Captain Caveman had 5 whole days off starting from Thursday 4th August. I was really looking forward to this, probably more than he was, and there were a few things we planned to do. We started the day with a fry up for breakfast and then I was ill, it was as if I was intolerant to Gluten yet again and I thought the sausages could be to blame.
Captain Caveman had to go to Phong Nha because he was booked in to get his 4th Corona vaccine, this time at the clinic in Phong Nha. I had arranged for us to meet Anna and Katie, the 2 Irish girls who I had met on my last visa run, and we decided to meet at the Phong Nha Vegan so I could see Chung too. I was still feeling ill but decided I would order some sweet potato fries and some mushroom skewers. We ordered drinks, the girls had a dish each and we chatted about their trip so far. I was ill again and had to experience the squat toilet in a tin shed situation which did not alleviate my sweatiness one bit!
While Captain Caveman popped off to get jabbed, we chatted to Chung who had bought Captain Caveman and I a gift each. I was so surprised to open a beautiful silk scarf which I loved. Captain Caveman got a really snazzy polo shirt which was very stylish, in just the right size too.
After lunch Anna, Katie and I walked to The Villas in the hot sun. We sat in the AC room and ordered cold drinks while we waited for Captain Caveman to return. We bumped in to Cameron, the consultant chef, who had a chat with the 3 of us. I could have stayed there all day but we had to get back for me to do the martini training with Sau, at the Phong Nha Farmstay at 5pm.
We arrived on time and Sau was waiting for me, eager to want to learn how to do a perfect martini. It took less than 15 minutes and Sau had got it right first time. Captain Caveman and I had the 2 vodka martinis, which we added to our bill before continuing on to have happy hour 2 for 1 drinks. We didn’t stay for dinner but I wish I had because we went home for a sausage pasta and I was quite ill again.
Captain Caveman was on a mission on Friday 5th August; before we had even got out of bed he had booked me a flight to Saigon for the 24th August. This meant that should there be any storms, cancellations, or hiccups I had a bit of wiggle room. It also meant that I would be able to catch up with friends who lived there before I left Vietnam for Turkey. Next, Captain Caveman was booking me a flight from Istanbul to Dalaman but there was a bit of an issue. We had left it too late to book and Turkish Airlines were wanting £200 for the shortest, most convenient, flight on the Saturday morning. I objected to paying that and we decided that I could cope with having to spend 11-12 hours in Istanbul so we could book the 7.25pm, £35, flight.
I did my weekly measurements and the results were:
Bust -1cm,
Waist -1cm,
Hips -1cm,
Right thigh -0.5cm,
Left thigh -1cm,
Right calf -0.5cm,
Left calf -1cm.
Pretty good really!
For lunch Captain Caveman made us pulled pork, hash brown and carrots, which was really tasty. He was on a mission today because he also decided that we would arrange a birthday party to celebrate our 50th birthdays. He had just been 50 but when it was my 50th, Captain Caveman and I would be in different countries so a party would be held at Karst Villas on 14th August. Captain Caveman posted on Facebook to let everyone know they were invited, which caused a bit of confusion for some of my family and friends who weren’t in Vietnam – they thought they had missed my birthday.
In the evening we had another garage party, this time I had organised it for all the staff, Captain Caveman and I to celebrate Duyet’s last day. I had ordered East Hill BBQ chicken, got a cooler bag of cold beers and chopped some passion fruit in half. We had a great time but I had to keep nudging Captain Caveman as the TV was on and he struggles to take his eyes away from a screen whenever there is one. It was a good chance for Captain Caveman to also meet Quoc and socialise with everyone. Duyet brought out even more food including the most delicious pork, which he’d done in the air fryer! Our East Hill order got delayed and only 1 chicken came instead of 2 but then she came back with it later and the staff said we no longer needed it, as we had lots of food. Yet again we had so much to eat and drink and we were so glad to have another goodbye party for Duyet, who we would miss a lot.
joloyolo 