15.03 Day 60 Phong Nha to Trang An
Friday 15th March - Phong Nha to Trang An (Ninh Binh) (Day 60)
A misty morning again in Phong Nha which slowly recedes up the hillsides, leaving just the caps of the majestic karsts covered in white blanket until late morning. This small town plus a few nights allows us to reach a point where we’re comfortable and confident with the local surroundings and share a wave with street vendors or cafe owners that we’re already frequented - again I’m in no doubt it’s Sienna and Seb making us memorable.
We have our first night bus tonight and with the departure not till 20:30 we have a full day ahead - so we find a couple of bikes to rent nearby (70k vnd, $4 ish each) and cycle South West along the river, racing the tourist boats on their way to Phong Nha Cave.
Just before the cave we push the bikes onto a small stretch of beach, which prompts the ferry on the other side of the river to come and collect us. There is also a lady on a scooter with a bag of food, we presume for the ferryman. Ferry is a strong word for this narrow elongated tin boat propelled by the ferryman by a single oar to cross the river. There is a small metal ramp attached to the front and as soon as it touches the sand, the scooter kicks into life and drives on. We’re slightly more ginger and cautious holding the bikes as we cross the 80 metre wide river. A valuable service if you need it, but not much demand (10k vnd).
We’re definitely away from the tour groups now as we cycle through a small village, past rice fields up and over a narrow bridge. At least this bridge is in one piece, unlike the next - it’s 6 feet wide and whilst the middle 2 feet is solid, the metal meshing on the outside 2 feet has numerous holes, covered with loose pieces of wood. Makes it a little hard to concentrate on the brilliant blue water below, reminiscent of the water at Erawan Falls in Thailand, especially as locals zip past on their scooters.
On the way home, the back wheel on my bike comes loose, rendering it unrideable, even after we try me and both kids on the other bike and just Kate on the broken bike. We’re still 4 kms from Phong Nha so I take Seb back to the hostel we’d hired the bike from during which time Kate had found them on FaceBook and messaged them for help. Just as we arrive at the hostel the owner is balancing a new bike on the back of his scooter to deliver it to Kate. And, much to Sienna’s approval, his small dog jumps on the scooter too for the ride.
After lunch there is plenty of time for a swim in our Green Homestay, as well as some schoolwork and cards - smiley owner Dat plying us with water, fruit and the use of a room for a shower if needed.
To break up the afternoon we get back on the working bicycles and cycle the other way out of town to try and find somewhere on the riverfront for a drink and snack. After passing under the main highway there’s a lot less going on, but we do find one homestay garden for ice-cream / coke / beer.
A few of the guests emerge to use the hammocks or to relax, but once we spot an English couple playing Uno the kids decide they want a game so we ask to join in and promptly dispatch Ashcot and Sarach, a pair of 20 something’s travelling SE Asia for 3 months - their apologies for laying +4 or even a skip a turn in stark contrast to the competitive Seb and Sienna (and maybe their parents too).
After slowly cycling home we have dinner at a former haunt - Paradise Cafe - affords Sienna her 2nd pizza in 3 days and stock up on treats and dessert from the bakery. Our bus arrives at 20:45. You can’t miss it - multicoloured lights glaring from all four sides. Despite the general unhygienic nature (to be fair like any train or plane), there is still the etiquette (forced) of removing shoes on entry to the bus.
We’ve opted for Limousine, on a scale which I think runs Sleeper -> VIP -> Limousine.
Sleeper means you’ll be lucky to get any sleep as it’s a normal bus.
VIP is a double decker, but in the sense that its bunk beds, but they’re wide reclining seats, not beds with 3 seats across in a 1-1-1 formation. 32 people.
Our limousine holds 20 in a bunk bed set up again, but 1-1 formation across, giving each of the 20 a small pod with flatbed about 1.7m long by 1.1m wide. Each pod has a blanket, fairly soft ‘mattress’, a shutter curtain on the external window and a pull curtain facing the centre aisle.
After the initial excitement of playing with the white and blue lights in the ceiling of our pods, we think the extra expense (450k vs 350k) is justified as the kids are asleep in minutes and the adults soon after.
