I’d intended to work on Sunday 18th June but Chung, fellow member of the Lazy Ladies Club (LLC) had invited me for an early lunch. Phong Nha Vegan restaurant was having their monthly all you can eat buffet for 49,000vnd (£1.62) and I’d never been in town on the right day before. I met Chung there at 10.30am and it was already pretty busy. In fact, there were so many familiar faces there and I got to say hello to quite a few friends and neighbours.The vegan food was amazing and I was so surprised at how the fake pork was like belly pork. I had 2 lots of food but then was stuffed.
In the afternoon, Chung and I discussed a plan to get ourselves doing some exercise, she was doing a clean up litter picking mission but I couldn’t make it. We decided we would cycle out for drinks and dinner later tonight and arranged to meet outside the glass house at 8.15pm. We cycled down the street to Jungle Boss pub where we had a couple of cocktails and some food. Here’s our bill; 1 Tequila Sunrise 100,000 1 Margarita 100,000 Fresh spring rolls 60,000 Veggie fried rice 75,000 2 apple ciders 110,000 1 pineapple cider 55,000 Total spent 500,000vnd (£16.50)
While we were there, we got to speak to an ex Jungle Boss Colleague who was in Australia and then Kat, Buu and their friends came to join us. We had a good night and the locals were surprised to see Chung riding a bicycle. As we rode off, Kat and Buu went past on their motorbike chanting LLC. It was a fun night and I enjoyed my leisurely Sunday with Phong Nha friends.
I started my week with a cereal bar and a sugar free yoghurt for breakfast on Monday 19th June. For lunch I had my leftover rice from last night and I worked in the afternoon. Captain Caveman came back from Hang Son Doong but was rushing about as he had to speak to a colleague, meet up with a couple of friends from up North, and go to his briefing. Our friend Lucie and her family were leaving to go back to the Czech Republic so we said we would go to have a goodbye beer with her at The Villa’s. I cycled to Oxalis to meet Captain Caveman, who was saying hello to his friend, Josh, and his fellow cavers. We arranged to meet them later if Captain Caveman’s briefing finished in time for a late dinner. After hurrying to The Villas we sat and had beers with Lucie, her mom and son. They were sad to be leaving but hoped to be coming back to holiday in Vietnam soon. I had a couple of shandies with Captain Caveman as we both had work to do and we said a sad goodbye to Lucie – perhaps we will see them in Prague. I was peckish so had some veggie spring rolls and a jasmine tea before getting the bill. Four beers, 1 7Up and the spring rolls came to 300,000vnd (£9.90) which was cheap by both UK and Turkey prices. I finished work at 7.45pm after learning something new and cycled to meet Captain Caveman, we both cycled to meet Josh and his friends at Ganesh. We had a lovely evening and the food was as fantastic as always, we even shared another Sagwala but I forgot to take photos as I was too busy chatting. We were still awake at midnight looking at air fryers, they were much cheaper here than in Turkey.
Captain Caveman was off in to the cave on Friday 16th June and he would be doing 2 tours back to back over the next 8 days. I was looking forward to some quieter, less active days. In 2 weeks time I would be arriving in Rhodes to stay at Steve and Michelle’s house in Lardos. Captain Caveman and I ate left over pizza, from The Villa’s, for breakfast and then I saw him off from Ho Khanh’s homestay. I worked 10am to 7.15pm but with a couple of gaps for breaks. I ate cheese, biscuits, fruit, yoghurt and peanuts and after work I had a cheeky can of Huda beer from the fridge then watched Netflix. It felt cooler or was it because I was acclimatising after cycling in sun the last 3 days!?
