About 4km from Ban Gioc Wwaterfall, Nguom Ngao Cave is one of the most spectacular cave systems in Vietnam. Created by an underground river, it extends for several kilometres underground; villagers sheltered here during the 1979 war with China. Visitors are permitted in one section, where a 1km-long concrete path and excellent lighting have been installed.
A guide (no English) accompanies you on an hour-long cave tour, past huge stalagmite and stalactite outcrops and through a vast 100m chamber.
The 10-minute walk from the parking lot to the cave is also very beautiful, threading through the limestone hills that characterise Cao Bang province, past fields of soya beans.
A second, even bigger branch of the cave system is said to extend almost all the way back to Ban Gioc Waterfall, though there’s currently no visitor access to this section.
