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Published: January 19th 2015
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This morning we were up and having breakfast by 7.00am as our pickup was 7.30am to take us to the airport for our flight to Dong Hoi.
We had a bit of a panic at the airport as the taxi driver took us to the International airport instead of the domestic. Lucky there were shuttle buses to transport people from on airport to the other as they are just down the road from each other.
Hopping on the plane I was a bit nervous as it was only a fairly small plane. You know it’s a small plane when there are only 5 steps to walk up and into it.
Flight was fairly smooth and we arrived at Dong Hoi airport at 11.00am.
We were met by our driver who drove us the 45mins to the Phong Nha Lake House Resort. This place was only opened in April 2014 so still has some building to do. It is an absolutely fabulous place right on a lake. We booked a family room, which had 2 connected rooms with share bathroom. The rooms were very generous in size. If you love your TV this may not be the place
for you as there were no TVs in our rooms. Approximately $60 AUD per night ($55 US) for all this! Not that they are needed with the scenery there is here! Our room overlooked the pool and just upstairs is a massive 2 level dining, deck, “get-together” areas. We weren’t sure if the pool had just been finished being built but was only being filled with water while we were there. When fully finished it will be a swim up pool bar.
After settling into our room we headed back upstairs and ordered lunch. Stu had a laksa, I had Lemongrass chicken, Dani had fried rice with vegetables, Zav had a BLT and Frankie had a hamburger. The food was delicious.
This place is pretty much like paradise. There is the lake right in front of you with the Phong Nha national park in the background. Just stunning. We spent the afternoon lazing and just chilling out looking at the scenery. Dani went downhill in the afternoon with a bad headache and aching body so she slept while Stu took Zav and Frankie out in the canoe/kayak. They had a nice paddle around to the right of the
resort. They saw birds that looked like plovers and in the middle of the lake is an island that has a lot of trees and shrubbery. They happened to see a little hut around the side of the island. They didn’t venture onto the island but paddled a bit further before heading back to the Resort.
We all (except Dani as she was still not any better) went upstairs to order dinner. By the time we were ready to order dinner Frankie had fallen asleep on my lap so it was just dinner for Stu, Zav and I tonight. We had another beautiful meal of Lemongrass pork strips, Lok lak beef, and Sweet and sour pork belly.
We got chatting to other travelers from Australia, USA and Canada throughout the afternoon and evening. After dinner I went out to warm up at the fire pit and got chatting to the Aussie family and couple from USA. The young couple from the USA had the most amazing stories to tell as they had both quite their jobs 5 months ago and have been travelling since throughout Asia on a motorbike they bought in Shanghai. They plan to travel for
a total of 1 year if the $ last that long. I love this part of travelling. Meeting and hearing other’s stories is such a highlight.
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