Sunday 17th July was a steady day as I made some preparations for Captain Caveman’s birthday tomorrow. I had a bacon sandwich and shade-bathed round the pool for quite a while. I did a bit of Duolingo and even added Kate and Vanessa as friends on there. I thought it would be good to try to do more Turkish learning before I go back to Dalyan. Vanessa and I were trying our best to keep up so that we weren’t behind when we got back to restart our weekly Turkish lessons. The weather in Phong Nha was cooler than the UK, apparently, so I couldn’t moan that it was 31°C at 6pm in the room with the AC on. I had the last of the butter chicken and managed to work around a spider on the kitchen floor, on condition that it eat all the mosquitoes. I packed a bag for tomorrow as I was pleased to be able to spend 4 hours of Captain Caveman’s special birthday with him, after his briefing tomorrow night.
My measurements on Saturday 16th July were hardly surprising given that I’d had a 5 day holiday in Hanoi and eaten like a pig yesterday; Bust +3cm, Waist +3cm, Hips +1cm, Right thigh -3cm, Left thigh -0.5cm, Right calf no change Left calf +1cm. It had been 2 weeks since the last measuring and now my legs were back to having 1.5cm difference in thigh measurements and 1cm in calves – my bad leg still being the smallest after 27 months since the injury! I had just 6 weeks left until my flight back to Istanbul so I thought I’d try to get a bit of a tan. I popped on my leopard print swimming costume and tried to take a few nice photos of me on my holidays. Unfortunately it was a bit tricky to get any decent ones and I gave up being in the sun after 12 sweaty minutes. I ate some fruit for my lunch and then applied for my next e-Visa. I still had two and a half weeks left on my current visa but, as I knew when my leaving date out of Vietnam would be, I may as well apply. I had to use my Turkish bank account and was a little nervous as it might not work in Vietnam. It sent me a message in Turkish and I understood it enough to be able to know I had to log in to my internet banking and put in a code. As it was a Saturday the money didn’t go out of my account, I had to wait until Monday to see if the payment would be accepted or rejected. I had an early dinner of more butter chicken with steamed rice and then polished off the rest of the Chardonnay. I got peckish before bed and had the crumpet I had got out of the freezer for tomorrow’s breakfast.
It was rather muggy, but sunny, on Friday 15th July as we ate a fry up for breakfast together. Captain Caveman was going back in to the cave so he would miss the final catch up with Veronika and Ross this lunchtime. By 8am I was swimming in the pool and then I got ready to go to the Phong Nha Farmstay. Duyet was not about so I had to wait for awhile for a pick up. I chatted to Sox, the squirrel, for a bit, he seemed to be getting more friendly, then Dung arrived. I never get tired of seeing the cows and today we disturbed a family of them so I took a cute video. At the leaving lunch for Veronika and Ross there were Bich, Ben, the kids, Stu, Max, Jack, me and Saoirse. Most people ordered Aussie pie, chips and gravy but Ross had fresh spring rolls, Saoirse had bun cha and I had beef in bamboo. The Vietnamese meals always take longer to come out because they are cooked fresh but are definitely worth the wait and I really enjoyed my lunch. By 2.30pm there was just Veronika, Ross, Saoirse and I left and we ordered a chocolate fondant cake, each! Well, it’s not every day you get to celebrate with such a nice family. Saoirse had a couple more days left before she left but Veronika and Ross would be in Saigon tonight, then Paris tomorrow. The chocolate fondant cake is amazing and very filling, they’d got chocolate ice-cream with it today but it often comes with vanilla. I had 2 beers, the beef dish and a dessert for 405,000vnd (£14.18) which now included tax and service charge. We said our goodbyes and arranged to meet up with Veronika in Turkey, later this year. When I got home I was so full that I decided to have a little rest on the bed. I woke up after it had gone dark, I had taken a meal out of the freezer to defrost, luckily. At last it was the butter chicken from Baba’s Kitchen in Saigon and it was going to easily last for 2 decent portions. I had it with steamed rice and opened a bottle of Australian Chardonnay. It was a lovely meal, with leftover curry and wine for tomorrow. In the news the Corona virus numbers were high again in England and my friend, Vanessa, was just recovering from it since returning from Dalyan. Her and a lot of my friends and family were also struggling with the rare heatwave in the UK right now. I don’t see a lot of British media over here but it was evident from my Facebook feed who probably wouldn’t be much good in Vietnam during the summer. As I got in bed I realised I hadn’t taken my measurements today but couldn’t be bothered to get back out of bed, I would do them tomorrow.
