Monday 20th June obviously started with me having a hangover. I had Tham message at 7am to say her physio could see me at 9am and then Bich called to tell me to get to the Lake House for my massage. There was no way I could function so I cancelled and blamed Tony, who had also cancelled his session. I finally got up for a bacon and brown sauce muffin, made by Captain Caveman about 10.15am. He had bacon, egg and cheese on his but I couldn’t look at it.
After spending a few hours in or next to the pool Captain Caveman made lunch; sausage and pesto spaghetti which was nice. It was a very hot day so I was impressed when Captain Caveman walked to the Lake House to retrieve Trigger, the motorbike. We arranged to meet Tatas in Phong Nha at 3.30pm at Coffee Station where Captain Caveman had a smoothie and a coconut coffee, I had 2 lemon juices. I noticed there was a hotel opposite where 2 goats were trying to go in to reception and it made me laugh.
Our next stop was Phong Nha Vegan to see our good friend, Chung. I invited Tatas but she needed to go home to exercise and shower before meeting me later. The Phong Nha Vegan restaurant had moved since I’d last been here and it was about 250m from Victory Road Villas, situated on the riverside, in what was Google House. We bumped in to Dung and Leo from Jungle Boss, who were just leaving and we sat down on some tyre seats in a sunny spot overlooking the river. We both had a juice which was very refreshing and chatted to Chung for a while. As we were fragile from last night and had already eaten we didn’t eat but we really needed to come back another time as the menu looked fantastic. Chung was now working full time at the vegan restaurant and was really enjoying it.
Captain Caveman had to leave at 5pm as he had a briefing for his next Oxalis tour tomorrow. I walked, in my plastic porter sandals, past Song Doong Bungalow, to The Villas to meet Tatas and Kat for curry night. By the time I got there I was desperate for the AC and my sandals, which I’d not worn for 9 months, had rubbed my feet. I was the first one there, I had a cold Huda beer and waited for the others to arrive. Kat was next to arrive and had decided she wouldn’t have curry but would order off the regular menu. When Tatas arrived she ordered gin and tonic and we both ordered the butter chicken special, Kat ordered the Caeser salad (I was pleased to see it didn’t have a poached or boiled egg in it) and we had a good chat. At 8pm Captain Caveman arrived just as our food was being served so he got a beer and waited for us to eat. I invited Kat and Tatas over for a pool afternoon and wine evening at Elements Collection tomorrow, as Captain Caveman would be back in the cave. They both said yes and I got a lift back with Captain Caveman. We all said our goodbyes in the car park and went off on the motorbikes, me with half of my leftover curry in my hand.
Captain Caveman had his second day off on Sunday 19th June and it would turn out to be rather a good one. We started the day with a Lake House croissant for breakfast and they were probably the best croissants I’ve had – they were massive too. I updated Captain Caveman on various events we had been invited to and ran down my list of things to ask him. I always make a list when he’s in the cave so that I don’t forget. He was pleased to be going to a couple of weddings in Dalyan and a 40th birthday celebration in Rhodes during September and October. He had told me that he’d asked his company to book his flight back to Turkey at the end of August and then he would take a flight to Belgium on the first weekend of September for the Belgian beer festival. He would fly back to Rhodes ready for the celebrations. We would stay there for a few days before returning to Dalyan, just in time to see our friends and neighbours, Amanda and Greg. We went to the Phong Nha Farmstay to have a meeting with Bich but she was busy so I had a soda water. We saw Tham, from the Lake House, who said she would try to book me in for a massage with a new physiotherapist which was going to be helpful for my trapped nerve. Our next stop was to visit Stu, Max and Jack at their house. Their house is so lovely and I really should have taken my swimmers for the pool but I forgot. It was good to catch up but we didn’t stay too long as we still had lots of stuff to do while Captain Caveman had a day off. By the time we left it was boiling hot, even sitting on the motorbike seat in heat was unbearable. We went back to the Farmstay hoping to see Bich but she was still busy – it was good to see a few international tourists back, relaxing by the pool. We decided to order some lunch and have a shandy, Captain Caveman suggested fried spring rolls so I suggested fresh spring rolls as well and we could share both. When the food came Captain Caveman polished off 5 of the fried spring rolls and said he didn’t want the fresh ones, he thought they were mine – it was going to take a while to get back to ‘normal’. As we were almost ready to leave, and the heat was getting to me, Bich joined us and we had a good chat about the villa situation. It was agreed we could have the whole villa to ourselves so Captain Caveman confirmed he would rent it from July. I was a bit concerned that we were potentially paying more money for something I wouldn’t get to stay in after my visa expired in July but Captain Caveman didn’t seem too concerned.
