Day 58 - Ducks, Paradise Cave & a Long Night in Phong Nha

Everyone was up a little earlier today with good intentions. Exercise was the plan.

I was awake. Kia was awake. Emmett was awake, but Maddie was still asleep. I was keen for a run. Kia offered to stay back and stretch, so Emmett and I took off together. He jumped on his bike and I headed out on foot.

Running here is hard. The air feels thick. The first three kilometres were a real grind. Heavy legs, short breath, lots of sweat. I stopped at the 3km mark just to reset, and strangely, the run home felt much better. Same conditions, same body, but it flowed. Still hot though. Even with lower temperatures, the humidity gets you. I was absolutely dripping by the time we got back.

When we returned, Kia told me Maddie had woken up just as Emmett and I disappeared up the road. They saw us heading off and quickly got ready, jumped on their bikes and tried to chase us. They didn’t catch us, but ended up doing their own loop around the streets instead.

Breakfast was familiar and comforting. Omelettes, scrambled eggs, juices, coffees. Same as the last few days and still really good. Breakfast dragged on a little longer than usual. Maddie was chatting to one of her friends on the phone and Kia and I sat there talking and finally locked in our next accommodation. That felt good. One less thing floating around in the background.

Late morning we jumped on the scooter and headed a couple of kilometres down the road to what everyone calls “the duck farm”.

We honestly didn’t know what to expect. Everyone raves about it, but it’s hard to picture what that actually means. You ride your bike in and arrive at what feels like part farm, part restaurant, part open-air experience. For 100,000 dong each, you get a guided walk through the farm, a drink, a small lunch, and time with the ducks.

The tour started with gardens. Pepper trees, fruit trees, vegetables growing everywhere. Then we walked down to a canal where they catch tiny baby shrimp. We used these little net cages that sit underwater and lift them up. When you pull them out, the shrimp are bouncing around everywhere. The kids loved it. Picking them up, watching them move, seeing something so small and alive up close. I had a go too and it was genuinely fun.

Then we headed to the ducks.

At first, they were scattered around a shaded, treed area. Then the guide grabbed a tin of food and gave it a shake. Instantly, the ducks formed a marching line. Over a hundred of them, all waddling together, following the sound like he was their leader. It was hilarious and impressive at the same time.

We moved into a covered concrete area and he started tossing food, guiding them around, getting them to move, stop, turn. It honestly looked like duck choreography. Emmett had a turn feeding them, then Maddie, then Kia, then me. We fed them from our hands, felt their beaks gently tapping and nibbling. Surprisingly soft. Almost like a little massage.

They were incredibly gentle. No chaos, no panic. Just calm ducks doing their thing. Kia even said she never really liked ducks before and was a bit unsure about them, but this completely changed her mind. That felt like a small win.

Afterwards we washed everything. Hands, legs, feet. The ducks had been everywhere, climbing over shoes, surrounding us, eating from our palms. Special shoes meant our own shoes stayed clean, thankfully.

We sat down and ate these crispy rice paper rolls. I’ve forgotten the name, but they were unreal. Not a big serving, just enough. Everyone also got a bottle of water. No beer option, which was probably for the best. I’ve realised I haven’t been drinking enough water lately, especially after running in this humidity. So water all round.

We followed signs to a nearby pub overlooking the river. It was a beautiful spot. Hammocks, river views, relaxed vibes. We planned to eat there, but the menu didn’t really land for Kia, so we just grabbed drinks and ended up chatting with a Canadian couple. They gave us some great tips and advice for upcoming places, including where we’re heading next. Those random travel conversations are one of the best parts of this whole experience.

From there, we scootered back into town for lunch. Everyone agreed on Treehouse, which is quickly becoming our favourite spot. It’s familiar, relaxed, and always hits the mark.

Lunch was perfect. I had chicken cashew with vegetables. Kia and Emmett went with avocado, bacon and eggs on toast. Maddie ordered a big breakfast. All-day breakfast menus are absolute gold when travelling with kids.

After eating, Emmett and I played some pool. Then Maddie joined in. We hung around for a while, just playing, laughing, and getting better with every game. All the practice is paying off.

After lunch, we ducked outside to a minimart to grab more water. Then we finally did the thing I’d been wanting to do for days. We ordered a Grab and headed out to Paradise Cave.

Maddie wasn’t overly keen at this point. I think she was already starting to feel off, but we talked it through and once we were in the car, the drive helped. It was a really beautiful run out through the hills and mountains. One of those drives where you just sit back and stare out the window.