On Thursday 14th July I had bacon, sausage and beans for lunch, having not had breakfast, with a pot of Yorkshire tea. The rains had subsided but it was still cloudy today, which was nice. Captain Caveman came out of the cave in the afternoon and there had been a lake at the Great Wall of Vietnam because of the storms. He had his briefing for the next tour a few hours later but had been trying to get a haircut and a shave for some time now and managed to fail again today, as the hairdresser’s was closed. While he was at Oxalis, I went to Veronika’s for fizz again, this time with Ross and Saoirse, her granddaughter over from Australia. On the way to the Phong Nha Farmstay with Dung, in the jeep, there was a cow which was on a rope but had wandered across the road. A guy on a motorbike had to help out by riding in front of the cow to make it move across the road again. While we were enjoying our Lindeman’s sparkling white wine, one of Ben and Bich’s kids came to tell us that Ben was taking the family to The Villas for dinner and that we had to go now. Veronika invited me but I declined as I was hoping to see Captain Caveman before his bedtime. I went home but Captain Caveman wasn’t back from his briefing yet, then more heavy rain came. I was just thinking that Captain Caveman would probably stay in Phong Nha, instead of riding his motorbike home in this weather, when he walked in. He was so wet and dripping water everywhere as he went straight for a hot shower. He had called at The Villas to ask for a plastic bag when the rains had started so he had seen the Le Mitchell family. He had promised Bich he would let her know he was back safely as she was worried the storm was a bad one to ride home in. I messaged her, opened a bottle of red wine and got out 2 glasses.
Having been awake most of the night due to the storm, I woke up to nice weather on Wednesday 13th July. Our mate, Stu, had invited me over to his place for lunch with Tatas today and I was looking forward to that. Because their house is a bit far for me to walk, and is slightly too far to cycle in hot sun, Stu arranged for me to get picked up. Jack, Stu’s son, came to collect me on his motorbike and I was a bit apprehensive at first. He’s very experienced in riding motorbikes solo, despite only being 16, but I wasn’t sure if he’d taken a (heavy) passenger like me before. I have my own crash helmet so I was ok and he went fairly slowly through the countryside lanes. Tatas didn’t know the way so she followed from my place, which meant I could have had a lift with her if I’d known. Stu’s home is a fab 4 bedroom house with a large pool and open plan living/dining/kitchen area. It has plenty of space and great bathrooms – they even have sunken baths! It’s in the Cu Nam area which is higher up than where we are, in Khuong Ha, so is a safe place, even in flood season. Did I mention that it is currently up for sale and at a great price too? If anyone is in the market for a property near to Phong Nha and Dong Hoi they could get an amazing property at the Belafonte, as it’s nicknamed. It was the first time that Tatas had been for a visit as she had been busy with work so it was good to see her on her day off. We were given beers with ice as we sat down at the huge kitchen table to catch up on what the boys had been up to. We ordered East Hill chicken for lunch, which was fantastic, chatted a bit more and drank a few beers. Stu is not normally a drinker these days but he joined us for a couple of cold ones on this hot day. Tatas had forgotten her swimmers but that didn’t stop her jumping off of the plunge pool edge, in to the big swimming pool below, in denim shorts. I got in to the plunge pool to cool off as it was so hot and humid again. Tatas kindly took some photos of us in the pool as the clouds started to roll in a bit more. When she left, as she had a briefing that night, I had a lift back to mine with her. We had just got back in time when another storm came and we were fortunate to have left when we did. It had been a fun day out, with lots of laughs, and we hoped to meet up again when Captain Caveman and Tatas had days off at the same time. For dinner I had pasta with Stilton cheese, I watched the rain and had yet another early night.
There was quite a bit of rain on Monday 11th July. Captain Caveman had left for his Son Doong trip and this time he was doing 3 tours in a row, working for the next 12 days. He’d given me some spending money so that I could go for a drink with Veronika or Tatas if the opportunity arose. I had cornflakes for breakfast and caught up on some admin tasks. I’d attempted to get out another mystery freezer meal for dinner and made myself a cheese sandwich for lunch. It wasn’t quite the Monday I’d been used to but I did indulge in a vodka, lime and soda with my evening meal. It turned out to be a satay sauce which I had with chicken, vegetables and steamed rice. After the hectic Hanoi trip it was nice to have a day of not doing too much, just staying at Elements again.