Back home I popped on my swimmers and was just about to get in the pool when Captain Caveman came in to the bedroom and said to get my clothes on because we were going back out. Tony, from the Lake House, had called to say he was having a small party and to come up right away. I had to get a shower as I was just so hot. Knowing how difficult it is for me to get out of the house when Captain Caveman isn’t here, I agreed to go. I knew it would end up in carnage, it always does whenever Tony is involved. At the ‘party’ which was already in full swing were only 2 inebriated participants; Tony and Dave (aka Drifter). We started with a few cans of Saigon beer with ice in an attempt to catch up, I insisted Captain Caveman agree to leave his motorbike and us get a taxi home. It was only 3.30pm so we thought we might even walk home while it was still light! More beers and ice came, some french fries got put in front of us and Drifter started to look like he’d had enough. By 4.35pm he’d been renamed Dangerous Dave and had to be taken home by one of the staff while the rest of us started on the white wine. An hour later we were doing shots, at least the Lake House call them shots but they were large measures of spirits. Captain Caveman and Tony had large Jameson’s with ice while I had a large Tequila with salt and lemon. I had to do it in 2 goes as it was too big to do in one. At 6.20pm we were on the first of an expensive bottle of Riesling white wine, Tony had managed to get 2 of his waitresses, who were meant to be working, tiddly and cheesed off his wife. We managed to order lots of food, including beef, chicken strips and a pizza which we snaffled, along with 2 more bottles of Riesling. Tony was in charge of the music and made quite a good DJ, he and I even got up for a dance next to the bar. We were all shit-faced and have no idea what time we got home but it was dark and we had to get a taxi. I made Captain Caveman pay for 2 bottles of the more expensive wine on our bill so we didn’t do bad for a small party on a Saturday afternoon/night. Tony’s soirées are often messy but such good fun and I hoped he’d get to meet my Dalyan mates when they came out to visit.
By 10am on Saturday 18th June, Captain Caveman had made a bit of room for my clothes in the wardrobe/shelving area. He’d also decided that he wanted to rent the both rooms in our villa because it made sense to have the whole place to ourselves. As there hadn’t been any tourists about, until very recently, there had been no need for Captain Caveman to have shared the communal kitchen, living area and swimming pool with anyone who rented the other double bedroom. If we rented the entire villa we would have more space, including ample room for my small amount of belongings, and a room for guests to stay, or me to do my writing in. We had a cooked breakfast, which I started but Captain Caveman took over cooking as he wanted to add black pudding and eggs to his. The sausages and bacon were from Stu and were really tasty, Captain Caveman’s plate was very full. We lolled about round the pool, I wore one of my new swimsuits, from a friend in Dalyan, which I really love. Captain Caveman wasn’t a fan of it and said it made me look old fashioned and older. My cut foot was now almost heeled and the skin had grown quite a lot where the cut had been – I was walking normally again. At 3.30pm Captain Caveman was getting ready to set off to Phong Nha as he had more errands to run before Bien’s wedding. I put a dress on but wore cycling shorts beneath it for riding on the back of the motorbike. We went to Funny Monkeys to collect peanut butter, Captain Caveman wears a full face helmet so it was no problem for him to drive straight in to a large overhanging tree with thorns and flowers on. I wasn’t best pleased to get scratched but he just argued the plant wasn’t spikey, I shoved a thorny branch in front of his face! We picked up the home made peanut butter and was on to our next stop. A small stall outside a local’s house where he’d tried to buy onions and eggs yesterday but could see no one at home to pay. Captain Caveman had took a photo of the items on the scales yesterday so he could pay today but they were closed. Our next stop was Oxalis Home, where I’d not been since before the pandemic. Captain Caveman had a soft drink and I had a beer. It was very busy with guests returning from tours.
We carried on to the wedding and were seated with a few other familiar faces. Chung and Uy were so pleased to see us and gave us beer with ice straight away. The wedding lasted all of 35 minutes before the mass exodus started and, as it was extremely hot, we were not too far behind. We managed a full 55 minutes though. On the way back, the grocery stall in the house was open again so I watched while Captain Caveman tried to explain he’d already taken items yesterday and had just come back to pay. He nearly got the items again and the husband was in trouble with his wife, possibly for leaving the stall unattended yesterday. I needed a pee, after all that beer, so we stopped off at Tree House cafe on our way to pick up some croissants. Captain Caveman had a coffee and I had a passion fruit smoothie, which was brilliant. Mao, who had been at the wedding too, was there and managed to scare off some backpackers with how drunk he was. Our next stop was the Lake House to pick up some pre-ordered croissants but they weren’t there yet. This lead to us having a bottle of white wine at a cost of 660,000vnd (£23.76), as the cheaper one wasn’t available, while we waited for them to come from Dong Hoi. We got to see Snowy, the dog, who loves Captain Caveman and finally got the croissants but didn’t pay at the time on account that the bill said there were 10 breadrolls instead of 6 croissants.
By 9.30am on Friday 17th June I was making a version of a cooked breakfast at home. I had bacon, baked beans and potatoes and it was good. I was by the pool when Captain Caveman messaged to say he was out of the cave and on his way back to Phong Nha. I had arranged to go to pizza night and Captain Caveman was keen to join it too. He had the night off and was also off for the next 2 days. Of course, it would be wrong of me to think that when Captain Caveman has time out of the cave that I will automatically be the only person he spends time with. Even his Friday night had errands he had to run too. I donned my motorbike helmet and got on the back of Trigger (the motorbike) for a ride in to Phong Nha with Captain Caveman. Our first stop was at Tree House cafe where he ordered some ground coffee beans. I had my first Saigon beer and Captain Caveman had an iced coconut coffee while we waited for the coffee to be ground. I worked with Hoàng, the owner of Tree House, a few years ago and it was nice to see him and the lovely cafe again.