For a change of scenery on Saturday 17th June, I chose to work from Victory Road Villas. I sat in the AC room of The Villa’s restaurant at the back and decided to go off piste on my breakfast order. I thought I’d try the recommendation from Captain Caveman of Bo Ne (without eggs) which was a little on the pricier side to my usual breakfast. When it came, it was different to what I imagined it to be; instead of sausage it had pâté, which I don’t like and the dish was in lots of tomato sauce, served with cucumber, which I don’t eat either. The bread was also sweet so I didn’t eat it all but I enjoyed the little hone made cookie served with my pot of Jasmine tea. I worked from 10.15am to 1.15pm then ordered an orange juice and some fresh spring rolls with prawns in. Lunch was very tasty and I washed it down with another pot of tea and got back to work. I finished around 4.15pm as I had planned to meet Lucie, who had returned from the new Jungle Boss tour. I had a soda, a lime juice and some peanuts while I waited for Lucie to get ready. Her son, and Lucie’s mom also joined us and we all ate together, we should have ordered a bottle of wine as I had 3 by the glass. The Showstopper pizza was as good as always and we had a lovely evening.
Here’s my bill at The Villa’s restaurant for the whole day;
Bo Ne 170,000 2 pots of jasmine tea 100,000 Fresh orange 60,000 Soda water 25,000 Lime juice 30,000 Fresh prawn spring rolls 100,000 Peanuts 35,000 Showstopper pizza 240,000 3 glasses of wine 270,000 Total 1,030,000vnd Discount of 206,000vnd Total spent 824,000vnd (£27.19)
I cycled home and slept very well that night, having the bed to myself.
‘Once is a mistake, twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern’ is one of those quotes you read on a friend’s Facebook status. On Thursday 15th June I thought of this quote when I foolishly ended up on another outing I’d not properly planned for! Captain Caveman had to be at work at 6pm for his Oxalis briefing so we had a last free day to have more Phong Nha fun. It was before 8am when I suggested that Captain Caveman and I go for a walk to the hidden lake and take a picnic, the forecast looked like it might be a bit cooler. I knew the way but, as we didn’t have a cooler bag, Captain Caveman suggested doing the walk then coming back to eat food and perhaps opening the champagne we bought at Chiang Mai airport. We got ready for a walk, the sun was shining but there were still some clouds. When we got downstairs, Bluey was there and I couldn’t walk too well so I suggested it would be quicker to cycle, especially as there is no shade whatsoever at the hidden lake. Of course we cycled the long way round and Captain Caveman seemed unsure of whether I would get us lost but I remembered the way. It was scenic, steamy hot and further than I’d remembered, plus Bluey seemed sluggish after the last 2 days of exertion.
Just as we had finished admiring the view and I set off back, Captain Caveman decided to cycle round the lake. It’s fenced off on the far side so I tried to call him back. He was having none of it and carried on, I couldn’t stand the heat and cycled towards the ‘road to nowhere’ hoping for shade. There was none and I was getting a bit moany! When Captain Caveman caught me up I was hangry so we called at the Winmart for some extra provisions and we planned to cycle back for a picnic brunch on the bed. Here’s what we bought;
Total spent 194,262vnd (£6.41) I was that hot that I didn’t realise how expensive those apples were – more than the last lot I bought.
I got a bit crotchety and needed a break so we stopped for a coconut at a roadside cafe by the river. It took me less than 30 seconds to polish it off and the cute dog came to check on me. Back home we enjoyed our picnic and a rest in the AC but we didn’t bother with the fizz as I was too dehydrated once again. I had double Oresol and did an hour of work while Captain Caveman packed for his tour tomorrow. He left at 5pm to go to Oxalis and I worked for a few hours.
At 8pm I met him and Tatas at The Villa’s restaurant where he and I had pizza and we all had red wine. We cycled home and I was actually looking forward to working from home tomorrow, I told Bluey she could have a well earned rest. We had cycled another 10km or more today so over 60km in 3 days – that was a first for me!
A question I often get asked is ‘Don’t you ever learn?’ Judging by my actions on Wednesday 14th June, I think it is fair to say that I don’t . Captain Caveman and I were up early to find that the weather was cloudy and the forecast predicted thunderstorms. I think I may have been over ambitious but I suggested another outing, it was Captain Caveman’s last full day off and I wanted us to make the most of it. I quickly took my measurements after my shower and was surprised that I didn’t ache much from my cycling 23km yesterday. I measured everything and here are the results; Bust -1cm, Waist -1cm, Hips +1cm. I suggested we should visit the Pub with Cold Beer as the owner had been following all my updates on Facebook since I left Vietnam, she’s a lovely woman and I’d missed her family and their place. Captain Caveman offered to drive the motorbike and, looking back, I should have agreed. I said we should cycle because Bluey would miss me when I’m back in Dalyan and it was cloudy. I drank rehydration tablets for my breakfast to keep from having any issues as I’d been getting a bit of cramp. As soon as we got out of the door I had to put on my sun hat as the sun came out! We pretty much did the same route as yesterday but I managed to cycle all the way to the Duck Stop without a break. When we got there Quynh, the owner, gave us a free drink and peanuts – I looked like a beetroot and was beginning to wish we’d gone by motorbike.