More bad weather was predicted and storms were due on Tuesday 12th July. I saw on Facebook that the newly finished villa next to where we stay in Dalyan was up for holiday rental and it looked very nice. I had a buttered crumpet for breakfast which Captain Caveman had brought back from Hanoi. My lunch was leftover satay chicken with rice and I did some Turkish lessons in the afternoon. Veronika had invited me over to share some fizz so I got a lift up to the Phong Nha Farmstay with Dung, a new driver. Veronika and Ross were staying in one of the Jungalo private pool villas so I went over to their place. We had a lovely glass or two of sparkling white wine, before walking to the Farmstay poolside bar for dinner. Veronika ordered a Shepherd’s pie (the Tuesday special), I had the chicken and cashew nuts which was really tasty. I’d eaten mine by the time Ross got his food and was sat talking to Bich under a fan. It got incredibly warm as her cook showed her the prawns she had bought. Ten minutes later we had a downpour of rain so we opened another bottle of fizz, the Lindeman’s which is a firm favourite. Bich was telling me they have changed the pricing at the Farmstay now, with immediate effect everything would be subject to 8% tax and 5% service charge. They were also reviewing the prices of items on the menu which had not seen an increase in some time. It reminded me of Turkey in that prices were increasing to allow for the new tourist season. When I got my bill it came to 1,000,000vnd (£35 for dinner and mainly wine) which wasn’t bad when you compared it to Western prices. I tried to wait for the rain to stop to leave but in the end we just had to go for it. I was easily home and in bed by 10pm but I didn’t sleep much, as the thunder and lightening was right overhead and kept me awake.
Our stay in Hanoi was almost over but on Sunday 10th July we had one last friend to see. Lien used to be our Vietnamese teacher and we arranged to meet her at Oriberry cafe. I’d mentioned we should probably get something for breakfast first but Captain Caveman said we could eat later. It was nice to see Lien and she looked really well as we chatted about work related topics. Captain Caveman ordered himself a chicken and pesto salad sandwich but I really didn’t want to eat lunch at 10am and they didn’t have breakfast items.
On our way back to check out we bought a croissant for me from the supermarket. We had a car booked for the airport at 11.15am and we were off. Hanoi airport was very busy and the self check-in counters were broken so Captain Caveman had a bit of a to do. He went to complain at the staff member behind the new ticket sales counter. We were likely to miss our flight because the check-in queues were horrendous so she helped us by pushing us in to the front and getting us our tickets printed. The airport was noisy and stressful, we didn’t even get an alcoholic beverage. The flight was on time and, before we had even took off, Captain Caveman was working, the holiday was over! When we landed it was Captain Caveman’s job to meet and greet his customers which he did. When we went to get in the organised transport there were 2 cars which we were allocated the one with the Vietnamese customers in, while the English speakers were in the other car. They dropped me off, with both bags, at Elements and Captain Caveman went straight to Phong Nha to drop off customers then to his briefing for the tour tomorrow.
Shannon, was in town and we’d organised a soirée at the Phong Nha Farmstay. I snaffled down a toasted teacake and passion fruit snack, then got ready. I met up with Shannon, Veronika, Ross, Trang and Andrew for some dinner and a drink. I had a couple of beers and ordered a pork clay pot while the others had pizza or snack food. Mine took a bit longer to be served but it was really good and I had some rosé wine with Shannon. It was a pleasant evening and good to see Shannon passing through Phong Nha after a year away. Captain Caveman was back home before me and the rain had started to get heavy when I got my lift back home.
