors over the next two decades by The Huffington Post. The American online news aggregator and blog described Son Doong cave showed that it is an interesting destination for a 7-day tour with discovery of underground rivers, caves and camping activities.

The forest was wet with dew and the rotten leaves made moss grow on rough rocky blocks. It was so dangerous that if one took a false step they could hit their face on the sharp rugged rocks or fall into the mountain creeks.

Our first destination was a rather flat sand bank near an unnamed stream. According to Nham, all large and small streams in Minh Hoa forest run from the inside of the mountains where there are wonderful caves.

To get to the first cave, we must cross a stream using life buoys made from inflated inner tubes. Entering the cave, we were surprised by a wonderful “palace” with charming stalactite curtains hanging down from the cave’s ceiling.

Inside, the cave looks like an artificial stage with glamorous stalagmites which are in the shape of dancing animals.

There are three giant stalagmite pillars arranged into a three-gate entrance of a pagoda. Leaving the first cave, we spent more than three hours climbing the mountains to reach the second cave. Here, the stalactites and stalagmites have a shiny brass colour and give sounds like bells when beating.

The ground in the cave was covered by pebbles of the size of chicken-eggs. When the light hits them just right, the pebbles sparkle and seem transparent.

Dinh Hong Nham said: “During my trips to the forest, I discovered five caves at the riverhead and most of these caves connect with each other. In these caves, there are some stretches that are submerged by underground water, causing difficulty in traveling.”

Phong Nha Grottoes are considered a splendid castle that is appreciated by the tourism sector. The system of caves in Minh Hoa forest is like a sleeping beauty who is waiting to be awakened.

Talking about these caves, Dinh Minh Chat, Chairman of Minh Hoa District People’s Committee said: “Minh Hoa District is a buffer zone of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park so that it has many beautiful caves.

Recently, the district has conducted surveys to make plans to protect and call for investment in building trans-forest tracking tours to discover the beauty of the new system of caves.

Trekkers will be accompanied by English-speaking tour guides and local jungle men who will take them to untouched caves, then cross shallow rivers and trek 5km through dense jungle rich with butterflies and birdlife.

A highlight during the tour is the time spent at a campsite, listening to the sounds of waterfall and night critters, and hearing some interesting stories about the local ethnic people.

As safety is absolutely paramount on all trips, they will be equipped with helmets, life jackets, headlights, hammocks, sleeping bags, trekking boots, among others.

Nature has bestowed a diversity of natural landscapes on Quang Binh with plains, mountains, lakes and caves. It is well-known for various natural attractions, especially the ‘Kingdom of Caves’, a complex of over 300 caves, found in the Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park, which was recognised as a World Natural Heritage Site by the UNESCO last year.

Most recently, the New York Times named Quang Binh as one of the most attractive destinations in Asia and eighth out of the world’s 52 top tourist destinations for 2014.

Many people who have booked the tour, which is sold online only, said they are still waiting for their turn to explore the cave, which is described as the largest in the world.

Nguyen Van Ky, vice director of the Quang Binh Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism, revealed that only four trips, each having eight people, were organised a month as the tour is still on a trial basis.

The province plans to review the tour’s efficiency, including its cost, in August this year in a bid to make the optimal plans for future exploratory activities. During the trial period, each seven-day-and-six-night tour costs a visitor 3,000 USD.

Recently, the cave welcomed Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

Quang Binh opened Son Doong Cave in 2013, instantly catapulting it onto the bucket lists of travellers around the world.

The cave’s entrance was first discovered by a local man in 1991, and was further explored by a group of cavers from the British Cave Research Association in 2009. This was the third cave to be discovered in the central province – an expansive karst area buried deep in the jungle.

The cave is said to have been created two to five million years ago with river water eroding the limestone underneath the mountain. It is also described as having enough space to house 40-storey skyscrapers and 100-feet-tall trees.

Son Doong has a length of at least 6.5 kilometres and is estimated to be 200 metres in width and at least 150 metres in height, while its very largest chamber is an incredible 250 metres in height, enough space to accommodate 40-storey skyscrapers. Cave tourism has recently turned Quang Binh into a hot spot for visitors from around the world.

According to initial accounts, the new cave is said to be on the same grand scale as Paradise, is very long and has an inner stream. The discovery comes as Quang Binh has been catapulted onto world travel lists as one of the most coveted destinations for cave explorers.

The province has four caves with tours running daily, Son Doong, Tu Lan, Paradise and Phong Nha. The Son Doong, which was discovered in 2009, is said to be the world’s largest cave, according to the British Cave Research Association.

Nguyen Chau A, who works closely with British cave explorers to run sustainable tours through Son Doong and the Tu Lan caves, said there are still more caves in the area that have not yet been discovered.

In a recent trip to Tu Lan Cave, a British caver told Viet Nam News that she believed there are a lot of caves around the site. Local authorities expect cave-related tourism to bolster the local economy and reduce illegal forest logging.