Captain Caveman hates it when I moan, in fact he says I complain a lot, so I had no choice but to soldier on. Even Bluey was having trouble and I had to push her up the hill from the Duck Stop until I could get back on for the downhill bit. I arrived at the Pub with Cold Beer in blazing sun, another drippy mess, any sun cream I’d had on had definitely sweated off. Nhat and her daughters were so pleased to see us, they got Captain Caveman a cold beer and me a water straight away. We decided to order chicken, pork, rice and morning glory because we hoped our friends, Chung and Uy, would join us. While Nhat killed a chicken and I rested in a hammock, Captain Caveman cycled up to the Wild Boar Farm to see Cuong. I couldn’t manage any more and was regretting cycling 13km away from home, not knowing if I’d be able to make it back.
Uy and Chung couldn’t make lunch but we arranged to meet tonight for dinner as it was their 6 year wedding anniversary. For lunch we had an absolute feast, including 2 bowls of the famous peanut sauce which we both love so much. Captain Caveman said it was only 10 minutes more to cycle to the Wild Boar Farm and wanted me to go after lunch but I decided another 10 minutes in the opposite direction would be foolish. Instead, I suggested we have a swim, seeing as there is a lovely swimming pool at the Pub with Cold Beer. I went to the toilet and, as I flushed, a frog jumped up from the bowl, I’d peed on it’s head and it wasn’t thrilled. I shouted Captain Caveman over to bring a camera as this wasn’t the first time I’d been startled by a frog in my toilet, in fact it was the third! (Once, while camping in India and the other while on Safari in Kenya). When it got to 3pm we decided we had better start making our way back, we had really enjoyed our time and food at the Pub with Cold Beer. We said our goodbyes and Captain Caveman and Bluey had already decided we would go the other way back, over a narrow, grid floor, suspension bridge which I was scared to cross. At first, Bluey was going to ride us across but I had to get off and push because I was having a panic on.
We cycled back through the valley and some of it was shaded which I was grateful for, some of it was steep and I had to push Bluey uphill. We soon ran out of water and I knew I wouldn’t make it back to Phong Nha in one go so Captain Caveman pushed Bluey for a bit and suggested a slight detour. Half an hour later, we were sat in Multi and Diem’s kitchen at the Pepper House being offered rice wine. I declined and had loads of much needed water while Captain Caveman had rice wine and beer (he’s an animal)! There were kids’ swimming lessons going on in the pool and I’m sure they were laughing at my red sweaty face. We finally left Multi’s to cycle home but I was a little tender on the undercarriage. Captain Caveman could tell I might not make it home so he suggested we cycle past where we used to live in Khuong Ha and stop off at a new place, he even got another video of me and Bluey.
Captain Caveman’s video of me and Bluey, in Khuong Ha
Phong Nha Funky Beach is a new venture owned by our friend, Mo (ex Oxalis colleague) and the previous owner of Greenfield Homestay. We arrived and sat overlooking the river on one of the platform style seating areas. It wasn’t particularly comfy for my achy legs but Mo was pleased to see us and was with another colleague of Captain Caveman’s, Nu, so they joined us. We had a cold beer, Mo brought us some vegan spring rolls and Nu gave us some vegan Banh Ep. Both were lovely but I was a bit distracted as it was already gone 5pm, it goes dark around 6pm and I hadn’t brought any lights. We said our goodbyes after a brief overview of the various activities that can be done there and set back off.