On the way, Kia asked a very good question. Can you buy tickets at the cave, or do you need to buy them back in town? I realised I actually didn’t know. She quickly checked and confirmed you can buy them there. Huge relief, because we were already well out of town by that stage. Quiet mental note to be better prepared next time.

When we arrived, the Grab driver told us there are no taxis waiting out there and offered to stay and wait for us for a small fee. We were very happy to take him up on that. It’s pretty remote, and the thought of finishing the cave and having no way back wasn’t appealing.

Tickets sorted, we hopped on a buggy that took us up to what we assumed was the cave entrance. Toilets there, quick stop for everyone, and then we realised that was just the beginning.

The actual walk in is a long zigzagging path up the mountain. I don’t know the distance, but it felt like a lot. By this point, Maddie was really not enjoying it. We had a bit of a moment where she just didn’t want to do it at all, but we explained that we were already here and waiting wasn’t an option.

My legs were already feeling pretty cooked from the run earlier, and this climb didn’t help. Halfway up, we bumped into one of the young UK girls staying at our accommodation. We keep randomly running into her everywhere. She was walking up to the cave too and ended up helping us talk Maddie along, saying her legs were sore as well. That little bit of shared misery helped.

Eventually we reached the entrance, which is actually stairs down into a relatively small opening. Emmett, always out front, led the way. It was dark as you stepped down, and then suddenly you come through the opening and it just opens up into this enormous space.

The cave is mind-blowing.

Stalactites hanging from the ceiling, stalagmites rising from the floor, and massive formations everywhere. Some sections felt close to 100 metres high, others incredibly wide. There’s a boardwalk the whole way through, so you walk down to the bottom and then follow this elevated path deep into the cave.

It just keeps going. And going. And going.

We probably walked close to a kilometre inside, maybe more. It’s hard to judge because you lose all sense of scale in there. The space, the silence, the sheer size of it all is mesmerising. You reach a huge open section where it looks like the cave continues even further, but that’s where the public access stops. From there, you turn around and head back.

Getting out is work. A lot of stairs, a lot of climbing, and then the long walk back down the zigzag path. Once we exited the cave, I climbed a little higher than the others to take in the view over the mountains. It was stunning. No one else joined me though. Everyone was pretty done by then.

We walked down what felt like 1000 stairs before we caught the buggy back to the entrance, and our Grab driver was exactly where he said he’d be. Big relief. From there we headed back into town, arriving just before dinner.

We were initially going to go back to Treehouse again, but Kia was keen to try somewhere different. Since our scooter was parked there anyway, we chose a place directly across the road. Best accidental decision of the day.

They had chicken schnitzels. Proper ones. Two schnitzels, mashed potato and salad, for about eight Australian dollars. Unreal. Absolutely hit the spot after such a big day.

Emmett went for a smoothie bowl, and Kia and Maddie ordered fruit bowls with yoghurt. Maddie, however, was clearly not feeling great by now. She had a couple of spoonfuls and then asked for a takeaway. She ended up laying down on the chair, looking pretty miserable.

We scootered back to the accommodation. The night was cool, which was nice. Maddie went straight for a shower and then straight to bed. She was completely wiped.

The evening turned into a bit of a saga. I repacked my bag while Kia and Emmett were in and out of our room grabbing things. Their water stopped working, so they came to use ours. Then we realised the water for the whole place was off. Kia messaged the owner, who had to come back and fix it. Meanwhile, Emmett had a head full of shampoo and no running water. Chaos, but the kind you can laugh about later.

To her credit, the woman who runs the place is incredibly lovely. We’ve just had one small issue after another here, but she’s always tried to sort things out. Later in the evening, Kia called me to say she’d turned up with a cake as a thank you for us staying so long. Apparently people don’t usually stay six nights. It was a really thoughtful gesture.

Kia, Emmett and I shared a slice and saved one for Maddie, but the cake box was too big for our fridge, so it had to go back downstairs into their fridge for tomorrow.

Eventually I got into bed, but Maddie woke up not long after. Head pounding, clearly uncomfortable. No real fever, but she was definitely unwell. We gave her some cold and flu medication we’d bought earlier at the markets, but it didn’t seem to help much. She couldn’t sleep.

Not long after I finally drifted off, she woke me again. I went next door and woke Kia so we could give her some proper Nurofen. That did the trick. Maddie settled and slept right through until morning.

A big day. A really big day.

Hopefully Maddie wakes up feeling much better.