Phong Nha to Hoi An – 26th March

On Tuesday 26th March I was taking the 7am bus from Phong Nha to Hoi An, where I was meeting up with an old friend. Caroline had kindly invited me to stay with her and her dog, Vee, near the An Bang beach area of Hoi An. Captain Caveman had booked me a cheap hotel for the first night, just so that I had somewhere definite and then I could move to Caroline’s one bedroom apartment the next day, until Sunday, when I was off to Danang.
I always have a bad stomach whenever I need to travel and I was not looking forward to the journey, one bit. I was due to arrive in Hoi An at 3pm, 8 hours later, on a sleeper bus with no toilet. At 6.30am, Captain Caveman was still in the room, finishing off showering so he said to go and he would catch me up to wave me off in town. Mr Diep Le drove me on his motorbike to the bus and I had to remind him where the Hanh Luyen bus company office was. The bus was already there, I still didn’t have a working phone so I tried to message Captain Caveman using free WiFi nearby to tell him I was already on board and ready to depart. The buses often claim they have WiFi but don’t give out the password or say it’s not working. I was a bit sad that I wouldn’t get to say goodbye or wish him well for his forthcoming Saigon Children’s Charity bicycle ride.
I got comfy in my seat with a neck pillow and my rucksack with me. I never put anything I don’t have to, in the luggage boot as I’ve heard of it ‘going missing’ before. The driver never lets westerners take seats near the front and often bully us white people in to the back seats. I knew this so chose one about halfway back behind the driver. There are 3 rows and all the seats recline in to beds and have a pillow and storage for shoes, which you have to take off. We set off and turned around to pick up more people along the way. The last pick up in Phong Nha was at Tree House, where Captain Caveman was stood to say bye. I got back off the bus and gave him a hug and a kiss, he would next see me at the cycle event finish line in Danang (if I could find it in time, this year).
I did manage to get some sleep, a drowsy type antihistamine (for my mozzie bites) helped. However, at 11.30am we had a bit of an issue; we were just outside Hue when we got a flat tyre. It was incredibly hot but the bus pulled in to a petrol station with toilets. All of us westerners got off and some of the Vietnamese stayed sleeping on the bus. The toilets weren’t the best squat toilets I’ve seen but they definitely weren’t the worst and I had tissues with me and they had soap! Some passengers tried to buy refreshments at the petrol station but it wasn’t that type where there was a shop. They had a chest fridge, no water, and just some random drinks like birds nest soup in a can or Super Horse energy drink.
I ate 2 apples and drank 0.5 litre of my water (brought with me from the hotel) then got talking to a Dutch and an Australian passenger. Between us, we decided the bus was going nowhere and in the relentless heat it was getting uncomfortable. We decided to order a Grab taxi to take us to Hoi An. It would cost us about 2,000,000VND (£63) between 4 of us which was the price of the whole bus journey each again. It was also only the price of a bottle of wine and, while Captain Caveman had given me some spending money, I was willing to blow it on a taxi. I got my bag off the bus which, by now, was a sweat box with Vietnamese passengers still in there and the engine off.
The taxi arrived and the bus driver came over to say we shouldn’t go as the repair mechanic was on his way and we would be ready to go within the hour. They were quite insistent and obviously didn’t want a complaint or to have to refund (neither of which we were bothered about). We reluctantly agreed and the taxis took the passengers who were destined for Hue, close by.
By 12.24pm the mechanic had arrived and, rather impressively, jacked up the bus and changed the tyre.
At 1pm we were all back on the oven temperature bus, begging for the AC to blast on, as we carried on our journey.

