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Every once in a while, I surprise myself and willingly break away from beaches for a chilly, cloudy destination. Exploring Ke Bang National Park was one such adventure: renowned for having some of the oldest, largest caves in the world, the region has yet to be discovered by mainstream tourism. I figured a couple of days exploring the UNESCO-recognized karst formations would be a relaxing break from the chaotic cities and splendid beaches of the south–and a reason to finally put my North Face to good use.

The owner at Jungle Beach Resort recommended Phong Nha Farmstay as a stop between Hue and Hanoi on my journey up north. Opened in 2010 and owned by an Australian-Vietnamese couple, it offers dormitory-style accommodation, private rooms, travel agency services and a restaurant and bar.

The positives

• It’s gorgeous. Stretches of impossibly lush, green rice paddies and undulating hills are countered with pearly gray clouds as far as the eye can see.
• It’s incredibly quiet. After the non-stop hustle of Saigon and the constant buzzing of motorbikes through Vietnam, the silence is a treat. However, it is a working farm area–those roosters sure do crow early.
• It really does feel like you’re in the “real” Vietnam. There aren’t many tourists out in this part of the country–unless you count the hordes of Vietnamese tourists who flock to the caves on the weekend. The nearby towns are unpretentious, unaccustomed to foreign tourists: it’s rare to see a sign or menu in English. Rent a bike and explore the surrounding area: it was honestly one of my most pleasant days in Vietnam.

• It’s close to nearby caves. There are two main caves worth seeing in the area: Phong Nha Cave and Paradise Cave. Reception can help set up transportation to Paradise Cave, and they rent bikes for the easy and scenic route to Phong Nha Cave. These are definitely the main sites in the area, and they’re absolutely worth seeing.
• There are plenty of like-minded people to meet. Many of the friends I made at Jungle Beach showed up at Phong Nha as well (I found out later that both places were mentioned for the first time in the 2012 Lonely Planet Vietnam). Phong Nha has the same kind of vibe: backpackers who are willing to go a bit off the beaten track for a more authentic, less chaotic experience.

• Prices are reasonable. By Southeast Asia standards, it’s certainly not cheap. Phong Nha definitely has a bit of a monopoly on the area, and surely it is more expensive to get supplies outside of the main cities. The dorm is definitely the best deal at$8 a bed.

The negatives

• If you’re traveling by train, it’s a hassle to reach. It’s about 20 minutes and a $20 taxi ride outside of Dong Hoi, the nearest train station. I was able to split the cab fare with an Israeli couple, and there were plenty of other people heading to the train station throughout the day. However, that’s the price you pay to visit a rural section of the country. Reception can set up your train ticket for you, but insist on it (or buy it in advance) as soon as you get there. Although we were assured it wasn’t a big deal to book the train as soon as we got there, all the late night train tickets had been sold by the day before–I ended up on a train that left around 6 p.m. and arrived in Hanoi at 4 a.m.
  
• If you’re traveling by bus, prepare for an adventure. The local bus does drop off right outside the farmstay’s door, for a bargain $4 USD. However, the four-hour trip from Hoi An can take up to twice that long with schedule confusion and unexplained delays. And the bus to Hoi An leaves at dawn, so prepare for an early start.

• Nothing is cheap. Yes, a dorm bed is pretty cheap. However, this is really the only convenient choice (aka there’s no competition to bring the price down) for most of your meals, snacks, excursions, bike rentals and alcohol–so your bill can add up quickly. A group of us was particularly disappointed in a miscommunication regarding the trip to Paradise Cave: 10 of us paid $30 each for a day-long trip that visited the cave, a nature walk and a kayak ride. Once we arrived at the cave, we realized we had just paid for the transportation (a roughly 45-minute trip) for the day, and that we would have to pay for all of our entry fees, food and kayak rentals. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not incredibly expensive–but in Southeast Asia backpacker terms, the day ended up being above and beyond most of our budgets. Just remember that the farther you go from a main city, the more expensive things will be.
• There is one shower. The eight-bed dorm shares one bathroom with a toilet and a shower, although there are two other toilets at the restaurant. Not always convenient when you’re all planning on leaving at the same time to see a cave or catch a train.

• No book exchange!!! This honestly bugged me the most. Almost every hostel and hotel in Southeast Asia seemed to have a foreign language book exchange: basically, a spare bookshelf where travelers can take and leave paperbacks. It just seemed a bit greedy to charge book-starved foreigners, particularly when you’re in the perfect place to read: quiet surroundings, long spurts of transport coming and going.

Note: Phong Nha Farmstay graciously offered me discounted accommodation, but all opinions are my own.