We had breakfast on Saturday 9th July at a place in Hanoi which Captain Caveman had told me about. I’d been looking forward to trying 7Frydays for its fish and chips, which are meant to be ‘the business’, but a good English fry up would do me. The rain in Hanoi was pretty heavy so we had borrowed an umbrella and taken the shortcut through the alleyways to get there. I think Captain Caveman was hoping to prove where I went wrong on getting lost yesterday, but we got lost again and it made me laugh. At 7Frydays the staff/owners were friendly and hard working and they dried off a table for us to sit at. As soon as I saw the breakfast menu I was happy and went for the build your own, while Captain Caveman ordered a Full Monty, of course. I had a lovely pot of tea with cold milk and a proper mug too. Something I have noticed that seems to be increasing is using chillies as garnish, as I’m allergic I find it unnecessary, but Captain Caveman had the bit that was on top of my hash brown. The food was absolutely wonderful and I would definitely eat there again when I’m in Hanoi. I was very full and wouldn’t need any lunch.
In the afternoon we went to meet Gary in a Bia Hoi, the weather had fined up so we walked. To be honest I’m not a fan of the Bia Hoi places because, although now I can drink the beer, the ones we usually go to are aimed at Vietnamese men. The toilets are always basic at best, no one has heard of soap and there’s lots of smoking (cigarettes and weed) on most occasions. Nevertheless, I do love Gary and his wife, Hanh, their friends are often good company too, so I put up with it. I usually end up having a great time and just get drunk so I worry less about having to use the piss drenched, stinky toilet. Joining the group today were Matt and Darren, both of who were also fun and we talked about a load of random topics. Captain Caveman got his beer served in a wonky glass which I wanted to see if we could buy but Captain Caveman wasn’t interested in doing that. I enjoyed the humour and having such a good laugh, which we always do whenever we meet up with Gary and his crew. The time went too quickly, I was very merry but it was time to say farewell. We had a dinner booked for our final evening in Hanoi together, tonight.
On the way back to Euphoria apartments Captain Caveman pointed out that the Bia Hoi next to where we were had a small Frydays within it. We stopped off and I tried the fish and chips, Captain Caveman had a fish sandwich. Unfortunately they didn’t have the Atlantic Cod, probably as they had been busy last night, so we settled for the red snapper. Our bill came to just 255,000vnd (£9), the portions were good and that included 3 beers. It was very tasty and hopefully helped soak up some of the alcohol before I had to go back to get ready for our last night out in Hanoi.
I decided to wear my orange dress with a bit of cleavage on show and had my hair down despite it being a bit warm still. Captain Caveman booked us a Grab taxi and texted his friend, Mr B, to let him know we were on our way! It would be a romantic table for three at the Drunken Duck. When the car dropped us off it was a bit of a walk down some alleys to find the place, it is on the canal by the Intercontinental hotel. As we walked in to the Drunken Duck it definitely looked like the type of place you’d go on a date. I noted it would definitely not be a place my Dad would like, though, on account of it being very dark and there were absolutely no menus whatsoever, not even for cocktails or wine! We sat at the bar, where the extremely young bartender was making cocktails and we chose ours. I wasn’t expecting to be that impressed with my Old Fashioned but it was spot on. My next cocktail was a dry martini with olives, by which time Mr B had arrived and we sat at our ‘table pour trois’. I think I preferred a menu rather than the waiter telling us we could have ‘chicken, pork, beef or fish’ and then Captain Caveman and Mr B asking for lamb. I ordered chicken in a rush and regretted it instantly. My food was good and came with 5 spice sauce on half a chicken, served with salad and pickled white carrot. The guys got what I thought was one portion of lamb to share but the waiter assured us it was two portions but on the same plate. We asked if they had wine and he directed us to the wall where I asked the price of a Primitivo. It was a reasonable cost at under £30 so we went for that and enjoyed it.
The night was delightful, we saw Mr B off in to a taxi before walking back to our accommodation. On the way back we inadvertently ended up in 7 Bridges Taproom bar, again! It had been great to see Captain Caveman as well as him be able to have some time off to see friends. Tomorrow we would be back in Phong Nha, we were both looking forward to it.
