I woke up around 6.30 and Sabine was asleep so I dressed and went downstairs. They were all asleep there under a mosquito net so I went out and had a little look around the village, first going to the junction where the Hollywood type sign was and then back and north through the village to a church and to the river where there were loads of blue boats moored. I went back to the homestay and had breakfast before going upstairs to the room where Sabine was up and when she was finished in the toilet I showered and packed. I left my suitcase in thr corridor and gave them the key downstairs and rented a motorbike. The place was busy as lots of people were now up having breakfast. I drove off on the bike and using the map they had given me decided to go round the Ho chi minh pass to paradise cave missing the expensive dark cave. I went to get petrol and there was a woman selling it out of a bucket so even though I was expecting more I thought thst must be it and paid 55k for 3 litres. A bit further along was a proper petrol station so I felt a bit silly. I headed over the bridge and the weather was ok but quite cold and I found a church just past an intersection so I went there before doubling back and heading south. It felt good riding a bike again especially with the karst mountains around, the green grass and blue river and I stopped quite a lot and took photos. I saw a cave on the left and then a tower with a zipline but I couldn't see a road to the cave so I turned around to get closer just to take a photo before carrying on south and soon I was at the road signposted paradise cave. A girl on a motorbike went past me snd I followed her to the cave where we both bought tickets. She was enthusiastic and expecting great things from the cave and mas Dutch and called Rose (spelt Roos). We walked the 15 minute path to the cave and went in and I took pictures and she didn't despite being likely to choose photography at university she was more interested in portraits. We went around the cave and Roos was disappointed, I thought it was quite good but there wasn't that many stalactites or stalagmites which might be because its a dry cave. We came out and she was hungry so we found a restaurant where I had the cheapest dish of instant noodles with egg and she had fish soup. After we went back to the bikes and I slipped trying to get the bike up over the pavement lip and Roos helped me straighten it. Then I helped her get the bike over the lip and we were ready to head off only my bike wouldn't start for a while. We drove for a bit and I took a photo somewhere and again the bike struggled to start. Roos planned to go back to town and I planned to go see the large cave entrance even though there was no chance of getting in but when we got to the junction and the bike stalled and struggled to start so I decided heading back was probably the best option and we both headed that way and the bike only stalled a couple of times but I didn't stop for photos anymore and we went past the botanical gardens but then turned towards Phong nha cave. The path ended near to the cave which was accessible by boat but there were only a few boats parked on the other side and there was no way across so I was confused how to get in. After that we went back and said goodbye. I left the bike at the homestay but they were busy cleaning up after some kind of meal and were burning/making offerings or something so I kept the key and walked to where I thought I could maybe get tickets to the cave. It was 2pm and I looked around a bit before finding all of the boats on the river and one of the people there pointed me to the ticket office. There were quite a few people there and one guy organised for us all to be on the same boat making it cheaper. We soon had another 2 people making the boat just 35 each but the ticket was still 250. We got in the boat and even though I was one of the last in I got a front seat. The boat moved really slowly down the river and I talked to a south African guy behind me who was heading to London soon and was then looking to go to Morocco as he was missing surfing. We arrived at the cave and the 2 crew stopped the engine, took the roof off and starting punting. We crept under the low entrance and then went for quite a while in the cave which was fairly well lit unlike the one in palawan. We turned around and before going out the boat stopped for us to walk through the last section of the cave which was a good section with lots of stalactites and stalagmites and colours. Then we were not allowed up to the temple and had to get back in the boat for a slow cruise back. After I got some food at the bakery and went back to the homestay and paid for everything and got my passport back but my laundry wasn't there do I had to wait a bit. Then I tried to catch the local bus to Dong Hai and maybe stay there or go to Dong Ha but when the bus came st 5.45 it was stopping and not going anymore so I stayed another night and got room 204 which was a floor higher and was smaller. There was an Italian inside from Bologna and I left my things and headed out to easy tiger hostel. There were quite a few tourists there and it was already quite lively and I was talking to an Indian guy who was studying electrical engineering in Singapore. The Dutch guy from the bus from Hue was there as was Roos but they were on other tables. The Indian guy and I git a game of pool against 2 other people and managed to win so we stayed on and played some Canadians and then some other guys. After that his motorbike companions turned up do he went and sat with them while I played against the Dutch guy. The bar was good with the free pool table and occasional free shots but food and drinks were not so cheap and after a bit I hwaded to the place I'd eaten at yesterday and hsd a decent rice with vegetables meal for 30k. Then I used the computer at easy tiger a bit yo try to apply for a Vietnam visa but I needed a passport photo and a copy of my passport. I went back to the room and phoned my brotherbefore the Italian came back. I read a bit and went to sleep around 11.30.
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