The family dog was curled up on the step outside the house when I went to the toilet in the morning.

Nearly all of us had washed in the river yesterday, so there was no need for a shower. To be honest, I only used the family shower once whilst trekking, we mainly just used baby wipes morning and night.

We had coffee, tea and a delicious breakfast of pancakes and mango.

After breakfast, I wandered around the outbuildings.

We packed our bags and put them in the bus, and then headed off on another hike.

We followed the Na River and passed more Dao hamlets as we climbed up the valley.

It was a tough hike with lots of ups and downs.

We passed a papaya tree and a hardwood tree that had a preservation order on it.

Towards the end of the hike, we headed down into a valley. Some people down below shouted at us to stay where we were, and shortly after there was a massive explosion – blasting into the stone.

Obviously, there were bugs and butterflies on the way, too. We didn’t disturb the wasps.

As we came to the bottom of the valley, there was a local wedding going on.

The wedding guests were really friendly and invited us to partake in a few shots of rice wine

And then it was the final 2km to where the bus was picking us up.

Ot was then a 1-2 hour drive to Cao Bong.

Cao Bong is the centre of many of Vietnam’s revolutionary movements. Once we arrived, we checked in to our hotel – Max Boutique Hotel. It was so nice to be in a hotel room again and have a proper bed to sleep in – as well as a nice shower!

I put all my washing into the hotel laundry, which meant that I didn’t really have anything to wear that evening, except long leggings and a long sleeved top, which were too hot. So Mandy, Maxine and I decided to explore the local market, and Mandy and I ended up buying a dress each for £4.

We walked along the promenade by the Quay Son River, and it was quite and picturesque.

After a quick change, it was back out again for dinner. Cao Bong was colourful with lots of lights, and after 7pm, the road was allegedly closed off to traffic.

We walked by some really nice restaurants but ended up going to a local cafe for dinner. It was traditional Vietnamese food, but this time, we had duck, which was extremely tasty.

After dinner, we wandered around for a bit, looking for a bar, but there was none to be found, so we ended up having coffee and smoothies. It is very difficult to get a coffee in Vietnam that is not already sweetened. As we walked through the town, we saw people exercising and practising a dance routine.

We also saw a very cute dog!

It was then time for bed.