I woke up at 7.30 and the Italian was sleeping so I went downstairs and had breakfast before going to easy tiger and using their computer. I tried to get the visa application done but I couldn't find the border crossing I wanted so I thought maybe it was a different name. While I was doing that the guy from the hostel started his daily talk on the caves and the area and it sounded good and reminded me of Chile where I'd been to a talk on Torres del paine. I listened to some of it and when he finished I submitted my application and emailed them to say the border I'd entered was wrong and they replied back to say yes you are not allowed the evisa to cross there which just gave me more questions. I went back to the hostel and the Italian was still sleeping so I showered, packed, paid for the room and then waited for the local bus which came at 10.20 and had quite some space. I paid 35k like I'd read but the ticket said 33k and I didn't get change but at least my luggage was not ectra. A few minutes later though we stopped near a school and lots of schoolkids got on board and completely filled up the bus until eventually they got off in 3 stops along a big road not marked on maps.me. We arrived in Dong Hoi where I expected so I walked to the train station over a main road bridge which I was used to by now and bought a ticket for the 4.30 train for 62k which is quite good. I had 4 hours in Dong Hoi and I tried the toiletat the station but the woman wanted 5k. I left my luggage in a locker for 20,000 and headed back across the road bridge to a lake and a market where I bought a small bunch of bananas for 5,000. Then I walked along a main road which had lots of electronic shops. The guide in Saigon had said they group shops of the same together and I find it annoying as I want to see different things. There was a small park with a cheeky statue in the fountain so I took a picture as it was a slow day with not much to do or see. The road came to a river which I crossed to an island area which had an empty beach and looked like it was being developed a little. There was some kind of art sculpture thing. I turned around went back over the bridge and north to a church the Americans had destroyed. Then I carried on to a small river which I followed west before going along a main road with s supermarket. The place was being opened and still had people drilling and things and I couldn't find anything worthwhile. I found a small shop with good prices and got some food and superglue for my shoes, Dong Hoi is not such an exciting place. I got to where I wanted and headed south getting some more food and getting back near the train station. I hadn't found any chain stores, McDonald's or large hotels or any museums or toilets so I took one last attempt to find a toilet at a petrol station but there was none so I went back to the train station one. The toilet was not worth the money and the woman wanted to charge me extra for toilet paper so I used my own and then with my suitcase I waited for the train. It was fairly busy with some tourists including bikers who had partly dismantled their bikes to protect them. The train was on time and completely packed and I managed to squeeze my suitcase in the space above by moving bags around. The woman next to me took up space and I just read mostly for 2 hours and then got off at Dong Ha. The place I'd booked was a little further from the station than I'd thought but I walked to the main road and my suitcase was dragging. I waited at a bus stop but it didn't look like one was coming so I got a taxi on a metre which cost 45k for a 10 or so minutes journey. The man at the hostel had messaged me earlier and I was in room 204 like he said which was funny because I'd been in 204 in Phuong Nha. It was called Hoa Phuong and the room was nice with a TV and a fairly hard double bed. I put my things on to charge and went to leave but when I took the key out the electricity went off so I left my charger in the kitchen and walked to Tam's cafe where I'd heard the bus goes from. On the way I got 2 banh my's (bread snack) for 16k, a bargain. The cafe was closed when I arrived but the woman opened up and when I asked for the bus she phoned someone. I spoke to them and the bus was ok and I asked if they could pick me up from my guesthouse as it was on the way and he said yes. I went back to the homestay and my charger had been moved so I asked the owner and he had it. He tried to get his son to explain that I shouldn't leave things around in case they get stolen but I think he worries to much. I glued my shoes on the room and there was a knock on the door and the owner had his elder som to again explain about the charger. He was nice but it was a bit over the top, earlier he'd insisted on carrying my suitcase into the room. I watched some tv and there was the disney version of karate kid with pinkett-smith and Jackie chan. I emptied out my suitcase and finally got round to repairing the broken wheel area and did an ok job I think but time will tell. I watched a bit more and went to sleep close to 12.
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