Day 22: Lazy hotel day

Monday, 11/11/2024

Alarm went off at 6:00am, but went back to bed till about 7:00am.

Then I just laid around and played online till about 8:00am when I finally decided to get up and shower and get dressed.  I then packed up stuff that I would not be using that day, like the riding gear.

I sat in the room and read till around 11:00am finishing another book, so will start a new one later today.  Got to love the e-readers ability to carry multiple books in a small form factor.

For lunch I walked over to a place nearby that I found had western style food on the menu and enjoyed a nice lunch. I wish I had found the information earlier as I had walked by this places several times the last 2 days.

I started a new book and sat there for an hour at least reading and having a Coke.  I also talked a bit with the owner, a very nice lady who was passionate about her place.

I then walked over to the Vinmart to get more to drink and then returned to the hotel.

Spent most of the afternoon reading or playing online until I was hungry enough to go get dinner.

I went back to same restaurant and had dinner there, and again sat and read for a bit.

Much busier place this evening as a whole group of what I assume were college kids on some kind of tour, showed up trying to grab food before their train left that evening.  It was quite a mad rush for the owner and we joked around about it after they all left.

I left a nice review of the place on Google Maps which she saw right away and came over to thank me.

Sophie Homy Cafe & Food - My lunch and dinner stop.

I left there about 8:30pm and stopped at a smaller shop next door to buy another Coke and then returned to the room.

I packed up everything as I have an early day tomorrow to get my train up to Hanoi.  Got everything staged for the morning to speed things up and then sat down to write this short entry in the journal.

I will spend rest of the night reading and then try to get to bed a bit early as I will be up at 6:00am but cannot sleep in this time.

The train leaves right around 7:00am, so have to get ready, check out and then walk the short distance to station and I am hoping to be there by 6:30am, which means I should be able to just go right into the boarding area and relax until the train arrives.

The trip tomorrow will last about 12 hours, so will be a long day.  Hopefully I will get a lower bunk this time and not have to be climbing up and down.  

I bought the ticket online the day I arrived in Dong Hoi, but there was nothing I could see that let you choose the bunk position.

Once in Hanoi I can get a cab over to the hotel which I have already booked for the remainder of my time in Vietnam.

Hoping the train ride is decent, always depends on who else ends up in my cabin.

Goodnight!