Photo credit – some at the Drunken Duck taken by Captain Caveman
My first job on Friday 8th July was to book myself on a trip to Laos for my next visa run. I had found an agent who did organised van/bus trips to the Vietnam-Laos border to be able to go out and in again with a new e-Visa. They were based in Danang and were doing at least one trip per week so I made enquiries, leading to a provisional booking for the end of the month. Captain Caveman’s train was running a bit late but he was on his way. I took a walk to Republic in the West Lake area of Hanoi and had a pot of earl grey tea. When I asked for some milk for it they brought me hot frothy milk which was a bit strange but I used it. Captain Caveman arrived and we had to leave straight away because he had arranged a lunch appointment with a friend. I’d particularly wanted to visit Con Heo Beo (The Fat Pig) as I hadn’t been for so long. It’s primarily a pork restaurant, a short walk down the hill from Republic, and where we went when my parents were visiting a few years ago. When we arrived the place had been done up a tad and looked very nice, Captain Caveman’s friend was already sat at an upstairs table, we ordered beers and pork scratchings for starters. We listened intently to Mr B sharing tales of his life since he and Captain Caveman last met up, 15 years ago. We ordered a sharing platter over more interesting updates. I was just getting to find this guy entertaining when it was informed to me that Mr B and Captain Caveman had to leave as they had arranged to be somewhere else at 2pm. Captain Caveman gave me his rucksack, put a shortcut on my phone of how to get back to Euphoria apartments, through some back alleys, and sent me off. It was not quite the romantic ‘welcome back to Vietnam’ reunion I’d imagined but, honestly, it was not unexpected – Captain Caveman has form for this sort of thing.
Google maps told me it was a 3 minute walk through some alleys back to Euphoria apartments. I followed the map for about a minute then my map told me I was stood in the middle of a lake and stopped directing me. It was hot, humid, I was lost but I was definitely not in a lake. I decided to go right and when I saw some building works, which Captain Caveman had mentioned, I turned left thus ending up in a school playground. It was 2pm as Google directed me to walk through the school, which I did and was back on track. I did some Turkish practice and lolled about back at the apartment for a bit. Captain Caveman had said he would meet me at the Moose and Roo at 5pm where I’d also rearranged to meet friends from our cancelled plans yesterday. I walked the 10 minutes to the pub and arrived at 5pm, just as Captain Caveman had got off a Grab motorbike. He hadn’t brought his friend so just the 2 of us went inside the Moose and Roo. Leonard made it and was doing well, I’d not seen him since before the pandemic, when he lived at Funny Monkeys, Phong Nha. We ordered some beers and the service wasn’t super quick so we weren’t going to be getting drunk. Leonard is a pensioner, and not too steady on his feet, so he just had the one beer. We happened to notice a guy we knew from a few years back, Declan, and he joined us for a drink too. We got talking to him about mates we had in common and had a bit of a laugh. Once Declan left, we decided to have some food and checked out the extensive menu. Leonard ordered the topped nachos, Captain Caveman and I shared a cheese board, both were nice but not the best ever. We had another beer (or 2) then said our goodbyes to Leonard and stopped traffic to get him in to a taxi, back to his hotel, in the old quarter. As we were leaving I started petting a customer’s dog and we got talking to the owner, they knew Mark and Lesley from Phong Nha and were coming to Phong Nha soon, so we exchanged details on Facebook. They needed information on what to do in Phong Nha and would message us with questions. We set off walking home and decided to call for one at the 7 Bridges bar. We ended up staying a little longer than expected and even had more food. Captain Caveman had a slice of pizza and some onion rings, I had the most amazing mac and cheese with bacon in. We left when a big group got too noisy – they just happened to be British! Captain Caveman and I had just one more full day in Hanoi tomorrow so he was going to make the most of it!
Thursday 7th July was particularly rainy in Hanoi so I stayed in the apartment. Kat was up early and had stuff to do so we said our goodbyes, it had been a really great couple of days and I was going to miss her company. She’d already had a croissant for breakfast, I had mine a little later. By lunch time I was eating left overs and doing a spot of Duolingo Turkish. Captain Caveman was due out of Son Doong today and would be going to his gala dinner tonight. His train was leaving Dong Hoi in the late evening but would arrive at 10am (approximately) tomorrow morning. We had arranged to meet up at a place I could walk to for lunch. I helped my sister, in Dalyan, organise a private boat trip with Kaan and breakfast at Çandır Resort for this coming weekend and then I did some blog editing. I couldn’t be bothered to go out in the rain as I didn’t have the clothes for it so I stayed in. I was meant to be meeting some friends at 5pm but, because of the rain, we postponed to when Captain Caveman was here. I drank the peach cider and finished off what was left of the picnic. It was all very nice and the peach cider is definitely worth a try. It was a lovely relaxing day, one I should have appreciated more because our weekend was going to be busy!
joloyolo 