English version:
I traveled 9.5 hours on the sleeper train and finally arrived in Dong Hoi. Dong Hoi is the main central city in Vietnam, where the country is only 40km wide between the South Chinese Sea and Lao. I went there to see the popular Phong Nha cave.
When we woke up on the train, we talked a lot to one of the ladies traveling in the same cabin. She was very interested in Europe, I was very interested in Dong Hoi so we exchanged a lot of information. And the surprise and a little explanation why Vietnamese people are one of the most awesome folks. When we got off the train she said she calls me a taxi, I said fine thank you. And SHE PAID THE FAIR ALREADY TO THE DRIVER!!!!! I could not believe it when I tried to pay.
So after this nice welcome in Dong Hoi I went to check in to the Sealand Homestay. I love homestays and especially love this one. In Sealand you feel like you got home. Really. The owner – Candy – does everything in her power and beyond to provide you with an unforgettable experience. Candy is a mother of 2 and representing a fantastic success story in Dong Hoi. She moved from her village a long while ago to Dong Hoi and was brave enough to kick some businesses off without experience. You remember in the previous post when sales and business development is in the DNA, right? She started with a coffee shop, then opened a bike and bicycle rental place https://www.facebook.com/Quangbinhmotorbikeforrent/
where now she has 80+ scooters for rent. And 3 years ago bought the house for the homestay which is in the peninsula 300 metres from the long white sandy beach. We had fun together, and with her son – Lam – and with the fox-like dog: Moon. Candy really took care of me, organised my trip to the caves and told and showed me a lot of things about Dong Hoi and Vietnam. She took me to the local market and explained fruits, vegetable, sea food and so on. I loved the time under her wings. Thanks a million!
On day 2, I visited 2 caves which are both in the Phong Nha national park which is a Unesco World Heritage site. We started with the Paradise Cave (or Thiên Đường Cave) which is 31 km long and was found in 2005. The guy who originally found it was a hunter who went in for 50 metres then changed his mind and came out as he wasn’t sure if there are tigers, elephants or other adorable animals are sleeping peacefully in the darkness. I read this before in a review and it is absolutely true. The Paradise Cave really looks like places from the Lord Of The Rings. Unreal. I felt like walking up and down in the chambers of Moria…
Next stop was the Phong Nha cave which was also incredible. 7.7 km long and there is a 14 km long underground river inside. If the weather is better you can swim and also if you took the longer trip, you can row a kayak over there. Apparently there are some huge fishes in the cave because fishing is forbidden, so there are fishes weight up to 50 kilograms. I loved this place too. Other interesting detail that this cave was used as a hospital during the war.
During my cave-trip I met another lovely couple, this time from Uruguay: Emiliano and Natalia who are also traveling around in South East Asia. We had a great time, spent the whole day together until midnight when they train departed. Can’t wait to try to mate with you guys in Uruguay!!!! Safe travels and enjoy yourselves!
Magyar verzio:
9.5 ora (alvo) vonatozas utan megerkeztem Dong Hoiba. Dong Hoi kozep vietnam fo csomopontja, ahol az orszag mindossze 40 km szeles a Del-Kinai tenger es Laosz kozott. Azert mentem oda, hogy meglatogassam a hires Phong Nha barlangot.
Miutan felebredtunk, sokat beszelgettunk a vietnami holgyek egyikevel. Ot nagyon erdekelte Europa, engem pedig Dong Hoi igy sok infoval lattuk el egymast, amit tatott szajjal hallgattunk. Es egy meglepetes, es magyarazat, miert a vietnamiak a vilag egyik legjobb arcai. Amint leszalltunk, felajanlotta, hogy hiv nekem egy taxit, mondom nagyon kedves danke schon! Es amikor probaltam volna fizetni, KIDERULT, HOGY ELORE FIZETETT AZ UTAMERT!!!!! Nem hittem el.
Ez utan a kellemes welcome elmeny utan mentem becheckolni a Sealand Homestay-be. Imadom a home stay-eket, es ezt kulonosen. A Sealand-ben ugy erzed, mintha hazaertel volna. Tenyleg. Candy – a tulajdonos – barmit megtesz, hogy felejthetetlen elmenyekben legyen reszed. Candy egy ketgyermekes csaladanya, akinek egy fantasztikus sikertortenete van Dong Hoiban. Egy apro falubol koltozott fel kb 10 eve Dong Hoiba es volt benne eleg kurazsi, hogy business-eket inditson be, egyiket a masik utan, mindenfele tapasztalat nelkul. Emlekeztek, amikor az elozo posztban szuletett kereskedorol beszeltem, ugye? Hat az o DNS-e is tartalmaz uzletfejlesztest. Elso uzlete egy kaveozo volt, majd nyitott egy bicikli es robogo kolcsonzot
https://www.facebook.com/Quangbinhmotorbikeforrent/
ahol jelenleg 80+ robogoja varja a turistak hatso fertalyait. A Sealand epuletet 3 eve vasarolta, amely a felsziget keleti oldalan talalhato 300 meterre a hosszu feher homokos tengerparttol. Imadtam a vele, a fiaval es Moon-nal – a roka kinezetu kutyaval – eltoltott idot. Candy tenyleg mindent megtett, hogy jol erezzem magam: megszervezte a barlang turamat, elmondott egy csomo mindent Dong Hoirol es Vietnamrol es elvitt a helyi piac ra 🙂 Ezer koszonet mindenert!
Dong Hoi megallom 2. napja barlang-nap volt. Egy minibusz elvitt a Phong Nha nemzeti parkba, amely megint csak a Unesco vilag orokeseg resze. Elso barlangunk a Paradise barlang volt (Thiên Đường Cave), amely 31 km melyen nyulik a hegy belsejebe es 2005-ben talaltak meg. Az arc aki megtaltalta egy vadasz volt, aki 50 meter utan (osszecsinalta magat) ugy gondolta, hogy kijon mert nem akar osszefutni a sotetben egy tigris csaladdal vagy egy kellemes elefant csordaval. Az uton odafele olvastam errol a barlangrol es egyetertek, tenyleg ugy nez ki mintha a Gyuruk Uraba setalnal be. Teljesen nem e vilagi. Ugy ereztem, mint ha Moria tarnaiban setalgatnek fel-ala…
Kovetkezo megallonk a Phong Nha barlang volt, ami szinten baszott jo. 7.7 km hosszu egy 14 km-res foldalatti folyoval. Ha az idojaras jobb (nem telen mint most), akkor siman uszhatsz a barlangban vagy ha a hosszabb turat valasztod akkor kajakozhatsz is. Allitolag bazi nagy halak vannak a barlangban, mivel itt tilos a halaszat. Az itt elo halak nemelyike eleri az 50 kilot is. Szep halaszle lenne (mikor???) beloluk Zee. Egy masik erdekesseg, hogy ez a barlang korhazkent szolgalt a haboruban.
A barlang-napon megismertem egy ujabb nagyon zsir parral, ez uttal Uruguay-bol. Emiloiano es Natalia hozzam hasonloan korutazast tesznek a kornyezo orszagokban. Jol szorakoztunk aznap egyutt egeszen ejszakai vonatjuk indulasaig ejfel utan. Alig varom, hogy mate-t iszogassunk egyutt Uruguayban 🙂
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