Next, we carried on to The Villas for pizza night. Captain Caveman and I picked a table next to the bar so we could take advantage of the half price margaritas and the all you can eat pizza night commenced. As Captain Caveman was driving, he had 1 and a half margaritas and I had 2 and a half. The price of the all you can eat pizza was now 180,000vnd (£6.50) which was still good value if you can eat a lot of pizza. Our total night out for both of us came to 660,000vnd (£24). As we were eating, The Villas manager came over to chat to us and was keen to tell me something I didn’t know about. Lan, who is very nice, mentioned that Captain Caveman had shared the penthouse suite with her and Hong (another pretty, young waitress) on a couple of occasions. She didn’t help his case when she told me that, because he had been too drunk to ride his bike home and the hotel had been fully booked, she had let him share with the 2 of them. This had happened on 2 occasions and she seemed surprised that Captain Caveman had forgotten to mention it to me. It’s a good job I knew Lan and Hong well enough to know they are nice girls and were just looking out for Captain Caveman when he was too drunk. Bien’s stag party was in full swing and Captain Caveman kept getting texts from the lads to see where he was so he went to join while I stayed at The Villas to finish my pizza and cocktail. It was better to get a lift lift back to Elements with Bich, anyway so I didn’t mind missing the stag party. When I got home, Captain Caveman was just arriving back and we had some drinks before bed. We had decided that Captain Caveman would submit his top 10 songs to Kate’s mammoth playlist she was compiling for future boat trips, I’d already done mine. This then led to us dancing away to lots of tunes which people had already suggested, as well as our own. I was also really pleased that we had nothing to get up early for tomorrow, Captain Caveman’s first full day off with me in Phong Nha since I arrived 1 week ago.
It was hard to believe that it had been 2 weeks since my last full day and night in Dalyan, the day of my amazing leaving party. On Thursday 16th June I tried to organise myself a bit better and, although I was still living out of my suitcase, I had got used to it. I should think myself lucky to live as well as I do and I decided to try to finish more of the Mike Tyson autobiography that I was still reading. It was too hot for breakfast so I didn’t bother with anything except for several glasses of water. By 11.30am it was 35°C inside the house and I had to try to cool myself down – it would turn in to a numerous shower and 2 changes of swimwear kind of a day. I had sweated less in a sauna on an expensive spa weekend and was now having to have a flannel for mopping my brow. I was pleased I’d bought new sunglasses in Çalış as I really needed them today. I even did a spot of actual sunbathing with factor 30 and 50 on. I had a cheese sandwich for lunch and by 3.30pm I had to adopt another way of keeping cooler, a beer in the pool. As the sun was going in I witnessed a fantastic sight; The cow next door had walked home early and wanted to get in for his dinner. The gate was closed so he stood there and moo’d for someone to let him in. The owner was out, as I’d seen him pop off on his motorbike, but the cow didn’t know this and continued to wait, next he stomped his hoof – I took a couple of videos of him as he was so cute. For dinner I had the rest of my roast dinner from Sunday with some extra steamed rice and it was pretty nice. Tomorrow, Captain Caveman would be out from Son Doong with 2 days off and I was really looking forward to that.
The cow wants to be let in the gate for dinnerThe cow gets more impatient at not being let in for dinner
I was woken up early by a storm, heavy rain and the electric going off and on, on Wednesday 15th June. I did what I could to keep cool, without a fan or AC and made a cup of Yorkshire tea. Tatas and I formed a new plan and Darren had realised he couldn’t join us as he was off to Dong Hoi. Instead of meeting at East Hill for BBQ chicken, we would have it delivered to Elements around 12.30pm, Tatas would come over until it was time to go to the briefing with Darren. It had been a while since I’d had East Hill chicken and it didn’t disappoint; 280,000vnd (£9.80) for a whole BBQ chicken, cucumber, sticky rice with peanut salt and a chilli based sauce, called cheo. We ate downstairs in the communal area because it was cooler but the electric did come back on. I opened a bottle of red wine, The Accomplice, which we had with our tasty lunch. We went up to the pool and had a swim, Tatas was up for taking photos and she became a model for a while. I had turned my back for a couple of minutes when I noticed Tatas had only put a glass of wine on the ridge of the infinity pool. My heart was in my mouth now, while I took photos, as I could see how easy it would be for her to fall off as she picked up the glass from beside the pool. I’m always telling Captain Caveman off for having glasses too near the pool too. After Tatas had gone to work, I was having a quiet night in and hoping for an early night. I didn’t get to bed until gone midnight and it was pretty hot still.
On Tuesday 14th June Captain Caveman was up early, ready for his next tour. I asked him to resend me his schedule for June, July and August as I didn’t realise that he’d only have 2 more days off in the rest of the month. Captain Caveman had already had the first 8 days of June off to go to meet me in Saigon. I hadn’t realised this before my flight was booked to turn up 5 days into his days off, I should have come earlier if I wanted to see him more. Before Captain Caveman left, we went out to see Bluey, my bicycle, and he managed to adjust her seat for me so that I had a way of getting about, if it ever got cool enough for me to attempt it. I didn’t bother with breakfast as I was feeling too hot but by the time it got to lunch time I was peckish. I put the rice cooker on and had my left over butter chicken and naan bread with steamed rice and it was delicious. In the afternoon I chilled out by the pool with my new book, Two Pillars Remain, and a White Russian (the cocktail, not a war refugee). I got in touch with Tatas and Darren to arrange doing something tomorrow, as they both had a day off then a briefing together. We hoped to go to one of my favourite places in Phong Nha, if the weather was ok.
