Day 72

Hanoi > Cao Bang

So it turns out that this hostel (that I had stayed at for a few nights before) provides FREE BREAKFAST. And I didn't know this until today as Megan let me know last night. I'm not sure if I'm fuming because I missed out on breakfast or glad that I atleast got one free one.

I then walked over to the bus office and checked in, before grabbing a quick Banh Mi as I didn't want to get on the bus and get hungry. The bus was pretty long - it left at 11 and didn't arrive till half 5 and oh my God my ass was sore. I'm not sure if it was the seats or what but I was so uncomfortable that I ended up putting my blanket under me for a last resort of padding. Depsite the discomfort I powered on and decided to be responsible and finally book my flight home. It's a little worrying knowing that I'm not even in the same county as my flight but I can officially confirm I'll be home at 6.40pm on the 17th May - exactly 1 month away (if I make the flight). I also enquired to 2 hostels about booking the Ha Giang Loop. It's safe to say I felt pretty prepared for once which is a new feeling for me.

I ended up booking the same hostel as the other 2 people on my bus as they also wanted to do the Cao Bang Loop and said that they that this one rented bikes so I didn't bother checking anywhere else. The hostel was actually really nice and I ended up meeting a few people and heading to dinner with them in town. We chose a random place and the waitress said that one of the plates was her special so I just ordered it without even looking. What came was a whole plate of meat in a broth with 2 pieces of bread. It was absolutely delicious and I am so glad I went with what she suggested. I had to dip from the meal early and head back to the hostel as my uni was hosting a teams call about module choices for my final year. I didn't want to leave anything too late and miss out on the modules I wanted so a long 2 and a half hours later I ended up calling my friend Mann and talking about the choices before I made my final decision and submitted.

Whilst I was sitting on the balcony on the phone, out of nowhere a huge thunder storm came our of nowhere and the rain poured as heavy as the wind blew, and there were bursts of lighting every few seconds for over an hour. I tried capturing some of the lighting but my phone is nowhere near good enough but I don't think I'll ever get bored of seeing the electricity dance across the sky. With that, it ended up being quite a real life back at home productive day and I was excited to start the 3 day loop tomorrow.Read more