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Meridiela.

Angel Eye Mountain

A limestone peak with a hole pierced clean through it near the summit, above a seasonal lake.

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WhereCao Bang Province
Nearest cityTrung Khanh about 20 km; Cao Bang about 55 km
Best seasonSeptember to November; the lake fills in the wet season
Time to allowHalf a day
Getting thereOff the road between Cao Bang and Ban Gioc in Trung Khanh district; a walk across the grass to the foot
EntryFree

Nui Mat Than - the mountain with a hole in the eye, usually rendered as angel eye - is a limestone peak in the Cao Bang geopark with a natural opening about fifty metres across pierced right through the rock below the summit, formed as an old cave system collapsed and the surrounding rock dissolved away. Below it is a flat grassland that floods seasonally into a shallow lake, with horses and cattle grazing on it when it is dry, and the standard photograph is the hole with the water and the animals in front. It is part of the Non Nuoc Cao Bang geopark route.

What you actually see

  • A hole through a mountain - about fifty metres across, below the summit.
  • A collapsed cave system - the process that made it.
  • A seasonal lake below - flooding a grazed grassland.
  • Horses and cattle on the flat - when the water is down.

When to go

September to November; the lake fills in the wet season. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The walk across the flat is muddy or flooded depending on season. There are no facilities. The hole is best seen from a distance and the climb to it is not a marked route. Cattle graze the ground you walk over.

Nearby

Phong Nam valley is close; Ban Gioc waterfall is north-east.

What to pack for Angel Eye Mountain

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Opening times, ticket prices and seasonal closures change - check the official source before you go: official site.

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