Monday 13th June was another fun day and I was looking forward to Captain Caveman getting back later. I was still struggling with the heat and, despite me having the AC on 24°C, the temperature in the room was over 30°C at 10am. The cleaning staff were surprised, but happy, to see me back at Elements. They came to give the place a spruce up and bring more towels for the bathroom and pool. I spent a lot of time swimming because my trapped nerve in my left glute was hurting and I didn’t have lunch until 2.30pm. I finished off the rest of the bolognese with spaghetti and probably shouldn’t have eaten so much because I had plans for tonight. Captain Caveman was back home about 4pm but then had to be at his briefing for the next tour at 6pm. He had bought some new jeans for motorbiking while I’d been away and he looked really good in them. While he rode back off to Phong Nha I waited for my lift. Bich and Ben had decided to restart the Monday curry night at The Villas which was nice, as they used to do a lovely butter chicken. Bich came over and had a friend in the car with her who wanted to look round our villa so we did that first. We were still at The Villas before 6pm and I was going to sit in the AC room but Bich’s friend was making a call to his wife in Australia. He’d already spoken to her in the car on the way but he continued to speak to her for a long time, while I sat at the bar with a Pina Colada (50% off on a Monday) and free popcorn. Stu, the kids and a friend from Dong Hoi were meant to be joining the curry night but only Stu made it, by which time we no longer waited for the guy to finish his video call with his wife. The butter chicken came with steamed rice and garlic naan bread and was a generous portion. The curry was delicious but I couldn’t finish it all so I got a doggy bag just as Captain Caveman came to join us. Stu pre-ordered enough for the guys back home plus took half of his home too. Captain Caveman had already eaten at his Oxalis briefing and we had another event to get to. One of the lads who he works with, Núi, was getting married tomorrow so tonight was the stag party, to which we were both invited. If Captain Caveman hadn’t been driving, and working tomorrow, we’d have been able to give the ball a right kick. Instead, I had to take a few beers for the team with the lads. We didn’t stay long but it was good to see a few friendly faces and it was a shame we would miss the wedding.
I found Sunday 12th June to be a more positive day. I decided to make some plans to go out, while Captain Caveman was on day 3 of his 4 day tour. Tomorrow, Captain Caveman would come out in the afternoon, have a shower, put the washing in and repack to go back in the cave. He would attend the briefing of the next group instead of the gala dinner of the existing group and be back in Son Doong the day after, for another 4 days. This was disappointing for me but I focused on him having 2 days off on the 18th of this month, so only 6 days to wait until we could do something together, perhaps. I didn’t bother with any breakfast but I did have a lovely lunch. I’d taken another mystery jar out of the freezer to find that Captain Caveman had made Bolognese with pork mince and bacon. There was further disruption to my exercise schedule this week as the dead bird was still in the pool. By this time I had seen Duyet who had sent another man to remove the dead bird from the pool. He couldn’t find the bird even when I was pointing to it while wrapped in my towel, having just got out of the shower. I decided to ask Duyet for a lift to the Phong Nha Farmstay, for my first time this year, where I hoped they still had a bar and a happy hour. While I was waiting to get in the jeep I noticed we had a new pet. Unfortunately, Carrot the dog was no longer with us so it looked like we now had a squirrel. In a cage. The word for squirrel in Vietnamese is sóc so I promptly named it Sox. There was water and banana for it to eat but it was quite shy and looked a bit scared of me. The drive up to the Farmstay brought back memories as I saw the farmers planting or tending to the rice paddies along the way. When I arrived and logged in to the free WiFi (I still didn’t have a SIM card yet) I noticed Kat had been trying to call me. She only uses Instagram but I didn’t have notifications turned on for it. Kat and Buu had decided to come join me at the Farmstay for happy hour and a Sunday Roast. I couldn’t believe my luck when I discovered that there was draft beer and the Sunday dinner had been restarted too. As I was at the bar I noticed there were some pretty good ‘not on the menu’ specials, including the notorious Sam Mackenzie Veggie pie, apparently available every day. The staff were still getting used to having international customers again but there were a few of us about, including a lady I remembered seeing just as the pandemic hit Vietnam. As I had been desperate to eat pork again I ordered my roast dinner with just pork and no lamb, Kat and Buu shared a meal and ordered a Spaghetti Bolognese too. I had the red wine which came with the deal too. It was good to see Kat and Buu again who had remained in Vietnam throughout the pandemic. We chatted with Bich too, who had some funny stories from her recent Australia trip. There was a new book on display at the Phong Nha Farmstay which Veronika and her friend, Sue, had written about the local area of Cu Nam. It was a available for a minimum 100,000vnd (£3.60) donation towards the village museum. I donated 200,000vnd for a copy of it and popped it in my bag to read by the pool one day. Kat and I shared my chocolate fondant cake as it’s very rich and she hadn’t tried it before. She shared her carrot cake with Buu and offered me some but by this time I was too full. The set price of 300,000vnd (£10.80) was the same as last year but I did notice the portions, although a generous portion, weren’t quite as big as the last time I had one. I ended up with lamb and pork despite my ordering specifically without lamb because the staff forgot, there was no crackling and the Yorkshire pudding was small – I suspected the oven was opened during the cooking process. I enjoyed my dinner and I even took half home to pop in the freezer. After saying our goodbyes and agreeing to meet up for wine drinking at a girls night for us cave widows we all went home. I got a lift back with Duyet after having an extra beer because the happy hour had not included draft beer but I’d had 1 draft and 1 bottle, so now I needed 1 more bottle. Even though the draught beer was so much nicer it was 45,000vnd (£1.62) for a half so I would have to limit them. My total spend for today had been 600,000vnd (£21.60) which was kind of a bit over our usual budget, but did include a book, 4 alcoholic drinks, a dinner and a pudding.
