On Friday 23rd July I had orange juice, and banana and honey pancakes (gluten and dairy free) for breakfast while Captain Caveman had gone to Phong Nha. I read the news which was not looking so rosey today;
Danang was back in lockdown, we have a lot less friends there now as most of them have already left Vietnam but it was disappointing as Danang has had a lot of lockdown weeks during the pandemic. More info here:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210722/vietnamsda-nang-bans-outdoor-activities-nonessential-businesses-over-new-local-coronavirus-infections/62201.html
It was worrying to read reports of a lot more deaths occuring, I believed due to the fact that very few people were vaccinated (especially the elderly and vulnerable), more here:
https://vietnamnews.vn/society/995869/viet-nam-reports-more-36-new-deaths-related-to-covid-19.html
I read a very interesting article about addicts at a rehab centre who had lots of positive cases all in the same building, which just shows how fast this 4th wave of virus is spreading, read it here:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210722/saigon-assists-binh-duong-in-treating-nearly-500-coronavirusinfected-addicts-staff-at-rehab-center/62203.html
The worst article I read today was horrendous and this is what worries me about travelling during a pandemic. A man with Corona got on a flight pretending to be his wife, who’s negative, and actually managed to get on the plane! Unbelievable, check this out:
https://bbc.in/3zq1LeR
When Captain Caveman returned he reported that there were no longer checkpoints in town but Phong Nha was even more of a ghost town than usual. In his entire journey of 18km he had not seen more than 10 people in total. The F1s that had been tested and had results so far were all negative for the first test so that was good news, they would have 2 more tests over the coming days.
I was a bit despondent as I had thought that, with The Villas being closed, we wouldn’t be having a pizza night but Captain Caveman had already checked and there most certainly was. We just had popcorn for lunch so that I’d have room for pizza night and I wasn’t really expecting much, given that it would be done with a different oven and staff at the Phong Nha Farmstay, who might not be used to the same style of pizza. Ben and Bich at the Farmstay had about 25 guests, mostly families who were staying longer term due to the Corona situation and restrictions in their home cities, so they were doing their absolute best to keep things running as normal as possible. We arrived at the Phong Nha Farmstay for Happy Hour, sat at the big table, I had a couple of the 2 for 1 rum and cokes, Captain Caveman had beers then we ordered our pizzas, he had a salami one with extra chillies on (so I couldn’t try his pizza) and I decided on ham and mushroom (a new pizza on this week’s menu). There was a big screen and the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics was being shown which, at first, all the kids were interested in, it soon wore off though and they were definitely enjoying their pizzas more, as were the adults. Our pizzas were excellent and the service very slick so I was very impressed and happy. I was pleased that the pizza night was a success and it was a bargain at 275,000vnd (£8.50) for the two of us, even though I’d hoped to take a slice or 2 home (Captain Caveman snaffled the last of mine, obviously). Back home I felt very full but I didn’t have a dodgy tum so I was pleased about that – it seemed I was fine with gluten and cooked cheese now!
joloyolo 