Our next stop was a quick nip in to Jungle Boss HQ, the boss was still not around to say hello to, but it was a good place for me to stop off to rest and use the toilet. We were due to meet Chung and Uy at 7pm but I was a sweaty mess and needed to go home for a shower. I’d drank all of the water we had between us so we had to stop for a coconut at Tree House Cafe on the way back home. I had a shower, then a naked lay on the bed in AC before rushing to get ready to go back out for dinner.
Captain Caveman and I met Chung at the Bia Hoi BBQ duck place, next door to Victory Road Villas. Uy was still on his was so we ordered the Bia Hoi beer which was about 60,000vnd (£1.98) for a small keg. Chung ordered food without Uy as it got to 8pm and he still wasn’t there yet but he arrived, a bit merry! It certainly was one of the more unusual anniversary celebrations I’d been on and turned out not to be much better than our own last year! Uy just drank and smoked but didn’t eat and another keg of cheap weak beer was consumed, mainly by the fellas. By the end of the meal, which tasted fantastic by the way, Uy was telling Chung she needed to do more exercise because she was fat. Luckily, the events of the last 2 days meant that Captain Caveman couldn’t possibly say the same about me today. Somehow, the birth of the LLC came out right there and then as Chung and I pledged to cycle together as the 2 founder members of the Lazy Ladies Club. The BBQ duck, veggies, noodles and beers came to a total of 400,000vnd (£13.20) which was a bargain.
We said our goodbyes and then instead of going home ourselves we had a sneaky bottle of red wine (also 400,000vnd) in The Villas to finish off our night. It was a good job, so that I could stop moaning that my bits were on fire from the 28km I’d managed to cycle on Bluey today on a very hot day! That was 3km more than yesterday, the furthest I cycled since before my injury and we did it in the height of summer. On the way home, I spotted a snake in the Stick or Snake game and it was alive in the Dead or Alive game, so I shouted to Captain Caveman behind me to stop so he could take a photo. It was heading back to the river after a spot of sunbathing and was slithering across the road, it was beautiful. I was glad to get in bed that night and at least we could have an easy, restful, quiet non-cycling day tomorrow, couldn’t we!?
The realisation that I had only 17 days left in Vietnam, hit me on Tuesday 13th June. Not all of them would be with Captain Caveman as he had to go back to work and I might even have less than 2 weeks left in Phong Nha. I felt like I needed to make more of an effort to enjoy it before I had to leave! I’m not sure whether it was the heat or just insanity but I started to have some very foolish ideas that I might come to regret. Captain Caveman was quite addicted to playing Bridge on his phone so, in an attempt to do something he would enjoy which did not involve being on his phone, I suggested something outdoorsy! Bluey, my bicycle, loves a trip out (even in the hot sun) and I decided we would cycle over to Greenfield Homestay. In fairness to Captain Caveman, he offered to drive Trigger, the motorbike, but then it would mean he couldn’t have a few beers so I said we would cycle. It was almost 11am when we got to Coffee Station and I was concerned if I ate anything I would get a dodgy stomach and not make the rest of the journey. Captain Caveman shovelled a bacon, egg and tomato sourdough sandwich down while I had a ginger tea. They used to do a lovely herbal tea but not any more so I sat and worried I’d bitten off more than I could chew with this cycle ride. On our way, we decided to call at Jungle Boss HQ, which was now relocated to Sy’s Homestay. We wanted to say Hi to my old boss, the owner, he was in the jungle so I only got to say hello to the marketing guys.
I managed to just about keep up with Captain Caveman for the rest of the journey but I arrived at Greenfields a sweaty mess. René and his wife gave us a nice welcome and Captain Caveman had a few beers. I got some delicious iced herbal tea and a big water then René treated us to some Toblerone. The place looked great and they had installed a big pool since I was last there, not that we went in it – we seem to have a habit of not swimming when there is a pool. After a couple of hours we decided to head off and I had the bright idea of cycling to East Hill for chicken, one of my favourite places in Phong Nha. Of course Captain Caveman knew a shortcut which involved cycling on grass and between buffalo, which I was a stranger to. I got a bit moany as it was a bit too far and hot but I made it in the end.