Saturday 11th June wasn’t an amazing day for me and it was only my 2nd full day in Phong Nha. I started off trying to keep positive after not feeling particularly welcomed back by Captain Caveman, yesterday. Him not having made any room for me, or my stuff, was probably just an oversight as he had been working so much. I was obviously disappointed that he didn’t have much time off and, especially as more of my family were hoping to be in Dalyan soon, I could have stayed in Turkey longer to join in with their plans. I had a friend who I was talking to in Dalyan who was going through some not very nice things right now and I felt useless to help them. I also had another worry at the back at my mind too; although I’d been promised I could extend my tourist visa after the 5th of next month, I didn’t believe it. If I had to leave Vietnam it would have been a very expensive trip to hardly see Captain Caveman – the main point to my visit. I’d had a croissant for breakfast and was doing some editing most of the morning. I decided to eat up the rest of the pulled pork for lunch and I got the trusty rice steamer out to make some perfectly cooked rice to go with it. I sniffed the pulled pork in the jar to see if I could tell how spicy it was. I couldn’t smell anything and even when I ate it, the taste was nice and I couldn’t tell if there was chilli in it. Of course, it made me ill and I even had to have a nap after I finally got out of the bathroom. By 4pm I was so hot but I couldn’t swim in the pool because there was a dead baby bird in it. I tried getting it out with a colander but couldn’t so asked the staff if someone could get a pool net or something, they said yes but it didn’t come before dark. I had to cancel the evening plans because of my stomach and went back to bed. By 9.30pm I was wide awake and hungry so I had a slice of Kate’s fruitcake with Dick’s Red Leicester cheese and a gin & ginger ale. I hoped for a better day tomorrow.
My first full day in Phong Nha on Friday 10th June was a little surprising. It was before 6am when Captain Caveman was up, packing and rustling about with the laundry bag and getting something that he needed sewing. I said goodbye to him as he went off to work on his first trip of several this month. Unfortunately, the time off I’d hoped he might have in June, was not as much as I had anticipated. I started to realise I would be spending a fair bit of time in Phong Nha without him, for the rest of this month. It was a cloudy day but still too hot for me to cycle the 10km in to town. I went to see Bluey but Captain Caveman had left the seat too high for me and I couldn’t free the leaver to change it. I put some of my stuff in the bathroom, where there was some space for me to use. I sent my passport to the Phong Nha Farmstay receptionist to register me as staying there, as the villa we are staying in is in their private villa portfolio, ideal for longer term stays where you want a home from home. It was nice to see the Elements Collection villa in the daylight again and it did look really lovely in the bright sunshine. For lunch I cooked half the defrosted pulled pork and put the rest back in the fridge for a second meal. I didn’t even get half way through my food before I had a bad reaction, it had chillies in it! I rested up, mostly in the bathroom or drinking water until I started to feel better. Later in the afternoon, I got my swimmers on and had a bit of a dip. The pool was as warm as bath water so I only did about 20 lengths before getting out for a lay on the sunbed in the shade. Just as I had resigned myself to having a very sedate weekend I was invited for a lift to a night out. Ben and Bich, the owners of the Phong Nha Farmstay, were back from their Australia visit and had relaunched the infamous all you can eat pizza night, from 6.30pm to 8pm this evening at The Villas restaurant! I was up for that and was looking forward to not having to eat 2 portions of spicy pulled pork in the same day. I sat outside while waiting for my lift with Bich, which gave me time to sit and admire the matured gardens, getting bit by mozzies at dusk. I watched the staff saturate the garden with a hose and wondered why all the Christmas decorations, including a 5ft tree, were still up.
When I arrived at The Villas restaurant I was so happy to see lots of people I hadn’t seen in ages, some since before the pandemic had started. Ben, Bich and the boys were excited to be back in Phong Nha and we were all delighted that international tourism was back in Vietnam. Stu was with his kids and a friend, who I had met once before. Next to them was a guy who said hello but I didn’t know him, I would get to meet him again. At a table up the steps was Hanh who sat with her son, some female friends and Drifter. I said hello to all of them but Kat and Dung were already waiting for me to go join them by the river. After welcoming hugs we ordered margarita cocktails (50% off on pizza night) and sat down. Dung used to be my boss when I worked at Jungle Boss and it was great to catch up after so long! I was pleased to see Kat, a really smart American girl with great hair, who I had become friends with during the pandemic. Her boyfriend, also a friend of mine, is a cave guide for Jungle Boss so she and I had automatically formed a cave widow appreciate group (aka CWAGs, formerly Cavers Wives and Girlfriends). We joined a table with Leo, who I am good friends with and worked with at JB, and his girlfriend Su, the new manager of the Sales team. All the staff were still there and it was good to see them again, they looked like they were happy to see Phong Nha welcoming back more people and were ready to see some busy weeks and months ahead, hopefully. We had a great laugh and I had about 8 pieces of pizza and 3 margaritas. It was only day 1 and, so far, I had spent 160,000vnd (£5.76) on the pizza and 225,000 (£8.10) on the cocktails. Bich was giving me a lift back so I had to leave my friends, which was a shame because I was just getting in to the swing of it. I was invited to the Jungle Boss event tomorrow night where they were having live music and a mobile bar in the town centre. I was home and in bed before 10pm, feeling very full and happy to have seen quite a lot of my Phong Nha friends tonight. I was so distracted that I forgot to take any photos of my own, I’d have to go again next week and try harder!