At just after 3pm, already a couple of hours late, but having got there sooner than I thought we would, we arrived in Danang bus station. This is where anyone for Hoi An was meant to change on to that bus. I went to get off and there were lots of shouty taxi drivers crowding my exit asking if I wanted a taxi. When I put my Vietnamese porter sandals on to the floor to put back on, they all looked at me and I said ‘Quang Binh’, which is the Province of Phong Nha. They retreated to give me more space, looked impressed that I had the army shoes and stopped hassling me. Of course, the Hoi An bus connection had already been missed so a taxi had been arranged for me, the Dutch girl and 2 Australian ladies. We were escorted in to the car and told to wait a few minutes. After 10 minutes of waiting and a local driver giving us some Banh Ep (a cracker type snack) with his dirty hands and a fag on, we were still not moving.
We ended up waiting for another passenger, which the driver lied to us about. We were told it was a passenger who had been forgotten so we were patient and felt sorry for them. The girl arrived, looking fresh, and had come from Phong Nha on the 9am bus, with no issues at all. We should have took the taxi when we had the chance. The driver took all of our individual hotel addresses and said he would drop each of us off. I was dubious about that and said I wanted dropping off at the Hoi An bus station. Captain Caveman had specifically booked my hotel within walking distance of the bus station and marked it on my maps to be able to use offline. We drove almost an hour to Hoi An and the driver dropped me first. It wasn’t at the actual bus station and I didn’t have a working phone to know where I was so I took a photo of the Dutch girl’s phone. Then the driver decided he wanted to charge each of the other passengers 50,000VND (£1.58) to continue to their respective hotels. The Aussie ladies got out and said no at first but then realised another Grab would be more. I left and started walking in a direction I thought might be the right one. I passed a Gioi Di Dong phone shop and realised I might be able to get a SIM card so turned back. Around 4.30pm I had paid for my SIM and given my passport and all was going well until the staff member took my photo. Once again, many attempts were made but my photographed face did not match my passport face so they were unable to give me a SIM card. They returned my passport, refunded me the money and pointed me in the direction of Hai Ba Trung street, where I was staying. When I arrived at Hoi An Old Town Hostel at 5.40pm, looking like I’d been through the mill quite a bit, the receptionist upgraded me to a lovely room with 2 double beds. I got the WiFi password and, of course, had messages from Captain Caveman and Caroline wondering where I’d got to. After a quick call to both and the fastest shower ever, I was back outside the hotel ready to meet my Grab motorbike.

At 6pm Caroline had sent her motorbike Grab driver to get me and he was ready and waiting to take me to meet her at Le Cabanon. It’s one of my favourite restaurants in Hoi An and does some lovely french food and wine. When we arrived the driver gave me a SIM card for free, as he was helping me out. How nice of him! Caroline was excited to see me and looked well. She had already got a bottle of Saint Joseph 2020 red wine on the go and so I joined her. It was weigh day tomorrow but I was about to overindulge after not eating all day, aside from 2 apples and a mushroom flavoured cereal bar, so I was hungry. We shared a baked camembert with bread and salad, french sausage and potatoes with mustard and a beef stew. We couldn’t eat it all but we did manage a second bottle of wine. I was conscious of the prices but Caroline had insisted this was her treat, which was very kind. We finished the night with a soda water and she dropped me off at the hotel in a Grab car after a really lovely night. Tomorrow, I would move in to her’s and it was about to be a hectic week!

Phong Nha – 25th March

Captain Caveman went to Oxalis on his day off on the morning of Monday 25th March, while I did more of the free Canva training course. I’d managed to get most of the way through it but I found it quite difficult and my brain couldn’t cope with it all. I didn’t have any breakfast as we had a special lunch arranged for Captain Caveman’s day off, and our last day together for 5 days.
Captain Caveman drove Trigger, the motorbike, with me on the back to another one of our Phong Nha favourites. It wasn’t far to East Hill and we were there by midday, ready to order the BBQ chicken combo which comes with sticky rice, peanut salt and cucumber. The chicken is always so tasty and the place is picturesque and peaceful during the weekdays. I noticed there were quite a few cats around, for the first time, and they wanted food. We researched some flights for when Captain Caveman and I go to the UK for a family wedding and he got his flight confirmed for the beginning of July. Unfortunately, his flight back to Turkey in October was an extra expense for us to worry about as he’d definitely have to carry back more than hand luggage! I also still needed to book my flight out of Vietnam and hadn’t got the cash to do that just yet. This was a concern as, for now, Captain Caveman was giving me the money required to remain resident in Turkey. We even transferred some and I paid off my Turkish credit card and paid our pool and garden management company while we sat at East Hill. Our lunch with drinks (water for me and beer for Captain Caveman) was 380,000VND (£12.01) and was as amazing as I remembered it. As we were about to leave, I saw a very strange and hairy caterpillar, apparently harmless.