Captain Caveman ordered the chicken combo and we had a couple of drinks – they sell Strongbow cider and it’s very cheap in Phong Nha so I had those and Captain Caveman had beer. After an hour, there was still no chicken so Captain Caveman went to check, the girl hadn’t put the order through so we had to wait another 45 minutes. This was lucky as it meant we could invite Tatas who came after she finished work. The chicken was as delicious as it always was and worth the wait but then I had to cycle back.
I managed to get as far as The Villas so we stopped off for red wine and peanuts as a reward for cycling so far today. Back at home we were chatting about the route and how whizzy Bluey was. I was saying that I couldn’t believe I had managed to cycle a total of 23km in this heat when Captain Caveman fell asleep on me. I think I was going to hurt tomorrow and it was still over 30°C in the bedroom with AC on after 10pm!
I’d decided to work later in the week, while Captain Caveman had free days, so I wasn’t working on Monday 12th June. By the time I’d got my breakfast I was beginning to wish I was working, as Captain Caveman and I had a row. He was cheesed off at me for not booking my flight home yet, but I’d not decided on which route to take. He was telling me to do it ‘now’ so I ended up having cold jasmine tea and noodle soup for breakfast while I looked up all the permutations from The Villas. I don’t know why he was in such a mood – I didn’t have to leave for another…oh, 18 days left! Maybe he had a point but I needed to decide whether to go back via Rhodes or Istanbul. I messaged my boss to see if I was needed for any work related meeting up in Rhodes, if I did decide to go that way. The Istanbul route was working out shorter, with less lay over time but was more expensive. Maybe a pit stop in Rhodes on the way back would be a good idea and I could always stock up on some pork. For the rest of the morning, Captain Caveman was playing Bridge on his phone and being a bit grumpy. I told him I would book the flights as soon as Steve replied and we could go for an Indian at Ganesh tonight, hoping that would cheer him up! Steve replied, I was going to add on a week in Rhodes on my way back and I booked the flights as below; Saigon to Doha, Lay over in Doha for 12.5 hours, Doha to Frankfurt, Lay over in Frankfurt for 7.5 hours, Frankfurt to Rhodes. I would leave before the sun came up on a Thursday morning and land in Rhodes as the sun went down on a Friday night! It cost £520 for the entire one way journey because it was summer. I would get the ferry from Rhodes to Fethiye after a week at Steve and Michelle’s. I was happy with that and Captain Caveman perked right up. Off we cycled to Ganesh and we had a feast; Captain Caveman even let me share his Paneer Sagwala which I enjoyed a lot more than I expected to. Back home, we started chatting about our plans for tomorrow as we both had a non-working day in Phong Nha. Unfortunately, we didn’t get very far as Captain Caveman had fallen asleep.
Bravely, I stepped on the hotel scales on the morning of Sunday 11th June in the Melia Vin Pearl hotel. I had put on 4.3kg since I was in Sapa 18 days ago – that’s almost 9.5lbs if the scales were accurate! My measurements weren’t too good either, with 1cm on my bust and hips and another 3cm increase on my waist. Captain Caveman and I, undeterred by my weight gain, still went to the all you can eat breakfast in the hotel and had lots of delicious food. Looking out of the hotel window, it looked cloudy outside but it was deceptively hot and sunny, very humid. Captain Caveman and I had a walk to the pharmacy and Winmart to pick up some essentials, I also wanted to buy contraceptive pills as they were increasing in price in Turkey and often unavailable. Unfortunately, the ones I wanted weren’t available at any of the pharmacies near the hotel. We bought Oresol from the Medicare shop for 17,300vnd (57p) but they don’t do medication, it’s more like a Superdrug type of place.
Here’s what we bought at the supermarket:
1.5l water 9,300 200g peanuts 22,600 100g dried mango 33,600 Pack of 12 toilet rolls 57,000 1 Tupperware tub 65,200 Total spent 187,700vnd (£6.19)
We checked out from a lovely stay at Melia Vin Pearl hotel at midday and asked to leave our bags. Although it was Captain Caveman’s second day of not working he was asked by Oxalis if he could pick up some guests from the train station later. He agreed and we planned to while away the afternoon hours in Dong Hoi. I was also fine with this as it meant we got to visit some new places and a couple of old favourites while there.
