Day 59 - Sleeper Bus Chaos, Sick Kids & Arrival in Tam Coc

What a day.

Maddie had a really rough night. She wasn’t feeling well at all, and I was up and down with her most of the night getting wet towels for her head, giving her Nurofen, and just trying to keep her comfortable. We eventually got some broken sleep, but it was a long night.

We were up around 6:30am so we had time to pack the rooms properly. The plan was to leave the Palafita bungalow around 8:30 to get into town and make our bus. With Maddie not feeling great, everything felt a bit slower and heavier than usual. Bags to pack, breakfast to eat, kids to wrangle.

Maddie still wanted to try some of the cake from the night before, but that was about all she managed. Breakfast was omelettes and scrambled eggs again. Maddie had a couple of scoops of egg, two bites of bread roll, a mouthful of cake, and that was it. She normally eats really well, so when she doesn’t, you know she’s not feeling good.

I’d packed most of my bag the night before, which was a good move. Maddie’s bag and mine were both absolutely full to the brim. It’s becoming very clear that something has to change before we fly from Vietnam to Austria. The backpacks are heavy, and we’re carrying way more than we probably should.

After breakfast and the final bits of packing, I pulled the drone out and went for a quick flight around the area. The land itself was flat farmland, but completely surrounded by mountains. It was really beautiful from above. The owner’s kids and one of the worker’s sons were watching and got very excited. They kept pulling on my arms to see the screen while I was flying, which was fun but also pretty stressful. When I brought the drone in to land, I had to get Emmett to physically hold them back because they weren’t listening at all. A bit scary, but we got some really nice footage.

Not long after, our Grab driver arrived. He took one look at our pile of bags and looked genuinely shocked. He was driving a Toyota Fortuner, which is a seven-seater, but the seats fold to the side instead of down, so there’s not as much space as you’d expect. We managed to fit everything in, just.

On the way, he called ahead and thought we were heading to the wrong bus stop. Turns out it was fine, but they were planning to shuttle us somewhere else anyway. In the end, getting dropped in town worked out better. We were able to grab cash, coffees, and snacks before the bus arrived.

The bus was meant to leave at 10:00am but didn’t turn up until closer to 10:45. While we were waiting, Emmett and I ran up the street to a bakery to grab some snacks. We tried the banana bread a Canadian lady had raved about the day before. It turned out to be made with condensed milk and was ridiculously sweet. Not quite the win we were hoping for.

When the bus finally arrived, we handed over our bags and were given plastic bags to put our shoes in. Everyone had to travel barefoot, which actually kept the bus really clean. It was a lay-down sleeper bus with little bunks, blinds for the windows, and curtains between beds. Maddie and Emmett ended up on the bottom bunks, and Kia and I were directly above them, which was very lucky.

The bunks were reasonably comfortable, although I definitely wish mine was about 20cm longer. I could squeeze in, shuffle around, and make it work.

Maddie climbed straight into her bunk, closed everything up, and went straight to sleep. She was feeling awful. Emmett, on the other hand, was everywhere. In his bunk, out of his bunk, up, down, sideways.

About an hour into the trip, he announced that he desperately needed to pee. He’d gone before we left, but apparently not properly. The next stop wasn’t for another couple of hours. He was panicking. Eventually, we had no choice. We emptied a water bottle, I climbed into his bunk with him, closed the blind, and helped him pee into it. He nearly filled the bottle completely, so in fairness, he really did need to go.

He later hilariously described it as a “life experience”. Peeing in a bottle on a bus.

After that drama, things settled for a bit. We watched movies on our phones and iPads, and a couple of hours later we stopped for lunch. Perfect timing, because I really needed the toilet by then too.

At the stop, you could buy snacks or hot food. We bought three hot food tokens for Kia, Emmett and I, Maddie wasn’t hungry. You don’t choose what you get; they just serve you a tray. The trays came out with rice, bok choy, tofu, prawns, pork, and either beef bones or a big chunk of fish. Kia got the fish tray but didn’t touch the fish. We ate the rice, veg, tofu, and meat and absolutely shoveled it down. We only had about 20 minutes total, and most of that was eaten up by toilet trips and lining up.

As soon as we finished, the bus was already starting up again, and we had to rush back on.

The second leg was another 3 hours and it was chaotic. Kia was out cold for a good hour and a half. Maddie started waking up and feeling nauseous. Emmett couldn’t get comfortable. They both wanted food, didn’t want food, felt sick, didn’t feel sick. It was a lot.

When Kia finally woke up, it was right as Maddie said the words we were all dreading:

“I don’t feel well. I think I’m going to be sick.”

Maddie gets car sick at the best of times so it was almost inevitable that she would get sick at some point. Maddie asked for a plastic bag and I shuffled some of our stuff to get her one. Kia gave me the look of, are you going to help her. I responded by saying it was her turn after the pee in a bottle situation.

Kia jumped down just in time and helped Maddie with the plastic bag so she could vomit into it. It was a big one. Maddie hadn’t really eaten much all day other than a bit of mango for breakfast, so it was pretty much mango and water. Still absolutely stank though.

While this was happening, Emmett started saying he felt sick because he was watching Maddie be sick. I had to tell him to stop watching and get back into his bunk. It was a minute or two of full chaos.

After Maddie vomited, though, things improved. She settled straight back down and slept all the way into Tam Coc, which was a huge relief. Emmett was still in and out, uncomfortable and restless, right up until the end.

All up, it was about six hours on the bus. A big day. A clear lesson learned that sleeper buses probably aren’t the best mode of transport for us, especially with Maddie. Even though it was relatively comfortable, we felt pretty trapped. Trains and planes are likely a better option moving forward.

We arrived at the big bus stop car park in Tam Coc and sorted our bags. The kids were both down and out and were slumped on the ground with our bags. A local guy noticed our situation and gave the kids some vitamin lollies to lift their spirits. They totally would have since they were ginseng based.

It took a bit to organise a Grab because we couldn’t find our hotel address properly in the app. Eventually, we realised you can just pick a point on the map and get dropped there, so that’s what we did.

The Grab driver picked us up and got a bit lost on the way. We had to help navigate, and it was pretty clear he hadn’t been to this area before. Eventually, we arrived.

The place is actually really nice. There’s a little walkway to get in, then it opens up into a small village of two-storey villas. There’s more across the road as well, including a pool and sitting areas. We’re on the second storey of one of the villas. It’s a bit older, but the room is lovely. There’s a big pond in the middle with heaps of koi fish, which is pretty cool.

The kids found chairs to sit on while we checked in and ordered breakfast for the next morning. Once we got to the room, both kids had showers and climbed into bed. Maddie fell asleep straight away. Emmett stayed up watching his tablet.

We ordered dinner through Grab. Kia and Emmett got granola bowls and I got beef noodles. Emmett had about two bites and was done.

I’m feeling okay. Kia’s had a bit of an off belly for a few days. Emmett seems to be coming down with something. Maddie’s still not great.

Big transport days really do wipe you out. You lose the day itself, and the next day often becomes a recovery day as well. With everyone feeling a bit sick, we’ll just have to see what tomorrow brings.

We’re very close to the end of Vietnam now. Not many days left at all. Tam Coc looks busy. A lot of markets, a lot of people, and probably the most tourists we’ve seen anywhere so far. It’ll be interesting to explore once everyone’s feeling better.