Our next stop was just a quick one to see René at Greenfield Ecostay. He’d been napping and we disturbed him but got chatting a little.
After popping back to Diep Le Homestay where there was a bit of confusion over where our laundry had got to and whether I was booked on the 7am or 9am bus tomorrow, we were off out again. We cycled for a quick beverage at Lucky Homes, where we received a box of biscuits as a gift from the owners, which was really kind.

We carried on by bicycle to Tree House as I’d not eaten there yet and I wanted to try it. I’d worked with the owner a few years ago and it was good to see how his business had grown, since then.
Captain Caveman had beer and a pasta dish and I had a Strongbow cider and ordered pork fried rice. I hadn’t realised my meal would have bacon instead of pieces of actual pork so it wasn’t as I’d expected. Captain Caveman’s had a few mushrooms in his, which he doesn’t eat, so I had those in my rice. We noticed it was happy hour between 6 and 8pm so we ordered a margarita cocktail each. Captain Caveman paid the bill by QR bank transfer (popular in Vietnam these days) so I didn’t take a note of the exact costs but it came to something like 450,000VND (£14.21) in total.
We didn’t plan on staying out late as tomorrow I had to be up very early for my trip, however, we ended up in The Villa’s, yet again! We had 2 glasses of white wine and 2 Huda beers at a total cost of 200,000VND (£6.34). Even though it felt like we had really splashed out for Captain Caveman’s day off, we had still only spent a total of less than £33 for the 2 of us and it had been such a great day.

Phong Nha – 24th March

It was a busy day on Sunday 24th March, also my mom’s birthday. Being 7 hours ahead of the UK was proving somewhat difficult, though, to have regular calls as it meant I’d have to wait until at least 7pm to call England. This was generally our dinner time and the time my mom was coming round of a Sunday morning. Or I could get up at 5am to call her at 10pm but then would have missed her birthday. We arranged 5pm our time (10am Ma’s time) and could only talk for an hour as she was off out for her birthday. I already decided it was best not to worry her about Captain Caveman not working for Oxalis after this season. We had not had chance to think of what he/we might do yet and I didn’t want to dampen her birthday plans with any worries.
The weather was very humid and I thought it looked like it might rain as I took the wine glasses back to The Villa’s. Captain Caveman had gone to Oxalis and I was going to log on to my next bit of Canva training and have breakfast. I had jasmine tea and my favourite pho ga and got stuck in.
Captain Caveman and I had arranged to meet a friend of his, as well as Chung and Uy at Phong Nha Vegan for the all you can eat buffet at 11.30am but only Captain Caveman and I made it, Chung was helping out in the kitchen because it was so busy. The food was excellent and Captain Caveman got a child to look after, temporarily. It was good to see so many people and I had trouble recognising a few of the locals. I never tire of watching the buffalo either, as they mosey along the river.
After delicious Vegan food, we had a last attempt of getting a Viettel SIM card as I still didn’t have a working phone. We failed again but I didn’t need one unless there was an emergency situation. I spotted there were plenty of sweet potatoes for sale outside the phone shop and wished I had a kitchen and my airfryer.

We cycled to Tree House, I was convinced it would rain, Captain Caveman said we would be fine. At 1.30pm he had a Huda beer and I had a Strongbow, knowing I had been quite bad on the syns this week, already.
Then the rain came but it didn’t last too long and we managed to cycle back to The Villa’s for me to call my mom to say Happy Birthday. I went in the back room so that I didn’t disturb anyone but I needn’t have bothered, as a girl on the next table had a very loud video call to England with her family.

