Visit Chay River Dark Cave

Chay River Dark Cave  is considered an attractive adventure eco-tourist route with an extremely attractive new tourism type of Quang Binh tourism industry. You can participate in the aerial swing, swim in the river or swing to Dark Cave, go kayaking to admire the beautiful natural scenery, enjoy relaxing moments while immersing yourself in the natural world, enjoy the Traditional dishes of the local people.

Chay River, Dark Cave  , Quang Binh Vietnam, belongs to the World Natural Heritage site Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park, far from Ho Chi Minh City. Dong Hoi about 50km to the northwest along Highway 15. To explore Chay river – Dark cave, visitors can choose one of two routes. Firstly, from Phong Nha tourist boat station, upstream Son river through Phong Nha cave about 1km will come to the confluence of rivers (Son river – Chay river – Trooc river). 

 

Taking a boat along the Chay river branch for more than 5km, visitors will reach Dark cave, then finish the journey at the wharf of the Tro Mong ranger station. Second, visitors can go in the opposite direction, starting from the boat station of the Mo Mong checkpoint and ending at the Phong Nha tourist marina.

Chay River  is one of the tributaries of the Son River, originating from Chay Waterfall. The reason for the name Chay waterfall is because the sound of the waterfall flowing sounds like the sound of a pestle pounding rice. With a length of only about 10km, the Chay River has many beautiful rapids and contains diverse biological values ​​with many aquatic animals typical for Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park, in which two species of eels and eels. Sardines are in the world red book.

When sailing along the Chay River, we will feel the smooth and romantic flow with the emerald green water and the magnificent ancient Karst towers. The river is nestled under the majestic limestone mountains, quietly flows by the old trees, then throws itself across the cornfields on the deep green highlands. Chay River has a depth of up to twenty meters in some places, the riverbed is a sediment of limestone piled up on both banks. On both sides are cornfields stretching to create a charming painting.

The river water is strangely green, giving visitors the feeling that no river water is as green. Some researchers explain that due to the erosion of limestone mountains, dissolved calcium from millions of years has made the water forever green. But there are also opinions that, a type of algae bacteria eat limestone. of the river produced nitrogen to make the river water green. I don’t know which view is correct, but when we walk on the Chay River, we can feel its blue color more blue than the sky. In each river section, the water has many different colors such as: turquoise, green, yellow…

The two banks of the river are connected by countless limestone banks. Water flowing tirelessly since ancient times has carved limestone into “architects” that look very fancy. In the morning, the ancient fig trees reflect on the river to show off their shape, as beautiful as an ink painting. Not only beautiful, the Chay River also contains the most important fish fauna of Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park. Tons of fish, cool fish, climbing fish, eel, sardines and dozens of fish species Originating from the sea living here is the uniqueness of the river flowing between the mountains and the heritage forest. There are two species of fish in the world’s red book living here, the flower eel and the flower sardines, which have surprised the world’s ichthyologists.

Cruise on Chay river, in addition to admire the majestic Karst mountains representing the terrain in Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park, corn fields or golden flower forests stretching on both sides of the river. Visitors also have the opportunity to experience the cultural life of indigenous people in ancient riverside villages such as Ha Loi, Na, Phong Nha, Tram, Me, Chay Lap…

Visitors will encounter on this river wharf images of young women of Tram village, Me village (Son Trach, Bo Trach) every morning going to the riverbank to wash their feet, reflecting in the magical blue color of the river water. The image of children playing on the riverbank makes us feel light and relaxed. The life and culture of the people from many riverside lives are imbued with the Vietnamese soul.

You can participate in fun sports games, zip line swing, you can go to the middle of the Chay river by a well-invested and very modern zip-line system to cool off from there. with this blue and poetic river.

Dark Cave  is a branch of the Phong Nha cave system in Quang Binh Vietnam, surveyed by British Royal explorers in 1990 and 1992. The cave has a door 20 meters wide and 40 meters high. Like many caves in Phong Nha – Ke Bang area, Dark cave is both a water cave and a dry cave with a length of 5,258m and a height of 80m. Dark Cave is the name given by the British Royal cave expedition, because the “dark light” in the cave is so dense that it makes people think they can be touched.

The cave is still pristine with thousands of stalactite columns with diverse and unique shapes and is the refuge of many animals such as bats and swallows. In particular, the area of ​​​​the cave is also a shelter for Ha Tinh langurs – one of the primates listed in the Red Book of Vietnam. Because it is located right by the river, the humidity is high, so the stalactites at Dark Cave are covered with a large amount of moss, creating a characteristic green color.

Dark cave is both a water cave and a dry cave with a total length of 5,258m and a height of 80m . On the side are golden stalactites flowing near the foot of the cave, reminiscent of golden streams pouring down from the sky. Stalactites in the cave are not spectacular and magnificent like other caves, but it is the standard sample of fossil stalactites from ancient times.

It is thanks to Dark Cave that scientists know that the Ke Bang limestone massif originates from the ancient ocean. The tectonic movements since ancient times have raised the sea floor, billions of billions of shellfish species died to create the Ke Bang limestone massif, which is a world natural heritage today. Dark Cave is also the place to provide the most standard specimen of a completely new crab species in the world, whose specimen is currently on display at the Singapore Natural History Museum.

Visiting this more than 5km cave is being interested from many worlds. Because this cave is not for tourist use with a flashy light system, each individual who enters here is helped by a white light lamp mounted on each person’s head to explore.

You become a cave explorer with a flashlight and specialized equipment to explore the underground river system, admire thousands of stalactite columns with diverse and unique shapes. Visitors will have an extremely interesting experience when they have the opportunity to take a natural mud bath or swim through the cool Thuy Tien and Bong Lai lakes.

The green trees on the stalactites in Dark Cave are a new and startling record for those who come to admire. Why plants live here is an interesting question. And the answer to this topic also leads to interesting discoveries. It is the legendary story of plants for the harsh environment. Right behind the cave entrance there is a giant stalactite column, its face receives sunlight, it is the light that stimulates moisture and creates conditions for algae to appear. From there, the sprouts of ferns cling to and grow. But from where the plants “have legs” to migrate into the cave is a story of the researchers just discovered. It was the wind that brought the fern sprouts into every nook and cranny of the ancient stalactites.

Ferns migrate from the outside in and grow on fossilized stalactites

The “migration” of ferns is due to natural factors, but they live on stalactites is an experience that humans need to know. Fern explorers seek nutrition from stalactites as well. an extraordinary story, their roots secrete an acid that erodes the stalactite’s outer layer into organic humus and they get their energy there in the same way that plants photosynthesize light.

Chay river travel to Dark Cave not only helps visitors have moments of relaxation, but also gives those who love to discover a treasure of useful knowledge about geology and biodiversity in Vietnam.

 

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