Phong Nha & Ke Bang - World Natural Heritage 

The fairyland hidden in the limestone mountain protested by the tropical forests, Phong Nha has recently become a famous place thanks to the open-handedness of  the Creator which bestowed this region a system of splendid grottos with the underground river determined as the  longest one in the world. Phong Nha - Ke Bang has been recognized the world natural heritage by UNESCO…More

• Length of the trip            : 1 days

• Trip Starts/ Ends from     : Hue city

• Required booking time: At least 20 days in advance for individuals and 45 days in advance for group.

• Rates are net per person: 89 USD

• Rates are valid from 20 December 2010

• Phong Nha Cave & DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) Tour, 2 days

Full Itinerary

AM: 7:00 Pick you up at your hotel in Hue (or Dong Hoi-Quang Binh railway station or Hanoi - Hue Open bus stop in Dong Hoi-Quang binh) and leave for Phong Nha in Quang Binh Province. Take a boat cruise on the Son River to visit Phong Nha Cave with its grottos (Bi Ky, Cung Dinh, Tien... and Tien Son). Lunch.

PM: Return to Hue on the way stop to visit Hien Luong Bridge and Ben Hai River on the 17th parallel. Arrive in Hue at about 07:00 PM.

Tour price

Price Inclusions:

• Meals as specified in the itinerary

• Open Bus Transportation (Soft sleeper, with AC)

• English- speaking guide (other languages are available upon request).

• Boat trip on Son river.

• Sightseeing as specified including entrance fees

 Price Exclusions:

• Visa fee - visa to Vietnam

• Optional tours

• Tips for tour guide, driver

• Travel insurance

• Expenditure of a personal nature, tips, such as drinks, souvenirs, laundry, emergency transfers & etc.

• Others which are not mentioned in the inclusion

Note:

• Surcharges for peak seasons, Christmas and New Year Holidays, lunar New Year Festival, extras for room, air tickets upgrades shall be applied.

• Rates are subjected to changed without prior notice.

• Itinerary is subject to change depending on flights, road condition and room availability

• Seat-in-coach tours: To join with other people on available daily tours. These tours are fixed itinerary and departure time. It is possible to join in even your group of only 1 or 2 people. Customer do not to find other people to form the group. It is our company duty to gather the tourists for each tour. For these tours, you have to share the coach, boat and tour guide with other tourists who come from different nationalities. The number of people of this group is normally less than 20 persons.

• Private tour: The tour is not fixed, it is possible to be customized for your group. All service is reserved for your group only. You do not have to share the bus, boat, tour guide with other tourists. One exception, if you stay at the boat in Halong bay - it is like the hotel in Halong - you still have to share the boat with other people.

• As indicated:  A/C= Air-conditioning, O/N= Overnight, B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner

Group Discounts

• VietnamDailyTours encourages you travel with your friends or family. We want to reward you for inviting them on your trip, by making you the VietnamDailyTours Leader on any VietnamDailyTours trip. The more people you bring, the cheaper your trip becomes!

• Keep this discount to yourself, or share it with your group.

• Land costs only, excludes costs of airfare and other incidental costs.

• Cannot be combined with any other offers.

• Group Leader is responsible for placing reservations for entire team at VietnamDailyTours in order to track and award credits.

• Be sure to mention that you are

• the VietnamDailyTours leader, to apply for credit in VietnamDailyTour's Group Travel program.

Phong Nha Cave - DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) Tour, 2 days 

The fairyland hidden in the limestone mountain protested by the tropical forests, Phong Nha has recently become a famous place thanks to the open-handedness of  the Creator which bestowed this region a system of splendid grottos with the underground river determined as the  longest one in the world. Phong Nha - Ke Bang has been recognized the world natural heritage by UNESCO…

׀ Phong Nha & Ke Bang ׀ DMZ - Demilitarised Zone ׀

• Trip Starts/ Ends from     : Hue city

• Required booking time : At least 20 days in advance for individuals and 45 days in advance for group.