That evening, Captain Caveman fancied an Indian so we went to Ganesh. I made 2 mistakes there and ordered a chickpea dish, which was not to my taste and then asked the staff to take a photo of us, when the food came. This makes Captain Caveman angry as it slows down the start of his race to snaffle his dinner. After he’d stopped being annoyed with the need to pose for photos we had a lovely meal. We shared a bottle of red wine, lamb samosas, onion bhajis, garlic naan, saffron rice and a chicken tikka starter. Captain Caveman had a dahl which he enjoyed but we left most of the chana masala. The total bill came to 887,000VND (£28.25) which wasn’t bad considering what we had.

Phong Nha – 23rd March

Captain Caveman had a bit of a woolly head when he woke up before 6am on Saturday 23rd March. Even though it was his day off, we still went to Oxalis, as is customary for him to run some errands at the office. We both ordered a bacon sandwich and a drink and I was very impressed with the crispiness of the bacon. The price is 60,000VND (£1.90) for a bacon sandwich with salad items in, I had mine without.
I spent part of the morning doing my first free course on how to use Canva while Captain Caveman did work related stuff and sorting out his laundry.

I walked back to the homestay and we met at Lucky Homes for a light refreshment by the river while watching some buffalo.
For lunch we went to an old favourite which we call The Pork Shop. It’s actually called the Thang Nhung, but pork shop is easier to pronounce and describes what it sells. Captain Caveman had a Banh Mi (a pork sandwich) which I love but I just can’t ever get one without chillies or chilli sauce in it, so I have stopped trying. I ordered BBQ pork with steamed rice and morning glory with garlic. It is so cheap and really tasty – an average meal is about £2 and the pork fat is crispy.

Afterwards, we called at the phone shop to be unsuccessful, yet again, in being able to get me a Viettel SIM card so I still didn’t have a working phone. The sun was pretty hot today so I needed a fresh coconut at Bamboo cafe. It was nice to be welcomed back to Phong Nha by Little Ha and all the staff there.
On our way back we called at The Villa’s and sat with Ben and his son, Howie, with another beverage. We paid 185,000VND (£5.88) in the fanciest place in town, for a soda water, 2 Huda beers and a glass of white wine.

Unfortunately, our plans to meet Tatas and eat at Phong Nha Vegan that evening were cancelled as she had to tidy her room and get packed for her 2 day Hang En tour tomorrow. We went back to Diep Le Homestay for a short time before returning to The Villa’s for more food and drink. Here’s what we had on our bill this time, and the food was excellent ;

1 soda water 25,000
1 red wine 90,000
2 white wines 180,000
1 Son Doong pizza 190,000
1 Duck with lentils 250,000
Total 735,000VND (£23.34)

It’s obviously not the cheapest place in town, in fact it’s one of the most expensive, but it’s good. With us being neighbours and friends, they let us borrow 2 wine glasses to take back to Diep Le when they closed. As I only had the 1 glass of red wine with dinner, when we got back to the room we opened a bottle of red wine and I had 2 more glasses. The diet had strayed a little again and I was on 266 syns already this week, but still less than last week at this point.

