On Friday 2nd October I had an early appointment at physio and so Phuong picked me up at 7am and my session went well in Dong Hoi. On my return I had fruit and yoghurt for breakfast and then made some popcorn for lunch as well as snacking on salami (as you do). Captain Caveman was already out and about in Phong Nha village and I’d had a message to say our wine delivery was ready. We had ordered 6 bottles of the Lindeman’s sparkling and 6 of our favourite red! I was definitely making progress because now I could actually look up a bit when I walked rather than always looking at my feet. Captain Caveman went to the The Villas and then to an Oxalis colleague’s house warming party, I had a couple of White Russians, forgot to eat dinner then had cheese and rice crackers before bed!
Saturday 3rd October wasn’t as smooth a day as planned really. Of course I know I’m not adventurous in the slightest but I had one of those days where I just imagined I could do everything I wanted to without any issues! Captain Caveman was in charge in the kitchen and cooked me a breakfast of bacon and mushrooms while he did himself a fuller more eggy affair. My car and physio were booked in a bit earlier so I could get to The Villas after physio and then still make it to a Farmstay birthday party. The first thing to change was that my physio appointment moved to 3pm, meaning I would not get to The Villas until 6pm giving me only 30 minutes before I had to get to the birthday party so I had to cancel going to The Villas. At the Farmstay the nibbles were great, I had wine and chatted to Andrew (ex member of the Triple Cripple Club) and his wife, Trang. We also met a very interesting fella who used to be a bodyguard for Margaret Thatcher and Princess Anne! The night was very nice and I decided to order more food, as I’d not had any lunch, while we drank and listened to the remarkable tales from Mr Jackson!
Our Sundays were starting to become a little more British in that we had frequented Phong Nha Farmstay several times for a Sunday roast dinner and the 4th October was one of those occasions. Captain Caveman and I both had a day off with absolutely nothing planned so we decided to go to the Farmstay for breakfast. They’d had an order of ginger beer arrived recently and so I had a cold one with ice and a pho bo (beef noodle soup). It was very hot and humid so we had a massive fan on us as we chatted to Mr Jackson, the fascinating gentleman who had started on the cold beers after finishing his working day at 11am! Captain Caveman wasn’t long before he decided a cold Huda beer would be a good idea and I joined later with a red berries Strongbow. It would have been very easy to have an all day drinking sesh but I knew I had to be sensible and not just because of being an invalid! I had a dip in the pool and left Captain Caveman to it. When I got back Momma D and the cavers were already at a table of 4 and had ordered Sunday dinner. The birthday girl, Lesley, arrived and joined our table which consisted of Captain Caveman, Veronika, me and Mr Jackson. I didn’t have any Gastropulgite stomach medication so this time I didn’t eat any of the food with gluten in and was delighted to find out that Lesley hates the pork crackling and I could have her’s. I got a bottle of red wine, as well as the included glass with the roast dinner. There was cheesecake, chocolate cake or carrot cake for dessert and I had the cheesecake but didn’t eat the base – Lesley had that. I really enjoyed my dinner and we left fairly early because Captain Caveman needed to set the alarm for 4.30am the next day – he was off on an early morning adventure!
If you want to see what the Farmstay Sunday Roast Dinner is like you can check out this video on Facebook which made by Ben:
https://www.facebook.com/148614098486550/posts/3868407316507191/?sfnsn=mo
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