Phong Nha – the last weekend of September

There was no physio today, Friday 25th September because I had requested the day off. Just after mid-day it started to rain and it was nice for it to feel a bit cooler. For lunch I had taken out some corn tortillas from the freezer and decided to have them with lettuce and hummus (3 of them) and then peanut butter (2 of) with some more grapes and water. In the news Vietnam was pleased about having beaten the Corona virus for the second time. The Vietnamese prime minister still kept on asking people to be vigilant as it could reappear at any time and that masks and social distancing were still important. Danang opened back up again and declared it being back to normal now for visitors.
Captain Caveman finished work and cooked us gluten free sausages (from Momma D’s) with potatoes, garlic, onion and peppers for dinner which we had with a glass of red wine too – rather a quiet start to the weekend.

On Saturday 26th September we had left over dinner for brunch but with added bacon and mushrooms, it was really tasty but not particularly healthy! I had earl grey tea and lots of water and then was ready for my afternoon physio appointment. Back in the UK there was an app launched to help track and trace the virus which was fairly similar to the one we had been checking in on in Vietnam since 29th March – if only they had used it sooner. When I arrived back home I felt really dehydrated so had a cold bottle of Revive, then shared some wine and just had hummus and rice crackers for my dinner. I’d managed 10 hours of physio this week and was hoping to be better soon, I was definitely improving. Captain Caveman and I had planned to go to Hanoi and Sapa for a short holiday in October and to renew my visa which expires on the 10th October – hopefully I would be better for the trip!

Our Sunday, on 27th September, was pretty indulgent although I did try to restrict the amount of wine I had! Captain Caveman cooked us asparagus with bacon and parmesan cheese for breakfast, he added a poached egg to his and even made me an earl grey tea. He did some more work sorting and I had fruit and yoghurt for lunch. We got word that Phong Nha Farmstay had it’s Sunday dinner on again and so we decided to go. I chugged down a Gastropulgite beforehand so I didn’t need to worry about any gluten and we were away. I still gave Captain Caveman my garlic bread but this time I had the pasta which was included this week. It was amazing and the first pasta I’ve had this year – I miss pasta! I also scoffed down the pork roast, with crackling, roast potatoes, roast pumpkin, sweet potatoes, courgette, carrot, green beans and broccoli with 2 glasses of red wine. It was absolutely delicious and the best thing I’d eaten all week. I even took home the chocolate cake, which was included in the price (as was a glass of wine) and was a pretty good feast for 300,000 vnd. When we got back home I got confirmation that I could have an early physio appointment on Monday morning, which worked well because we had a small lunchtime adventure planned!