Phong Nha – 22nd March

Captain Caveman was due out on the afternoon of Friday 22nd March and I was looking forward to seeing him. It turned out that Aussie Pete was looking forward to seeing him more, though, as he had lots of questions to ask that only the expert would know the answers to. I did a quick calculation on how much money I had spent while Captain Caveman was away, this last 4 days, and it came to 1,805,000VND (£57.56) which was definitely more than I’d have spent in Dalyan. The disadvantages of not having our own kitchen and having to eat out all the time were definitely going to make budgeting more difficult. I’d only been gone from Dalyan for 2 weeks but I was already missing making my own meals and I wasn’t thrilled about going back to having a random dodgy stomach.
For breakfast I had an apple, some cheese and 3 cream crackers. For lunch I just had a cereal bar, and noticed one of the 3 I bought were mushroom flavoured. Around 3pm, Captain Caveman was back in Phong Nha but he had a busy agenda. They were a little late after dealing with a guy who had a motorbike accident, he was showering and doing washing at the Glass House but had to hurry to get to a porter party. He invited me but I’d already said I’d be at The Villa’s to meet Aussie Pete. Captain Caveman went straight to his gala dinner at Chay Lap while I had fresh spring rolls and a cup of Lipton tea at The Villa’s. I was still peckish a bit later so I had the tasty vegetarian spaghetti for main and more tea. Aussie Pete was getting twitchy and more merry while waiting for Captain Caveman’s arrival so I even texted him to ask him to hurry along as Aussie Pete wanted to pick his brains. At 8.55pm Captain Caveman arrived, rather drunk, and ordered a pizza and a beer. The 2 men caught up for all of 8 minutes before Aussie Pete nodded off, just temporarily.
We left before the 10pm closing for a change but Aussie Pete was still finishing a beer. The bill came to 396,000VND (£12.58) which I thought was reasonable. Captain Caveman and I were now celebrating him having 10 days off, with some adventures away from Phong Nha planned.

Phong Nha – 21st March

I slept in until 7.30am on Thursday 21st March and went for the homestay breakfast at 8.30am. This time I requested the vegetable noodle dish without butter and a green tea. The views of the river were good, the temperature was cool and the rain had gone. I felt a bit out of sorts and couldn’t put my finger on what was wrong. My skin had started to itch again and I thought either my eczema was coming back or that I had ring worm. My stomach wasn’t great and it took a lot longer than I’d expected to buy a bus ticket.
Captain Caveman had instructed me to purchase my Phong Nha to Hoi An bus ticket from the Diep Le Homestay so I attempted that. We used Google translate and I thought I’d booked the 7am bus on Tuesday at a cost of 400,000VND (£12.62). I thought that seemed expensive but I had no reference point, having not bought a bus ticket since before Covid. I am also not a fan of the bus journey which takes 8 hours, changes in Danang and the drivers can be a bit iffy.

I cycled on the borrowed homestay bicycle to the pharmacy as I wanted to get some medication, it cost me 75,000VND (£2.38) for imodium and fungal treatment which would have been 5 times the price in Europe or Turkey. In the queue, I started to feel unwell so I popped next door to Lantern restaurant for a green tea and to be near a toilet. When I recovered, Tatas joined me there for lunch and we both had vegan pho, her’s with extra chillies and mine with random pineapple in it. Lunch was cheap at 60,000VND (£1.90) for my tasty soup and drink, which Tatas paid for.
My next stop was to call at the supermarket, here’s what I bought and the prices in Dong.

Winmart Supermarket
Goûté biscuits 30,100
3 cereal bars 34,000
6 apples 105,512
Total spent 169,612VND (£5.35)

I’d completely forgotten how expensive apples are in Vietnam, compared to Turkey and the UK, so I bought them without thinking. At 55p per apple I probably wouldn’t be buying them very often.
I headed back to the homestay and had a video call with Vanessa. We had a great chat and she was still making good progress on her recovery.

After an hour I had to leave to go meet Veronika who had yet another treat in store for me. She’d only brought her own quality red wine with her to The Villa’s and had put the grandchildren (who she was in charge of) on a separate table so we could have dinner and wine together. We shared a green salad and a Momma D pizza which was lovely and before we’d hardly started, we had company.
Aussie Pete arrived and proceeded to commence his ritual of asking the staff for a cold Huda and a glass with ice. As we were getting on with our evening we had another visitor; Marc (from Germany), had decided to surprise us. Once Veronika and I had got settled in to our dinner ‘date’ with Aussie Pete and German Marc, there was a call from Bich, Veronika’s daughter-in-law. She wanted to check on how the kids were doing and what they were up to. Unfortunately, they weren’t supposed to have been left to their own devices in the room watching Netflix, so Veronika had to resume babysitting duties and leave us. Tatas arrived in time to save the dodgy looking soirée and another bottle of wine was consumed. Before 9pm Aussie Pete fell asleep (standard practice) and we got kicked out at 11pm, an hour after closing time. As Veronika had provided wine for 2 nights running I paid for her meal too, a total of 595,000VND (£18.90) including tip, which was reasonable.

