Day 56 - Peanut Butter Coffee, Rice Field Adventures & Scooter Lessons in Phong Nha

We woke up in Phong Nha to a gentle morning and a bit of a sleep in, which felt well earned. No late night, just a movie to wind down, and I was awake around seven. Kia and Emmett were already up and ready to go, so Maddie and I pulled ourselves together and headed down to breakfast to meet them. Nothing fancy, just the usual, but it was nice to start the day slow.

After breakfast, the kids disappeared onto the bikes they’ve basically claimed as their own here. Laps around the pool, endless circuits, pure freedom. Kia and I sat back, sorted ourselves out, and worked out a loose plan for the day. The café we’d eaten at the night before had a great coffee menu, so that quickly became the priority.

We jumped on the bikes and rode down. I ordered a peanut butter coffee, which sounds strange but was incredible. Peanut butter blended into the milk and then poured through the coffee. Somehow it worked perfectly. Kia went with a salted coffee, which was just as good. The kids were in heaven too. Maddie had a salted chocolate milkshake, Emmett a classic chocolate one, both very happy with their choices.

We lingered at the table while the kids rode up and down the road nearby, but it slowly started tipping into the danger zone. Not listening properly, pushing to be in front, edging closer to traffic than we were comfortable with. We had to pull them up on it, reminding them how the roads work here and that cars don’t always have time to stop. Maddie took it pretty hard, worried that her freedom was about to be taken away, and the mood shifted a bit.

The ride back was quieter. We tried to encourage her to keep going a little further, which she did, but when there was an option to extend the ride again, she and Kia turned back. Emmett and I peeled off instead, ducking through the rice fields for a little adventure of our own. Bumpy, muddy, and heaps of fun. In the end, we all arrived back at almost the same time, just via very different routes. By then, Maddie had settled again and things felt back on track.

Back at the bungalow, Kia and I started looking ahead. Booking the next leg, weighing up options, but not quite ready to lock everything in. We organised a scooter through the accommodation so we could start exploring more properly. When it arrived, we loaded all four of us on and set off, only to realise pretty quickly that the front brake was grabbing badly. With four people on board, it felt sketchy straight away. We looped back, parked it up, and told them we couldn’t ride it safely.

Instead, we jumped back on the bikes and rode out for lunch. We stumbled across this treehouse-style restaurant, raised up over the rice fields with a big deck and hammocks swaying in the breeze. The food took ages to come out, but when it did, it was massive and absolutely worth the wait.

After lunch, we headed back expecting a replacement scooter, but the original one was still sitting there. The owner explained she’d been trying to save us money since we’d taken the bikes. We asked her to organise a new one properly, and while we waited, Kia and I finally locked in our accommodation for Vienna. One more thing ticked off. We’re still deciding between bus or train to Tam Coc and narrowing down where to stay, but it’s getting clearer.

The new scooter eventually arrived and this one felt solid. We jumped on and rode into town to check out the markets we’d seen earlier. Most places were closed, and the few that were open were pretty pushy. We were hoping to find rain jackets but didn’t see anything that felt right.

By then it was getting late, around five-thirty or six. Even though lunch had been huge and late, we decided to grab something light for dinner. We found a small sports bar, ordered fruit bowls, smoothie bowls and granola bowls, and settled in. An under-23s Asia Cup football match was on the TV, the kids played pool, and Kia and I finally made the call on the bus to Tam Coc. Easy pickup just up the road, no long trip back to Dong Hoi, and a drop-off right near where we’ll be staying. Decision made.

We stayed there for a while, chatting, laughing, just enjoying being together. Then it was back on the scooter, back to the bungalow, and into a relaxed evening of planning, browsing, and dreaming about caves, walks and adventures still to come here in Phong Nha.

Lights out around nine. Rested, content, and ready to see what day 57 brings.