Day 57 - Scooters, Waterfalls & A Floating Bridge in Phong Nha

Everyone slept in today. Properly slept in. It was one of those slow, gentle starts where no one is rushing, no alarms are going off, and the idea of morning exercise gets talked about more than acted on.

We’re enjoying the lay-ins, but there’s definitely a growing feeling that we need to move our bodies a bit more intentionally again. Day-to-day activity is great, but we’re craving something with a bit more structure. That, and we’re eating well. Very well. Breakfasts are light enough, omelettes, bread rolls, fruit and coffee but lunches and dinners almost always involve rice or noodles. No complaints, just an observation.

The plan for the day was simple. Local markets, fuel stop, post office, then the Botanic Gardens.

That plan was immediately delayed when the scooter wouldn’t start.

This was the second scooter from the same rental place we’d had issues with. The first had brake problems, this one was dead on arrival. They came out fairly quickly and swapped it for another one. It wasn’t perfect, the mirror was loose and it felt a bit rough but it started, which was enough to get us moving.

We headed to the local markets first. Very local. Mostly fruit, small vendors and little stalls tucked into what felt like a rural shopping centre. Interesting to see, but definitely not for us. We grabbed some fruit, paid for scooter parking, and moved on.

Fuel was next. It’s always interesting watching Westerners on scooters in Vietnam. We probably look the same to locals, but some people genuinely look terrified and completely out of their depth. In Phu Quoc we saw plenty of tourists with serious road rash, so it’s pretty clear scooter accidents are common. A mix of confidence, luck, and chaos seems to keep things moving here.

Finding the post office took far longer than expected. Poor signage, language barriers, and a lot of pointing eventually got us there. We wanted to send postcards to our parents, and Kia was hoping to post a small package of Christmas presents back to her parents.

When she explained this to the woman behind the counter, the reaction was priceless.

“Wow. Wow. Wow. Money. Wow. Where to?”

Australia.

More wows.

It turned out sending a very small package to Cairns would cost three million Vietnamese dong about $170 Australian. Roughly ten times the value of what we wanted to send. The postcards, on the other hand, cost about $40,000 dong. A couple of dollars. So postcards went through, the package did not.

They also happened to sell a type of toothpaste we’d been hunting for everywhere, so that felt like a small win.

Lunch was at the same place we’d eaten the day before, the one with fruit smoothie bowls. The kids had pizzas, Kia had a salad, and I had a rice noodle salad bowl that was genuinely delicious. Coffees, juices, and a game of pool followed while Kia looked at accommodation options for Tam Coc. Simple, relaxed, and really enjoyable.

Eventually, we jumped back on the scooter and headed out to the Botanic Gardens. The ride itself was beautiful. A quiet country road that slowly climbed into the hills, then a steep push up the mountain to the entrance.

Once inside, it felt like proper adventure mode again. Rainforest tracks, waterfalls, lookouts, and that lush, dense greenery that makes Phong Nha feel unreal. The kids were racing leaves down creeks, climbing rocks, and collecting memories. About five minutes in, Emmett slipped at a creek crossing and soaked one shoe. He barely flinched, just laughed it off and kept going. A very rare occurrence. Maybe this is part of the growth we’ve been hoping for.

At the end of the walk was a big waterfall, and of course we climbed right to the top. Lots of photos, lots of laughter, tired legs, happy kids. Both of them said it was one of their favourite days so far.

On the way back into town we detoured to the floating bridge we’d heard about. It’s literally a bridge floating on barrels, carrying cars, scooters, and people across the river to a small village on the other side. You pay a small toll to cross. Five thousand dong each way.

We crossed, wandered around the village for a bit, then crossed back again. By that point everyone’s backside was sore from the scooter and it was getting close to dinner time.

We finished the day at a Lotus café near our accommodation. Dinner was great, the kids had hot chocolates which definitely tipped them into overexcited territory, and by the time we got back we were all ready to slow everything right down again.

It was a big walking day, and a good one.

But there was a moment that stuck with me.

We watched a busload of school kids throw all their rubbish straight out the windows. Plastic cups, wrappers, bottles. There was a shop right across from the school where they’d clearly bought drinks before getting on the bus. And then, out it all went.

I’ve seen kids here throw rubbish on the ground constantly, especially in rural areas. There’s clearly very little education around waste and disposal. Country roads are lined with rubbish, waterways clogged, piles stacked everywhere. And it’s confronting.

Phong Nha is stunning. The only way I can describe it is that it looks like Avatar. Massive limestone mountains rising out of flat land, mist hanging in the valleys, greenery everywhere. It’s incredible. And it would be even more beautiful without the rubbish.

One more full day in Phong Nha tomorrow. Then it’s a bus ride to Tam Coc and the next chapter begins.

Let’s see what happens.