Dong Le to Phong Nha

Sunday November 12, 2017, 50 miles (80 km) - Total so far: 1,768 miles

(2,846 km)

We chose the easy option today, in anticipation of a day cycling in the national park tomorrow. The ride along the river (route 12A) is pretty flat, with some nice karst scenery, but also some eyesores. Not too hectic with attention which was a relief! Short stint on the infamous highway 1, which was fine until we lost the shoulder after the bridge.....and lots of trucks needed to overtake. Once you turn off highway 1 (onto DT564) things are very quiet. The road undulates and becomes a lot more scenic.

Phong Nha is less oppressively touristy than most touristy places we've visited on this trip.....or maybe we were just in the right mood for it! We're staying at the Mountain View hotel, which is pretty good. Big room, good bathroom, very clean, nice staff who let us put our bikes inside....breakfast included for $10 (226,000 dong).

Lunch was at Bamboo cafe - a nice spot when it's quite.
Afternoon cake was at Capture cafe - great cake and fun(ny) watching backpackers catching buses
Dinner was at Tuan Ngoc, pretty good but not amazing.
Still waiting to be wowed by Vietnamese food....