Thursday 9th June was not a relaxing day, we were off back to Phong Nha as Captain Caveman had to be at work for 6pm. After finalising some packing, and Captain Caveman getting cross with me for not having sufficiently wrapped the Stilton cheese, we were ready to check out of Melia River View apartments. Our flight was in the afternoon so we still had time to meet up with another friend, Quyen, in District 1 of Saigon. We temporarily left our luggage at her place while we walked round to a nearby restaurant. As luck would have it I’d requested a Japanese restaurant and it couldn’t have been a better choice location wise. I ordered a peach tea drink and a pork dish, the other two had fishy stuff. We got brought some warm boiled gingko nuts which look like pistachios but taste more like a slightly off, cheesy chestnut. The food was delicious and we had a nice catch up with Quyen, who’d I’d not seen for quite some time. After our meal we went to a cafe round the corner for a hot beverage and then it was sadly time to say bye to Saigon and Quyen. We were off to the airport for our 3.30pm flight to Dong Hoi, there was still no rain which was lucky.
At the airport Captain Caveman found some Ron Zacapa rum, which was a lovely surprise and he bought a bottle to take with us. By 3pm we were near the front of the queue to board the flight and I should have known it would happen. Captain Caveman got in a separate queue to me, so he didn’t have to speak or listen to me for the next half an hour while we waited to be let through the gate and on to the bus to the plane. He made out it was because 3 Vietnamese men had pushed in by starting a second queue but he was doing the same by becoming the 4th person in it. We were lucky to not have anyone sitting on the aisle seat on our row so we spread out after take off, I had some dried mango and Captain Caveman had Pringles. The flight was quick, slightly delayed but landed in Dong Hoi around 5pm. I left Captain Caveman getting our luggage while I went to the toilets, they had soap which only I used. I remembered a couple of years ago some Vietnamese women telling me they didn’t like to use soap as it makes their skin look older. The pandemic was obviously a thing of the past for hand washing with soap in toilets again, but of course everyone wore a mask over their mouth and nose. Captain Caveman had arranged an Oxalis car and driver to pick us up from Dong Hoi airport, drop me off and take him to work. He would cycle back after work, to where I would be staying for at least another 3 weeks.
When we arrived at Elements Collection, the villa where Captain Caveman has been staying since September 2020, he was pushed for time. He left the luggage downstairs, gave me his keys and got back in the car to go to the Oxalis office. Part of his job, as a cave expert on the Hang Son Doong tours, is to meet the guests at their briefing and dinner on the evening before their 4 day expedition. I started to move the bags and looked for somewhere to unpack my stuff. I also took a jar of mystery contents from the freezer to defrost for my dinner. Unfortunately, in the time that Captain Caveman had been away in Saigon, he had forgotten to inform anyone at the villa or Phong Nha Farmstay that I was coming back. There were only half the pillows and towels in the room and the place was not looking like it was ready for me coming to stay. I was a bit miffed about this as I thought Captain Caveman would at least have moved all his winter clothes out of the wardrobe, or cleared me a drawer or shelf to use. The stuff I had left here back in September had been put in storage in the Glass House and were still over there. I put all my clothes back in my suitcase and got myself a can of cold Huda beer. The pulled pork that I had got out of the freezer still hadn’t quite defrosted 2 hours later and I was peckish. Instead, I had spaghetti with pesto mixed in – basic but tasty and it would do. Captain Caveman cycled Bluey, my bicycle, back from Phong Nha so that I would be able to get about while he was away for the next few days. By 9.45pm he was back and we were having a Huda beer before an early night, as Captain Caveman had an early start tomorrow.
I was back on track for getting some sleep now and on Wednesday 8th June I woke up feeling almost human again. Storms with very heavy rain were forecast for the afternoon and it was our last day in Saigon so Captain Caveman had a plan. He booked a Grab taxi and we went to Lubu for lunch. Almost 7 years ago to the day I met a lady called Beth who I went on an Easy Rider motorbike trip with from Phong Nha to Hue, via Khe Sanh, as a group of 4. She has a son, who we met while he was the manager of Mekong Merchant in Saigon, when we caught up with Beth again a few years ago. Her son, Jay, is now at Lubu, and we happened to see him. Captain Caveman took a terrible photo of me with Jay to send to Beth and he gave us a glass of wine each on the house, which was really nice of him. Captain Caveman and I ordered the lunchtime special which I would definitely recommend. I ordered a green salad starter (get me!), the steak and chips with garlic butter and a pannacotta type dessert. Captain Caveman went for the Gazpacho, chicken schnitzel and ate both of our desserts. This surprised me as he doesn’t ordinarily like sweet stuff and I don’t like the texture of a pannacotta. My complimentary red wine was lovely so Captain Caveman decided we would have a bottle of that. We sat and relaxed while sipping our beverages and discussing plans for when we were back in Phong Nha.
Our next stop was to have a wander in to the Annam Gourmet shop where I wanted to get some treats. They had bottles of Prosecco for 550,000vnd (£19.25) but Captain Caveman wasn’t interested in buying any to take back with us. I spotted the 4 Limited Release Lab Series gins from Lady Trieu too but we didn’t even buy any of that, on account of us not really having enough luggage space. We wandered our way through District 2 and by 3.30pm we were in the pub. I’d already been warned there were no late night bars open in Phong Nha so I was making the most of it. We met Andrea for a couple of ales in Bia Craft (one with an indoor AC section), I accidentally ordered a snack of shredded cheese, not realising it was sprinkled with hot chilli flakes and I had to drink a lot of beer, rather quickly. The snack menu had a Caeser salad on there but I didn’t point out to Captain Caveman that it had egg in it! When Andrea’s colleague and friend, Amarjit, joined us we had one more drink before going out for our last dinner in Saigon.