• Rates are net per person: 109 USD

• Rates are valid from 20 December 2010

• Phong Nha & Ke Bang - World Natural Heritage, 1 day

Full Itinerary

Day 1 : Hue - Phong Nha Caves - Dong Hoi          Meals : L/D

AM: Pick up at your hotel in Hue, depart for Quang Binh. Stop for visit the Ben Hai River, Hien Luong Bridge, lying in the Demilitarized Zone of the Vietnam war, to the Vinh Moc underground tunnel, one of the most famous battle-field in Vietnam War. Lunch at Dong Hoi town, then continue to Phong Nha - Ke Bang. Getting on boat and cruise along the river to Phong Nha Cave. The deeper one penetrates, the more magical are the natural aspects of the caves. After on boat for 700m, a large dry passage is appear, then you can walk to discover the cave for 500m more. You will have a chance to explore the remain of Cham Altars and Inscriptions inside. Overnight in Dong Hoi Town.

Day 2 : Dong Hoi - DMZ - Hue                                Meals: B/L

Breakfast at the hotel. Drive back to Dong Ha town with a stopover at historic Khe Sanh Combat, Ho Chi Minh Trail, Rock Pile. Have lunch in Dong Ha Town. Return to Hue in the afternoon via Quang Tri Citadel. End of Tour.

Tour price

Price Inclusions:

• Hotel accommodation based on twin or triple share with daily breakfast (inclusive: services charges, room taxes and baggage handling)

• Meals as specified in the itinerary

• Open Bus Transportation.

• Boat trip on Son river.

• English- speaking guide (other languages are available upon request).

• Sightseeing as specified including entrance fees

Price Exclusions:

• Visa fee - visa to Vietnam

• Optional tours

• Tips for tour guide, driver

• Travel insurance

• Expenditure of a personal nature, tips, such as drinks, souvenirs, laundry, emergency transfers & etc

• Others which are not mentioned in the inclusion

Note:

• Surcharges for peak seasons, Christmas and New Year Holidays, lunar New Year Festival, extras for room, air tickets upgrades shall be applied.

• Rates are subjected to changed without prior notice.

• Itinerary is subject to change depending on flights, road condition and room availability

• Seat-in-coach tours: To join with other people on available daily tours. These tours are fixed itinerary and departure time. It is possible to join in even your group of only 1 or 2 people. Customer do not to find other people to form the group. It is our company duty to gather the tourists for each tour. For these tours, you have to share the coach, boat and tour guide with other tourists who come from different nationalities. The number of people of this group is normally less than 20 persons.

• Private tour: The tour is not fixed, it is possible to be customized for your group. All service is reserved for your group only. You do not have to share the bus, boat, tour guide with other tourists. One exception, if you stay at the boat in Halong bay - it is like the hotel in Halong - you still have to share the boat with other people.

• As indicated:  A/C= Air-conditioning, O/N= Overnight, B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner

• Accommodations offers in this trip (The hotel may be changed up to its availability. It will be confirmed after getting your deposit/ payment)

Group Discounts

• VietnamDailyTours encourages you travel with your friends or family. We want to reward you for inviting them on your trip, by making you the VietnamDailyTours Leader on any VietnamDailyTours trip. The more people you bring, the cheaper your trip becomes!

• Keep this discount to yourself, or share it with your group.

• Land costs only, excludes costs of airfare and other incidental costs.

• Cannot be combined with any other offers.

• Group Leader is responsible for placing reservations for entire team at VietnamDailyTours in order to track and award credits.

• Be sure to mention that you are

• the VietnamDailyTours leader, to apply for credit in VietnamDailyTour's Group Travel program.

