Notes from December 30th, 2022

Well, yesterday (Dec 29) was brutal.

Phong Nha Caves
We woke up crazy early (515am) to get packed and eat breakfast. One of the staff at Garden Moon homestay got up to make us food and check us out - he was so sweet. Then we hit the road by sun up and it was already very busy. We cruised along the QL1A for probably 60 km of the usual horns blaring, smog, etc. But at least we had a relatively wide shoulder. By the time we got to Thanh Hoa, Max wanted to “reassess” because it wasn’t fun. I was feeling super sick. We tried a tourist information place, and they sent us to the train station which had terrible schedule options, and we tried the bus station next. There was a nice lady there but we pretty much got swept up by this greasy guy pretending to get us a deal on a much earlier bus. We went searching through the town to get cash, and by the time we got back to the bus station I was dying. Max was chatting with the bus drivers making a plan, and I started puking in the corner of the parking lot. From there, that became our whole day until 5pm. I would run off and puke in the parking lot every 20-30 min, and Max was brought into the bus driver fold sitting on little stools and being offered cigarettes. I was also getting really cold. People keep telling us the weather is “unseasonably cold and rainy” which is great to hear haha. We basically wear our single pair of pants, long sleeve shirt, puffy and rain jacket every day - the vietnam outfit.

A very kind driver let me go lie down inside his bus, which helped a lot. Max loaded our bikes onto the roof of the bus (but cut his hand) and then we were off. It was a bit of a milk run - leaving at 530pm meant that we arrived in Dong Hoi, 320 km away, by 230am. The bus had these odd narrow sleeping compartments for each person, with hallways between. They dropped off packages to lots of stores. Picked up people and filled up slowly. The bus honk was like a bass gun, and he used it judiciously. There was also a guy with a super loud Nokia ring tone, and his phone rang every 5 min. I just lay there writhing in pain, and I had to ask Max to make them do a bathroom stop. I basically puked up all the water I had tried to drink, then swore I wouldn’t drink anything more. Eventually I could just lay there listening to Max’s podcasts, waiting for 9 hours to pass.

We got a freezing cold little hotel room in Dong Hoi, and took quick showers then went to sleep.

Phong Nha Caves

In the morning, we went and got coffee (Max tried salt coffee, which he liked) and wandered downtown, then rented a motorcycle to drive out to Phong Nha cave. We also got laundry done! And our hotel has the two cutest puppies imaginable. The motorcycle ride was freezing but super cool. Max honked just like a local. The caves were spectacular. I am so glad we went! We got some nice hot noodle soup too, and Max finally tried his egg coffee, which he liked as well. We motorcycled back and decided to train to Hue tomorrow. I am just so worried about getting some sort of blood poisoning from the fumes, and I don’t feel fully recovered from yesterday yet… but I am so disappointed to be pivoting on our sweet coastal bike trip. I thought the air quality along the coast would be a lot better than it is! All the motorcyclists wear masks, but it’s tricky for pedal biking long distances. :(

We went out for dinner at this delicious vegetarian place, which had braised broccoli and mushrooms, pineapple fried rice, and super good fresh pho rolls. We got a beer on the way home and there were some kids at a nearby table that seemed to be on some bad drugs - two were freaking out in different ways. Now I am ready for an early bed! Still so tired from yesterday, which was a super long day. Looking forward to Hue tomorrow!