Phong Nha Botanic Garden — Attraction in Quảng Bình Province

TLDR: very nice walk - recommended, use proper shoes and take enough water and a little energy snack. .... We cycled all the way from Phong nha to the botanic garden. We had very bad bikes but it was no problem at all. Mostly flat.

BUT: last 800 m are very steep. If you have no gears you need to walk and push. Please be careful on way back down as these old bikes might not break well enough. Huge risk of crashing. Just walk down as we did.

At the garden bicycles park for free, scooter 5.000 and cars 10.000.

Entrance is 40.000 per person

There are various walks of 0.5 h to 3h. We did the long walk and it took us 2h in total. So not the 3 h as advertised.

On the way you will find a couple of water holes where people apparently like to cool down.

We didn't but it looked safe. At the end of the walk there is a medium size waterfall with bathing option.

The walk (long one) starts uphill on a path with concrete steps. Easy enough for average fit people. It is very beautiful and serene.

The last bit before the waterfall was very steep and a little slippery. There are ropes to support you but a certain strength, agility and balance is needed. Not recommended in sandals.

There is a little store for drinks/restaurant in front of the garden to charge your...

WARNING!! TLDR: I heard a VERY OMINOUS growl in the jungle here when I did the 3 hour circuit walk.

A few days ago I did the 3 hr long walk through the ‘gardens’. At about the furthest point from the entrance/exit, I heard a growl from what felt like just a few metres away. I took a very scared peek into the jungle but it was too dense to see the source of the noise and to be honest I was too scared to have a proper look. I snuck out of there, feeling pretty terrified.

I’ve since heard people say that there are tigers in phong nha ke bang National park and i’ve seen articles online about the tigers - apparently a few years ago somebody climbed up a tree to flee a tiger. Sooo I’m thinking it was a tiger, but have no way of confirming this. If anyone has an alternative explanation for the growl then I’m all ears - I don’t want to cause any unnecessary worry.

I spoke to the person at the ticket counter who told me it was probably just insects (I think we had a misunderstanding; I’d feel pretty confident in saying it wasn’t insects).

Sad to give one star because up until the growl incident I was really enjoying walking in such pristine jungle with nobody else around lol … but felt like a warning...

This is a nice, short, and safe hike through the jungle, especially for people who haven't been in a jungle before. Before going, note that the name is very much a misnomer.

This won't be anything new if you've seen a jungle before. Ends with a small waterfall, pretty but nothing spectacular. The views are better from the road. 45k entrance per person with a scooter, which is understandable as this is part of the national park.

Personally, I was really looking forward to this as this is the only established trail in Phong Nha that you're allowed to do by yourself (sadly but not surprisingly as you're basically not allowed to be outdoors without a guide in Vietnam). It was enjoyable enough, but I was expecting something longer/more challenging. I did the longest ("3h") walk, which took me less than 1h to complete. I think someone confused kilometers with hours as the trail is only 3km long. I walked past the swimming hole under the waterfall without realizing that that's it. The other swimming hole is also tiny. For regular hikers used to humidity, this is a very easy walk (in May, when the water level is low and the ground relatively dry).

I hope they expand the network of accessible trails...