Introducing Phong Nha Cave 

Show mapClose map .The complex karst formations stretching throughout the surrounding Ke Bang National Park were formed approximately 400 million years ago, making them the oldest in Asia. Part of this system, Phong Nha Cave (675 110; admission 30, 000d, charter boat 100, 000d; 7am-4pm) is the largest and most beautiful cave in Vietnam. Located in the village of Son Trach, 55km northwest of Dong Hoi, it was designated a Unesco World Heritage site in 2003. It’s remarkable for its thousands of metres of underground passageways and river caves filled with abundant stalactites and stalagmites. In November and December the river is prone to flooding and the underground cave may be closed

Phong Nha means Cave of Teeth, but, unfortunately, the ‘teeth’ (or stalagmites) that were by the entrance are no longer there. Once you get further into the cave, it’s mostly unspoiled. In 1990 a British expedition explored 35km of the cave and made the first reliable map of the underground (and underwater) passageways. They discovered that the main cavern is nearly 8km long, with 14 other caves nearby.

Tien Son Cave (675 110; admission 20, 000d; 7am-4pm) is a dry cave in the mountainside just above Phong Nha Cave. You can walk to it from the entrance to Phong Nha Cave (10 minutes) – look for the sign at the foot of the stairs.

The Chams used the cave’s grottoes as Hindu sanctuaries in the 9th and 10th centuries; the remains of their altars and inscriptions are still here. Vietnamese Buddhists continue to venerate these sanctuaries, as they do other Cham religious sites.

More recently, this cave was used as a hospital and ammunition depot during the American War. The entrance shows evidence of aerial attacks. That US war-planes spent considerable time bombing and strafing the Phong Nha area is hardly surprising: this was one of the key entrance points to the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Some overgrown remains of the trail are still visible, though you’ll need a guide to point them out to you.

You should be aware that Phong Nha is heavily visited by Vietnamese groups. The cave itself is fantastic, the experience less so. That is, unless you like your World Heritage sites to incorporate litter, noise, people climbing on stalagmites and cigarette smoke in confined spaces. Of course these things are prohibited, but enforcement is lax to say the least. Presumably these distractions can be avoided if you arrive early in the morning. The toilets might be less putrid then, too.

The Phong Nha Reception Department, an enormous complex in Son Trach village, organises tourist access to the cave. You buy your admission ticket here and organise a boat to take you to the cave. Boats seat up to 10 people and it’s cheaper to share. The cave system is electrically lit, but you may want to bring a torch (flashlight).

Quang Tri (DMZ - Demilitarised Zone ) 

The province of Quang Tri is situated in the north central part of Vietnam, near the previous capital of Hué. It offers some manmade and natural sights, such as two suspension bridges and the beautiful Cua Tung beach in Vinh Linh. Historic structures include the two Quang Tri citadels and the Sac Tu pagoda in Trieu Phong. Dong Ha, Quang Tri’s capital, is visited mainly by former servicemen from Vietnam and the US who usually book a tour to the notorious Demilitarized Zone.

Dong Ha Town

The town of Dong Ha is the provincial capital of Quang Tri in Vietnam. It is found at the crossroads of two major highways, 1A and 9, and this proved to be the major reason why the town recovered so well after it was overwhelmingly bombed in 1972 in the Northern Vietnamese Eastern Offensive. Dong Ha is the nearest town to the famous Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and it does not offer any of the tourist comforts that can be found in Hue. It is full of history and can be a sad place to visit when touring the war memorials.

During the Vietnam War this was a place of extreme tactical significance to the US military as it provided easy surveillance of the North Vietnamese across the DMZ border. Today, people who visit Dong Ha are mainly ex-servicemen wishing to visit a place they once served in during the Vietnam War.

Tips

Worth it? Only if you are interested in the Vietnam War.

What to do: visit the war memorials and the nearby DMZ.

Best time to go: February through to April.

How long? One to two days

Demilitarised Zone (DMZ)

The Demilitarized Zone is more commonly known as DMZ and was a divide between North and South Vietnam during the two Indochina wars. It consisted of an imaginary line, formed by the Ben Hai River, and stretched for a mile each side.

