Bus to Dong Hoi

We really didn't want to do another long drive in the rain, so after reading it was possible to ride the train on our motorbikes, we headed to the station the day before we were set to leave Hue to buy our tickets. The lady at the ticket office turned us away, but after a few minutes of despair (on my part) that we were going to have to drive in the rain and a latte to calm my nerves, we went back to the station and were approached by a Vietnamese guy offering to help us with the booking. Unfortunately, the staff at the station said it would take 4-5 days for our motorbikes to get to Dong Hoi, which didn't make much sense given that we could wait out the rain and make it to Dong Hoi faster than that. Not to worry, the Vietnamese guy said he'd call around and find us a bus. We were charged an extortionate price and told to meet him at the train station at 7:15am the next morning, and he would take us to the bus. We gave it 50-50 odds he'd actually show.

But he showed up (30 minutes late, reeking of booze, after we called to wake him up, but still!)! And more importantly, he made sure we actually got on the bus with our bikes, so the extortionate prices were totally worth it. 

The accommodations were actually better than most flights we take, and the whole trip only took about 3 hours, putting us in Dong Hoi right around lunch time.

The bus dropped us off on the side of the road just outside of Dong Hoi. We gathered all our bags, put gas back in our tanks, and made our way to the Treehugger Cafe where we met owners Thinh and Anna. The cafe was super cute, located right on the street facing the water. 

After a quick coffee, Thinh and Anna took us to a local lunch spot where we gorged on Ban Khoai. Dong Hoi looked like a really nice town, and I wish we'd spent a night there, but we said our goodbyes after lunch and hopped back on the bikes bound for Phong Nha...