Captain Caveman and I had chosen Baba’s Kitchen because we love it there and it’s my favourite Indian restaurant in Saigon. The food was lovely, the drinks flowed, I was pretty merry so I forgot to take any decent photos. We also ordered 2 portions of Chicken Jalfrezi and 2 Butter Chickens to take away. It was a lovely last night which Captain Caveman and I finished off in a bar where we discovered a sport I’m good at; shuffleboard. We had several games of it and I am much better at this than pool or darts, maybe we needed to find one in Dalyan for the winter. The storms held off all day and night so I had been lucky to not encounter any rain yet. When we got in, Captain Caveman made sure our curries were in tupperware boxes, sealed properly, in the fridge. They would be packed to take to Phong Nha, tomorrow.
I didn’t wake up until 7am on Tuesday 7th June, although it was still 3am on my Turkish watch. I was missing having 2 pillows and having to get used to a hard bed again. Captain Caveman was already up and about in the kitchen making himself peanut butter wraps because he was hungry. For lunch we went to the same place as for breakfast yesterday, as Captain Caveman was complaining that I couldn’t walk far, or quickly enough. I thought my foot was ok but I just wasn’t used to walking at his pace so it was starting to hurt a bit. I was back to walking several metres behind my man again and it felt weird. While Captain Caveman ordered a Caesar salad and a smoothie I ordered chicken fried rice and a draft Platinum beer. When Captain Caveman’s salad arrived it had poached eggs on which I commented was unusual. Our first argument happened because now Captain Caveman was insisting that there is always eggs in a Caeser salad. I agreed that eggs were in the dressing but I had never seen cooked/poached eggs in one, but of course he had to argue the point until I really couldn’t care less if it did or not. I could see I was going to have my work cut out for me as I’d temporarily forgotten how much Captain Caveman likes to argue and be a know-it-all. I still maintain he is wrong but I just said ‘lovely’ then drank my beer and ate my chicken fried rice without speaking. My food was ok, it didn’t have much flavour to it, but the beer was good so I had another one. We were sat in the shade, with a fan on, it was only 30°C but I was melting – the humidity was a bugger!
By 4.30pm we were on our way to meet Keith from Grimsby, who lives in Saigon. I’d asked Captain Caveman to think of a bar which had AC as I didn’t want to drink in this heat and become sick with dehydration. When we arrived at Bia Craft, which I already knew would be an outdoor place, we picked a table near to a fan in an attempt to keep me cool. It was still unbearable but of course we were here now so I may as well get a beer. I chose a beer made with rice in the attempt that I wouldn’t consume too much gluten and have a bad stomach. It tasted ok but when Keith arrived he let us in on one of his top tips that there is another beer which is a lot cheaper if you buy the bigger size. We all had one of those and ordered food. I had already decided I was having a rack of pork ribs with chips, Keith ordered a burger and Captain Caveman ordered a sausage but was giving Keith his chips as he’s not a fan of them. My ribs were so good and we had several more of the better value beers.
Next, Captain Caveman had arranged to meet his friend, Hung, at a Bia Hoi place not too far away so we invited Keith to join us. When we got there Hung was already on his way and had several Bia Hoi containers at the ready and snack food. There was duck and beef jerky, later he ordered frog. I was too full to eat anything more so I just stuck to the beer. It was a great evening and I enjoyed catching up with Hung and Keith from Grimsby as it has been a long time since I’d seen them, due to the pandemic. Keith was the first to leave as it was a school night, but luckily he didn’t live far from the Bia Hoi bar. By 9.45pm I was ready to say bye to Hung and go back to the apartment, I was so full of beer and still jet lagged. I could tell Captain Caveman wanted to stay out so I said he could and I would go back by myself. It was decided we would both leave as I don’t yet have a working Vietnamese phone or access to the Grab app. Back home Captain Caveman got the washing out and was annoyed at me that I had not secured the Stilton cheese in a Tupperware for transporting all this way, so some of my clothes still smelled of cheese. I thought he’d be excited to try some of Kate’s fruitcake because he does like fruitcake, but he didn’t want any. As soon as we got in to bed Captain Caveman was snoring very loudly so it took me a while to get to sleep. At least tomorrow we had no plans to be up early, as far as I was aware of!
Monday 6th June started off with me being rather crotchety at not having had enough sleep. Captain Caveman had set his alarm for 7am and then turfed me out of bed to get a shower and get ready for the day. I was confused as my watch still said 3am, the blackout curtains fooled me in to thinking it was still night time and, at that moment, I didn’t really care what the plan was. I wanted to stay in bed and go back to sleep but Captain Caveman was insisting we needed a hearty breakfast because today’s activity would require sustenance. All I could think was ‘please don’t let it be an outdoor/adventurous pursuit’! First, we went to a nearby cafe for breakfast where I got to watch Captain Caveman shovel in a plate of my least favourite breakfast items in one meal; avocado, tomatoes and poached eggs with toast. I had Pho Bo (beef noodle soup) with a pot of earl grey tea.