The DMZ stretched for over 65 miles from east to west and located 50 miles west of Hue. It became an important area during the Vietnam War as it acted as a separating line between North and South Vietnamese land. There was a small island off the coast, which although most part was south of DMZ, was actually controlled by North Vietnam. There are many historical sites to visit here and is a must-see if you are at all interested in the Indochina wars. However, in order to avoid becoming a casualty of the past wars it is advisable to get a guide as the region is littered with unexploded ordinance (UXO).

Huong Hoa (khe Sanh Town)

The town of Huong Hoa in Vietnam was once well known for its coffee plantation that was assisted by the French but is now used as a stopover for people visiting Laos and exploring the Khe Sanh victory monument or the old American base. Most of the town’s citizens originate from the Bru tribe, which occupy the surrounding area in the hills, and they can be recognized by their clothing, with the females always wearing sarongs. The whole tribe will also use traditional woven baskets for shopping bags.There are many reminders of the Vietnam War around Huong Hoa and plenty of memorials and bridges.

Tips

Worth it? Only if you are interested in Khe Sanh and the battles that went on in Huong Hoa.

What to do: visit war sites and use the town as a stopover to Laos.

Best time to go: February through to April.

How long? One day.

Factoid: the Khe Sanh Combat Base was the site of the bloodiest battle of the Vietnam War in 1968.

Truong Son National Cemetery

Truong Son National Cemetery is one of the most sobering sites in the Vietnam’s Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). It is the final resting place of 10,000 Vietnamese soldiers who died in the war with America.

The DMZ was born out of an uneasy truce between Vietnam and France but ultimately became the epicenter of the war with America. Northern Vietnamese cut roads (now the Ho Chi Minh Trail) through the jungle to supply arms and medical supplies to renegade Viet Cong in the southern region, while US troops unleashed a staggering bombing campaign to destroy roads and convoys. The thousands who died included soldiers, construction workers, medical personnel, engineers and children. The gravestones are arrayed in neat rows across a few rolling hills. Most of the graves contain actual remains, while a few are tributes to people who were never found. There’s little mention of the 300,000 bodies that were never recovered.

Today the grounds are maintained by disabled veterans of the war. There is also a sculpture garden onsite. Above it is a stele with inscriptions that explain the importance of the Ho Chi Minh Trail and pay honor to those buried here.

In brief

What is it? One of four massive Vietnamese cemeteries dedicated to those who died in the war with America.

When to go? After the monsoons end, usually from January to June.

Nearest town: Truong Son is a small village on the outskirts of the cemetery.

Don’t miss: the courtyard of decorated heroes where five colonels and a woman soldier are buried.

Vinh Moc Tunnels

The Vinh Moc Tunnels are at the heart of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in central Vietnam. They were used to shelter villages from intense fighting during the Vietnam War.

The Demilitarized Zone was drawn up in the 1950s as part of a compromise between the French-controlled south and communist north. During the American War (as locals call it), this area was heavily bombarded in a struggle between North Vietnamese trying to supply arms to the Viet Cong and US forces trying to cut them off. Villages across the region were continually caught in the crossfire, and the Vinh Moc Tunnels were the centrepiece of a brilliant campaign to escape the violence. Almost two miles worth of tunnels were dug in three levels ranging from 40 to 75 feet deep. The entire project took 13 months to complete.

Over the course of five years, 300 people took shelter here. The tunnels have kitchens; individual rooms for more than 60 families; a meeting hall and school room; ventilation shafts and a ‘maternity ward’ where 17 babies were born. In a testament to human endurance, everyone survived. Today the Vinh Moc Tunnels are one of the most visited sites in the Demilitarized Zone. The success of this project is a refreshing change of pace from the otherwise depressing war memorials in this part of the country.

Tips

What is it? A network of tunnels built by villagers seeking shelter from bombings during the Vietnam War.

When to go? After the end of the monsoon season, from January to June.

Nearest town: Ho Xa is eight miles away.

Don’t miss: the clinic where 17 babies were born.

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