Captain Caveman had been recommended by our friend, Phuong (now in Canada), that The Ayatt Coffee cafe in Dong Hoi was a pretty relaxing place to pass a couple of hours. I ordered a pot of rose tea and Captain Caveman had a coffee and a smoothie. It wasn’t cheap but it was rather good and I’d definitely go again. When a coach party of Vietnamese families with loud kids came in, we left.
Here’s what we paid; 1 black coffee 35,000 1 passion fruit smoothie 40,000 1 pot of rose tea 120,000 Total spent 195,000vnd (£6.44)
I really liked this place, it was close to the physio I spent so many hours at in the past but, as it was a Sunday, Thuy wouldn’t be there to go and visit. It was also a walk, which felt longer in the sun and without a sun hat, to the hospital pharmacies. They did have an alternative contraceptive pill which was double my dose. The engineer in Captain Caveman came in to force when he suggested I buy double the amount but take one every 2 days to counteract the strength. I decided to buy it and they cost 492,000vnd (£16.24) for 6 packets of 21 tablets, which by Captain Caveman’s calculations would last 9 months. In Turkey this would have cost me over £50 but, granted, still cheaper than the cost of a baby at aged 50!
Next, we decided to get a taxi to 7th Heaven restaurant, the driver wasn’t a registered taxi and he looked either drugged or like he’d been crying (maybe both). We got there unscathed and Captain Caveman just gave him the usual amount when he tried to ask for more. We ordered beers and sweet potato fries to start us off. I love the sweet potatoes in Vietnam, they look like normal potatoes but taste amazing. For main, I thought I’d try to go a little healthier with a chicken breast salad, Captain Caveman had a steak baguette. When mine came it was covered in mayonnaise, I hate mayonnaise so couldn’t touch the salad at all but the Vietnamese love mayo, they even put it on pizzas with sweet chilli sauce! The chicken and roasted garlic was very nice but Captain Caveman enjoyed his lunch more than I did.
Our next stop was Tree Hugger for one of those iced mint and lime drinks which are definitely my new favourite. At 5.30pm we went back to the hotel to retrieve our bags and wait for the Oxalis pick up car. While we were there, the message came that the train was delayed by 1 hour. The train ended up being 2 and a half hours late so we had to wait at the train station for far too long. Luckily the temperature had dropped to below 30°C and there was a squat toilet to use. We met the guests who were the very last people off the train and drove to Phong Nha while Captain Caveman did his introductory chat. We dropped them off at Son Doong Bungalow where guests stay before their big cave trip and we got dropped at Oxalis. The car park where our bicycles were, was locked as it was gone 9.30pm so Captain Caveman had to get the security guard to unlock it for us. Bluey, wondering where we’d been, was rather whizzy on the way back to the Glass House. It had been an eventful weekend and I was ready for bed. I’d given up wishing for a lay in and looked forward to one of those back in Turkey next month!
Captain Caveman was not scheduled to work for the next 5 days so we had a busy day planned on Saturday 10th June. Of course, a day off would not be a day off without the need to go to Oxalis to sort some work stuff out! While sat by the river, I noticed that our neighbouring apartment in Dalyan was being advertised for renting out, using old photos. It looked like the Russians who’d been there for months were no longer there or were about to move out. It was likely I’d have new neighbours when I got back to Dalyan! By 9.40am I had ordered myself some breakfast at Oxalis Home and was tucking in to a Bo Ne without the eggs, forgetting I didn’t like the sweet baguettes.
It was Stu’s 50th birthday celebrations in Dong Hoi tonight so we had decided to make a trip of it and stay at the Vin Pearl hotel, another of my favourites. We got the Oxalis staff bus and were dropped off near the town centre where we then had to get a Grab taxi to the hotel. It had changed to now be a Melia hotel and they had made a few changes. As it was the weekend, the cost of the room including breakfast for the 2 of us was 1,650,646vnd (£54.47) but, given its 5 star like status, that was not a bad price. They let us check in early, we had a good welcome and a note from the manager, which I always find nice. We decided to go to get some lunch, given that we knew we would be getting on the booze later. Captain Caveman and I both chose the pork place but it turns out we had different places in our heads. We ended up at the one Captain Caveman and Stu recommended where we ordered 2 pork dishes a lemon juice and a beer for a total of 131,000vnd (£4.32). We also got a free winter melon soup included so that was a bargain but I wasn’t a fan of the soup. My pork, rice and salad was very good though and I’d eat there again if it wasn’t for the 4 staff all being on their phones on full volume, one playing games!