Phong Nha – 19th & 20th March

On the morning of Tuesday 19th March Captain Caveman and I had breakfast at Diep Le Homestay as it was included in the room rate. We’d booked online for 8 nights and the room cost was just less than 300,000VND (£9.53) per night for a family room. The bed was comfortable but I don’t think either of us had slept as well as we could’ve done. I was pleased that there was more than one pillow each though. The window didn’t close well so there were a few mosquitos in the bedroom. I took antihistamines so that the bites I had were not a problem. Captain Caveman had omelette with bread and black coffee for his breakfast while I went for the veggie noodles and green tea. Mine tasted like it had butter in it which I wasn’t a fan of but there was plenty of bak choy in the dish.
Next, we borrowed one of the free bicycles from Diep Le and went to Oxalis where Captain Caveman had more coffee and I had a mango smoothie. Captain Caveman left for his Son Doong trip at 9am and would be gone for the next 4 days. Despite the news yesterday he remained in good spirits and was optimistic. He appeared to be far less worried about the future than I was! I had packed him some of my homemade fruitcake and a noggin of cheese for him to have at Camp 1.
I had a lunch date with Chung but had to move it to the evening as I didn’t know if my stomach would be better. I wasn’t sure what had caused it but I didn’t feel too well. I had a veggie pho packed with vegetables and tofu, at The Villa’s, to see how that helped but my stomach was still iffy all afternoon. I paid 110,000VND (£3.49) for my massive bowl of noodle soup and a pot of Jasmine tea.
At dinner time I was definitely feeling hungry so I met my old friend, Chung, at Phong Nha Vegan. We had an absolute feast of roasted peanuts, mushrooms in Lalot leaf, veggie fried rice, fresh spring rolls, a pineapple & carrot juice and a ginger tea with red apple. The spring rolls were the best I’ve had yet, the mushrooms are my favourite dish and it was just a really great dinner. I was pleased to see Chung again and the Lazy Ladies Club (LLC) was back together again. I paid the bill which was an absolute bargain of 260,000VND (£8.26) for the two of us. I cycled back to Diep Le Homestay for an early night, half expecting to be ill again but I was fine. I got ready for bed and then started to mull over some ideas. I’d been thinking of starting my own business now that I was out of work, but perhaps Captain Caveman and I could do something together for 2025. I got my notepad out and started making a list, by the time I went to sleep I had drafted out quite a business idea to put to Captain Caveman when he got back from the cave on Friday.

Wednesday 20th March was the day of the 2nd (Not so) Fat Club meeting that I had been away from. I had no idea what my weight was as there are no scales at the homestay we are staying in. I did take a note of my measurements and wasn’t optimistic as I’d consumed 302 syns this week. To my surprise, I had lost 1cm from my bust and hips and 2cm from my waist. At 6am it was only 17°C, a bit rainy and 97% humidity so I was quite chilly.
For breakfast at Diep Le Homestay I tried the banana pancake which came with chocolate sauce on and was cooked in some type of margarine. I had a bad stomach as soon as I’d eaten it, which didn’t surprise me.
In the afternoon I was invited to join Veronika at The Villa’s where she was going to be staying for a couple of nights and had some birthday champagne she had been saving. The evening was really lovely, I ate salami and prawn pasta which was great but did come with a chilli in despite me saying no chillies. Luckily I spotted it and the staff did offer to get me a new one. I spent just 260,000VND (£8.22) and was on 51 syns for the day.

