I can now post text again on my blog, but unable to upload pictures yet, so they will have to wait!

Today was going to be all about the Phong Nha caves - the world's largest cave complex. Early morning I walked from my hostel towards the riverside to get my ticket for the tour. When it comes to assessing tour possibilities and ticket prices the internet is really a great help. There are dozens of companies in the little town of Phong Nha to offer all sort of trips, but it turns out the best/cheapest way to visit the caves is to go to the ticket office to buy an entrance ticket and a ticket for a boat, which is the only way to access the caves. 14 people can fit into one boat, so being on my own I waited around for other people to arrive. It didn't take long before a Vietnamese group with 8 people arrived, and they were happy to share a boat with me. None of them spoke a word of English, but we had lots of laughs anyway. They insisted on sharing their food with me. The Vietnamese people love picnicking, and there was all kinds of foods, most of which I had no idea what was. It all tasted great.

About 30 minutes by boat brings you to the entrance of the caves. Boat engine is switched off and our lady captain continues the journey into the caves by rowing the boat. Hard work, but no complaints from her! Immediately upon entering you find yourself in a huge cave with incredible formations. At one point it is possible to get off the boat and walk about 1km on wooden pathways among spectacular creations of stalagmites and stalactites. Do yourself a favor and check out YT for some footage on the Phong Nha caves. People fly in from other countries just to experience these caves and the Phong Ahn ke-Bang Nature Reserve. Certainly the highlight of my trip so far.

After my boat trip, I spent a couple of hours in the afternoon driving around the reserve. I even went on some small tracks amongst the rice paddies. At one point I got to what looked like a dead end, but an old guy working in the field, indicated that I should just continue and I would get through to a bigger road again.

Late afternoon I popped down to Phong Ahn Central Backpackers and enjoyed a beer with the young crowd there. Tomorrow I would get on the road towards Hanoi.