Saigon to Dong Hoi – 13th March

I checked out of the Common Inn at just before 5am on Wednesday 13th March. I’d really enjoyed my 4 night stay there and for a total of 3 million Vietnamese Dong (£95.11), it was definitely worth it. By 5.30am I was checked in at Tan Son Nhat airport for my flight to Dong Hoi. Vietnamese Airlines didn’t give a stuff how many cases I had and let me check 2 in. I didn’t board for over an hour so I had a walk around the airport and noted that the Burger King Cheese Burger and fries were 169,000VND (£5.36) but the Pho at Big Bowl was only 132,000VND (£4.18) for the ordinary beef. Vietnam airports in comparison to UK and Turkey seem not to be quite as much of a rip off, but are still far more expensive than in the towns.
My flight was on time and we landed before 9am. Mr Minh Quang was there at Dong Hoi airport, with a sign and a smile, to meet me. He took my bags and spoke great English as we went over to the car. Once at the hotel, around 9.20am, I was able to check-in early and I went for a lay down. I fell asleep immediately and only woke up when Captain Caveman knocked on the door.
We had a late brunch at Tree Hugger, walking distance from our hotel, which I’d missed a lot. We both had the refreshing frozen lime and mint drinks, Captain Caveman ordered his favourite egg salad sandwich and I tried the yellow smoothie bowl for the healthier choice. Our meals cost 50,000VND (£1.58) and 60,000VND (£1.90) which was reasonable and I noticed that the White Russians were still the same price as last year.

As we were in Dong Hoi we had arranged to meet Stu and the boys for dinner and, as a treat, Aussie Pete would join us too. Stu chose the Laotian BBQ place to meet but I had to insist that Captain Caveman and I would go for cocktails at Tree Hugger first. I knew the BBQ place, which I’d never been to before, would only have beer to drink and I wasn’t going to have any. We had 2 White Russians each at only 60,000VND (£1.90) each and they were so good.
On arrival at the Laotian BBQ place I could already sense that it was very basic and I was concerned about hygiene. Captain Caveman, Stu and Aussie Pete were on the beers but I just ordered bottled water. Stu recommended the beef jerky and the sausage, of which Captain Caveman devoured. I couldn’t stomach trying it as it looked greasy so I just had sticky rice with peanut salt. We had some pork scratchings that come in a packet and were tasty. I needed the toilet and went in the back to find it. Unfortunately, I saw one of the staff/owners scraping animal parts (raw and cooked) in to a gutter which was congealed with fat and blood and I almost puked over the closest customer as I turned to leave. I would have had to step over the waste gunk to access the not so sparkling squat toilet and I just couldn’t face it. When Captain Caveman ordered and ate chicken feet, it was game over for me. I made the mistake of comparing it to the time we’d ate at the bird restaurant with Thuy, the physio, and I had to leave. I was dry wretching as I walked back to the hotel trying my best not to be sick. I got ready for bed, expecting Captain Caveman to make a night of it with Aussie Pete.
By 8.30pm, Captain Caveman had returned to the hotel to get me and we were off to Oregano for pizza and beers for him, water for me. I still felt rather queasy but did manage to share some of the lovely Hawaiian and Vegetarian pizzas. Oregano was nice but it closed at 9pm and we were back at the hotel for an early night. In Dong Hoi and Phong Nha it’s common to be in bed by 10pm.