The travel agents have prepared a lot of tours to bothVietnamand other international destinations to attract visitors with the same price as normal days. According to the travel agents, the trend of this year’sIndependencevacation is in some areas of central regions ofVietnamlike Hoi An, My Son (QuangNamprovince),Hue, Phong Nha – Ke Bang (Quang Binh province) which are the world cultural heritages.

Meanwhile, it is quite quiet in this 2 September in Danang city when most of the travel agents have not received the full booking.

According to them, since the decision of shorten the summer vacation and lengthen the New Year vacation for pupils, the occasion of 2 September is not the high season for domestic traveling because the families are preparing for their children to be back to school at that time.

On the other hand, the visitors to Da Nang are mainly small groups and favor the leisure tour than sightseeing, therefore, the type of Danang – Hoi An – Ba Na is most favored. Visitors to the central region in the occasion of 2 September often use one or two days for their vacation, so the near destinations like Ba Na, Thien Duong cave (Quang Binh province), etc are most chosen.

Implementing the tourism activities of cave discovering:

• Discovering the route Rao Thuong – Hang En.
• Discovering the route Phong Nha cave in the depth of 1,500m.
• Discovering the route Hang E and Sinh Ton valley (E cave and existing valley)

Location: Phong Nha – Ke Bang national park

Processing the festival activities tourism:

• Organizing the festival of Flower dancing – dry oaring
• Organizing the festival of praying for fish
• Boat racing competition in Nhat Le River
• The celebration night, performing in most areas of province
• Organizing the introducing kiosks to broadcast the tourism services (International expo of 3 countries –Vietnam–Laos–Thailand)
• Organizing the commercial and tourism expo of three countries in Dong Hoi city.
• Organizing the food week to introduce the nice food of Quang Binh province.

Location: Dong Hoi city.

Dr Howard and his wife Dr Deb spend most of their time on cave expeditions. Howard has been exploring caves in the UK and Europe since he was 15.
The limestone karst mountains were so attractive that they decided to go to Asia in 1990. The couple patiently sought the cooperation of regional agencies and organizations. Finally, they got some help from Hanoi General University, now named Hanoi National University, to make their trip to Vietnam possible.
After that, they focused on exploring destinations in Vietnam. Being a member of the British Cave Research Association, Howard has led an expedition team on trips to Vietnam since 1990.
The team has cooperated with Hanoi National University to conduct 14 journeys to different localities in Vietnam, including Quang Binh, Nghe An, Thanh Hoa, Hoa Binh, Lang Son, Cao Bang and Ha Giang. It has discovered nearly 300km of caves in Vietnam.
In 1997, the team found Khe Ry in Quang Binh Province, the world’s longest underground cave. In 2009, it discovered Son Doong, the world’s biggest cave, also in Quang Binh.
Their reports have contributed to Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park being recognized by UNESCO as a World Natural Heritage Site.
According to Dr Howard, Vietnam has one of the world’s most impressive limestone areas. Clearly, many caves situated in Ke Bang Mountain have yet to be found, Howard and his team hope to continue their search with the cooperation of the Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

Appealing for natural preservation

The couple has helped call on the international community to pay attention to the protection of Vietnam’s nature and environment. They have also shown a number of well-known film crews around Vietnam.
Through the films, the world has become more aware of Vietnam’s beauty and the world’s biggest cave, Son Doong, in Quang Binh
The couple plan to visit Vietnam again from March 3 to April 26, 2012, along with their team and some film crews to make documentaries about caves in Quang Binh.
In 2010, the British expedition team took the film crews and reporters from Kyodo, NHK, BBC, and National Geographic among others, to Vietnam to shoot films about Son Doong Cave. In 2011, they invited representatives from the BBC to Quang Binh to make another film about Son Doong Cave.

Source: VOV

Mr Ho Khanh said the two caves are located in the Doong area, which is home to Son Doong, the world’s largest cave discovered in 2009 also by Ho Khanh and a team of British cave explorers from the British Caving Association.

Before the discovery of Son Doong Cave, Phong Nha-Ke Bang held several world cave records such as the longest underground river and the largest caverns and passageways.

The “98″ cave

Khanh, who found the caves and named them “97” and “98,” which are the years he got lost in the deep forest of the national park in an exploration trip and had a chance to explore the geological formations there, said “97” is 765 m long and “98” is 750 m long and both are at least 60 m high.

Different from most caves of the park that have rough floors, the floors of these newly found caves are flat like a man-made structure.

Source: Saigon Tiep Thi

The new boats, part of a project to develop tourism in the sub-Delta River region, will help protect the environment and provide safety for tourists on a tourism route on the Son River.
According to Mr. Le The Luc, the project’s Director, the new boats will help local people develop and protect heritages well.
In the near future, more new boats will be provided to local people to replace old boats, which were not suitable for carrying tourists