Back at the hotel, we decided to have a bubble bath, the robes that I used to love so much had changed! Gone were the brightly printed ones, that Josh had once attempted to go to breakfast in, and they were replaced by the white thick towelling ones – too hot to wear. There was a knock at the door and I had to leave Captain Caveman in the bath while I answered it, still covered in bubbles, to an embarrassed young staff member. She had brought us a welcome cake and delivered it in to the room while I shouted to Captain Caveman to lower the bathroom blind. I got dressed, even dried my hair and popped on Carol’s white dress with the marked pocket. We were about to go to an unconventional 50th birthday celebration!
Stu had told us to be at the Ra Khoi bar on the beach at 5.30pm. We arrived late on account of me eating cake in the hotel but we were the first to arrive. There were some shirtless locals in the bar but they were nothing to do with Stu. We got a beer each and sat overlooking the beach until Stu, Max and Jack arrived. When they did, I was clearly overdressed and, not long after, I found I was the only female attendee. It was going to be one of those parties, as the rest of the motley crew of guests arrived and headed on to the beach. Captain Caveman and I agreed a password for emergency evacuation, just in case. We decided the first 2 items on the shopping list, used in tandem, would be the signal for us to leave if it got too lively for us!
Dong Hoi airport is very close by
By the time I’d had 6 of the small Huda beers I was getting peckish so Captain Caveman and I decided to get a taxi back to town for dinner at Tree Hugger. We both had burgers, shared some fries and had a cheeky White Russian, again the diet was clearly on hold. The food was lovely and it wasn’t even 9pm so we took a taxi to rejoin Stu’s 50th birthday celebrations, which had now moved on to his own home. One of the cool dudes from the beach was DJing, it was very hot, I had 1 more beer and danced, mainly by myself. I noticed all the guys were disappearing upstairs but not many were coming back down – it was time to wang out the safe word to Captain Caveman. I’d forgotten the first 2 things on the shopping list but then managed to get ‘Broom Crackers’ out over the music. I was surprised we had lasted until midnight on just 7 beers and a White Russian. We’d had a great time but when the fan had to be used for the decks instead of the makeshift dancefloor I was just too hot to function – I was getting old!
Captain Caveman was due out of the cave on Friday 9th June so I had only scheduled myself to work in the morning. I had a sugar free plain yoghurt with a banana and an apple for my breakfast. I was starting to miss my Yorkshire tea and a nice bit of toast. I put a load of washing in and it would dry here very quickly but I noticed the white dress from Carol (of Dalyan’s Fat Club fame) had a mark on the pocket from where it had rubbed on the metal washing line. I worked from 8.30am to 3.30pm but with a long break for lunch. I ate my left over Indian food from last night and it was just as delicious. I didn’t need to reheat it as I left it on the bed for a bit to warm up. My sister got in touch and we spoke of plans for her forthcoming holiday to Dalyan, her and the family would arrive around the same time as me and my eldest niece really wanted to go horseriding. It looked like I might be about to agree to it but only if Gayle was going to do it too. Captain Caveman was back late afternoon and he had a couple of hours before he was getting picked up for his Gala Dinner. I arranged to meet Tatas again for more wine and we went to The Villas for dinner. I had one of my old favourites of confit duck leg on a bed of lentils, Tatas had a pasta dish with extra chillies and (there was a theme forming here) it still wasn’t spicy enough. It was my turn to buy the wine which was a reasonable 400,000vnd (£13.20) and the duck was 300,000vnd (£9.90). Captain Caveman joined us after he’d finished work, we had another drink, Tatas had a pho and then we cycled home. Tomorrow we had some exciting plans to go to Dong Hoi as Captain Caveman had some days off.
joloyolo 