Phong Nha-Ke Bang listed among best travel destinations in 2022
Digital travel magazine Afar of the United States has chosen Phong Nha-Ke Bang, the UNESCO-recognised global heritage site in the central province of Quang Binh, as one of the world's 39 best places in which to travel in 2022.
According to the magazine, Phong Nha–Ke Bang National Park, which is a geologically-famous site in central Vietnam, has tempted daredevils since 2013, when Son Doong, the largest cave on the planet and big enough to hold a Boeing 747, opened for multiday tours.
The publication reveals that the Phong Nha–based company Oxalis Adventure is hoping to launch a fresh adventure ahead in 2022 that could rival the Son Doong Expedition, its flagship experience.
“On the new Hang Ba tour, which is still in development, Oxalis guides will lead spelunkers through upwards of five caves with gigantic limestone chambers and dangling stalactites. When cavers aren’t crawling, swimming, or paddle boarding, they’ll be camping and trekking through jungles,” says Afar.
The magazine also quotes Howard Limbert, who led the expedition team that discovered the caves in the early 1990s, saying it took a total of 15 hours to reach the cave cluster from Phong Nha village. However, thanks to the development of a new road, the journey may only take between five to six hours.
Limbert added that collective efforts aimed at protecting the caves and hiring people from the local community have reduced the rate of illegal logging and instilled conservationist attitudes.
“Phong Nha-Ke Bang can serve as a model for other protected areas in Vietnam,” Limbert said, “including the newly-recognised biosphere reserves Nui Chua and Kon Ha Nung.”
