Phong Nga

​After the cave we checked into Thao Ngyuen homestay which has to be of the of the best we have stayed in recently. Big TV, spacious room, brilliant balcony and killer sunset views. It’s costing us about $20USD a night but it’s worth it. We ate that night in ‘Capture’ restaurant which for International Woman’s day served us free beer and all pizza’s were $5. I had a veggie one and I swear to god, it was the best I have ever had. Maybe because I was exhausted and craved carbs like no other, but it was fucking delightful!

​We had 1 free day here so after waking up early, getting on with work, interviews for Leo and some breakfast, we headed off to explore Bong Lai Valley. Unfortunately, after hopping on the free bikes from the home stay we realised that it was literally 36 degrees outside, and this bike trip could be a bloody disaster. Overall, we cycled 23km, sweated through all our clothes and got pretty toasted. It was beautiful however as we were able to follow the trails that were pretty bumpy on the bike, while saying hello to all the villagers and enjoying the green countryside. It is truly filled with peaceful scenery of the mountains, but after 2 hours we were too exhausted to do anything and made our way back. 

​A restaurant that was perfect for lunch was ‘Veggie Box’ and we highly recommend it. It was so good actually that I ordered lunch and then 2 different drinks, all mega healthy and delicious and for $5 pp  - perfection. The afternoon was spent at the pool and then for sunset we made our way to the rooftop to watch the perfect sunset over the Kaarst limestone mountains with a cold beer! It was simply idyllic. 

We have planned the next 2 weeks pretty extensively through Nimh Bihn, Halong, Sapa and Hanoi however, with the recent Cov-19 Virus outbreak, I feel that this trip may be cut short.