After breakfast we asked a security guard to call us a taxi and we headed to Bach Dang ferry terminal. Captain Caveman had booked arranged for us to go on a gin tasting experience which we were told to meet at 9.30am for – I love a good gin but, crikey! We were early and it transpires we weren’t getting on the ferry anyway. I had a wander about, used the portaloo (which was quite clean and had soap) then saw a statue of Vo Thi Sau, a girl who had fought in the war against the French occupation, more about her here: https://theculturetrip.com/asia/vietnam/articles/vo-thi-sau-the-story-of-vietnams-guerilla-girl/ Captain Caveman’s friend was sending a speedboat to pick us, and a few other select guests, up. I’m not one for speedboats, I was even seasick on one in the Maldives, so I was a bit apprehensive. The others arrived and we all walked across the ferry to get on to the speedboat. We got our life jackets on while Captain Caveman explained to me how these ones with CO² cannisters work. They automatically inflate in water and so, as we sat at the front of the boat, I moved my bag from across my chest in case it inflated by accident and injured me.
We were on the speedboat for quite some time and as we passed District 12, where Captain Caveman had cycled yesterday, we saw a big fire. It turned out that a tyre factory was in flames and was nicely polluting the area. After a total journey of 75 minutes we had arrived at a small area where we could use the facilities and wait for a car. When the car came, the guide expected the 8 of us to get in, but the 4 western fatties amongst us looked at him like he was insane. In no time, one of the guys was on the phone to request a 2nd car. By 11.30am (7.30am on my Turkish watch) we were at the distillery of Lady Trieu gin, having a water and meeting the very talented master distiller.
It was a strange feeling to have been out in Dalyan (Turkey) on Friday night, travelling to Vietnam all weekend, eating Lebanese food in Saigon last night and now it was Monday morning – it didn’t feel real. We liked Adam, the Master Distiller at Lady Trieu, straight away. He was knowledgeable, engaging and funny as he ran through the process of how they make gin here. The downstairs part of the warehouse was super hot for the 8 minutes we were stood listening to Adam. We went upstairs to an AC room which was set up for us to taste the gins in and at 11.46am, Vietnamese time, we were about to find out more and taste the Limited Release gins. The clientele were reminiscent of us being in a corporate meeting but that didn’t stop me trying to smell and taste my way through the gins with much enthusiasm.
For the gin lovers amongst you, here’s the Lady Trieu Limited Release gins we tried, neat: 1. Mekong Delta Dry Gin – has star anise, pepper, kumquat and orange peel flavours. I liked this one and could see me drinking this with a dry ginger ale, as I don’t like tonic. 2. Dalat Flowerbomb Gin – floral with chrysanthemum, jasmine, citrus, lotus and coriander. I didn’t think I’d like this but I did and would definitely buy this one. 3. Sapa Citrus Tea Gin – the oolong tea and pepper flavour was amazing. This became my new favourite of the 3 and I’d fancy this as a martini cocktail, so no need for tonic. 4. Hoi An Spice Road Gin – ginger and black cardamom flavours which was fantastic and would go well with a curry. By the 4th neat gin tasting I was starting to get tiddly and hungry but we still had the newest and best gin to taste. It was also apparent that almost everyone in the room, except for us, were suffering the after effects of a whisky event yesterday. One of the guys had popped out of the room to get himself a coke and a banana. Meanwhile I was getting right into it and my seasickness feeling was back with a vengeance. Lady Trieu, named after the famous warrior, was being sampled and reviewed by 12.20pm, this time I tasted it neat then with the recommended Fever Tree tonic and ice. I loved it.
In my mind it was 8.20am and I was pretty sozzled already as we went in to the next room, which had even more AC on and was where the magic and science happened. There was also a shelf with lots of glass bottles on which Adam, the Master distiller, explained were the ones that didn’t make it in to the final gin. By 1pm we were back downstairs, getting pictures with the rest of the Lady Trieu team and we were honoured to be allowed in the store cupboard to look at, touch and smell the ingredients. By 2.20pm we were in cars and almost back at the speedboat. As is usual for me, Monday madness was only just beginning and we happened to have an extra passenger!
As we got back on to the speedboat at 2.30pm, I foolishly thought we would have a calm ride back and then a taxi back to the apartment where I might get a little nap before whatever shenanigans Captain Caveman had slotted in to the schedule for tonight. We had brought Adam, the Master Distiller, with us and within 2 minutes of departure he was driving the speedboat. While Captain Caveman and I looked on at the impressive speedboat driving skills, the others were sat at the back of the boat drinking bottled water and eating plums. On the 75 minute journey back, anyone who wanted to drive the speedboat down a Saigon river, could. Well, when in Rome! I can now drive a speedboat and I loved it. Captain Caveman could already drive one, obviously – what can’t he do!? Unfortunately I peaked too early and, after the real driver took back control, I had to have a little sit down inside the boat, while the men chatted business. I was so jet lagged, tired and drunk, that I took my Volleys (shoes) off and had a short siesta. When we got off the speedboat Captain Caveman, Adam the gin man and I said bye to everyone else and jumped in a taxi. Captain Caveman had booked a grab to take us to a bar he likes, which I’d never been to before and couldn’t tell you where it was. I found that our new best mate liked Pulp as we blasted ‘Babies’ out and sang along to it. When we arrived at The Orient, I insisted we go in the AC, our friend Andrea, arrived to meet us. Unfortunately Adam, the Master Distiller, couldn’t stay out for more than the one drink and we said our goodbyes and thank yous.
We, on the other hand, managed another beer before going on to a restaurant of Andrea’s choosing where the 3 of us shared 2 bottles of lovely pinot noir red wine and 2 cheese and meat platters. Needless to say, we had an absolutely fantastic first full day together in Vietnam, I don’t recall getting back to the apartment over 12 hours after we left it, but I do remember wondering why all my clothes smelled of blue cheese.
joloyolo 