Biking and Motorbiking
The roads around the park are often in terrible, muddy condition, and although motorbikes are available to rent from many places in town, unless you are an experienced rider it’s inadvisable to tackle them on your own. Experienced riders can hire everything from a standard Japanese scooter to a Russian Ural from Phong Nha Farmstay, where excellent motorbike tours are also available that take you through remote villages, incredible karst landscapes, and waterfalls that you would not find on your own.
Easy Tiger. In the town center, this backpacker hostel rents mountain bikes and motorbikes and has maps with great DIY routes in the area. One of the best loops from town is the Nuoc Mooc Spring Eco Trail, which takes you through dramatic scenery and some equally dramatic inclines. Son Trach, Phong Nha, Quang Binh. 0232/367–7844; www.easytigerhostel.com.
Phong Nha Adventure Cycling With Private Shi. For thrills and maybe the odd spill, local villager and tour guide Private Shi runs a professional mountain bike adventure tour company, exploring the trails, villages, and water holes of Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park. The tours range from a 20-km (12½-mile) village ride to a thigh-burning 70-km (43½-mile) adventure trail along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, through rice and peanut fields, war remnants, and river crossings in an old B52 boat. Private Shi is an exceptional guide. Phong Nha, Quang Binh. 985/555–827; www.phongnhacycling.jimdo.com.