Phong Nha – 18th March

Captain Caveman was up early on Monday 18th March as, although he wasn’t working until the evening, he likes to go in to the Oxalis office most mornings. I had a bit of a rest, then got packed and ready for checking out of Lucky Homes at midday. I walked to The Villa’s for breakfast, another Pho Ga and jasmine tea. Ben, one of the owners of Victory Road Villas, stopped by after returning from a motorbike trip from South to North Vietnam, which he enjoyed. Captain Caveman was taking a while and didn’t arrive to meet me at The Villa’s until almost 11.30am. I was starting to get concerned that we would miss the checkout deadline as he’s not normally this long when running work errands on a day off.
As he approached me at The Villa’s, his face looked different but I couldn’t tell what emotion it was. He sat down and told me some news; Oxalis were ending his contract at the end of this season and wouldn’t be renewing it next year. Captain Caveman said he was ok but I could tell that this had come as a bit of a shock to him. I was less shocked and more concerned for what this meant for Captain Caveman for 2025 and beyond. I’ve never met someone who loves his job as much as Captain Caveman loves being a Cave Expert and his last month working at Oxalis would be August, less than 6 months away. There were so many questions that we simply didn’t know the answer to and would need time for him to work out what he would do next. Being a qualified structural engineer and safety expert meant that he would find work but it didn’t necessarily mean it would be in Vietnam.
We checked out of Lucky Homes, who very kindly gave us our laundry bill for free, and checked in to our next accommodation, Diep Le Homestay, just a short walk away. We dropped our bags off then had a walk by the river and called in to Funny Monkeys for lunch. Captain Caveman ordered a Huda beer, I had water. We chose a mixture of fried and fresh spring rolls with pork fried rice, to share between us. Unfortunately the fried spring rolls had chilli in so I couldn’t eat them, but I was meant to be on a diet anyway. The fresh spring rolls had hot omelette in them which I didn’t enjoy (as I don’t like egg) so I picked it out but I did like the pork fried rice. While we were there we saw a western couple of paddle boarders, further along the river without lifejackets (which isn’t allowed).
On our walk back we noticed a new cafe called Xin Chao so we called in for a drink. I had a fresh coconut for a bit of a treat (about 5 syns) and Captain Caveman was on his 3rd beer. We recognised the owner and staff from Capture cafe and had a bit of a chat, it was good to see her new place which looked clean and had a good menu. We sat admiring the view and watching the paddle boarding guests from Memories Homestay. The guy was out in the middle of the river, crossing the paths of the Phong Nha cave boats, no lifejacket and the board wasn’t even attached to him. In Phong Nha there are fines for doing this and no one is allowed on the river without lifejackets, since a tragic boat death a few years ago.
While walking along the river, we saw Multi at The Villa’s so we called in to have a chat. My stomach wasn’t good and, despite it not being too hot, I was sweating and in pain.
Back at Diep Le Homestay, I had a bit of a rest while Captain Caveman went to get ready for his next Son Doong tour tomorrow. He had an hour of sorting stuff out at the Glass House from 4-5pm, then a party at Mr Ky’s from 5pm. The Son Doong briefing at Oxalis started at 6pm and is followed by a Vietnamese dinner with all the guests until about 8.30pm.
I was still ill so I didn’t go out for dinner, instead I had some of my sourdough with some cheese and then some Vietnamese biscuits.

Phong Nha – 17th March

There was no celebrating of St Patrick’s Day for me in Phong Nha on Sunday 17th March. Captain Caveman, Andrea and I started the day with a lovely breakfast at The Villa’s. The 2 of them had Eggs Benedict and coffees while I had my favourite Vietnamese breakfast, Pho Ga, with Jasmine tea. Here the chicken noodle soup was only 60,000VND (£1.90) and I think it tasted better than others I’d had recently. After breakfast, Andrea checked out of Lucky Homes where we had all had a good stay. We waved Andrea off then went back to bed for a lay down and some forward planning for the rest of March. We had put some laundry in and it was already back, folded nicely too. Captain Caveman booked me a hotel in Hoi An, which was near to the bus station so that it was convenient. I was off to visit Caroline for a week later in the month and was going to get the bus from Phong Nha to Hoi An. Captain Caveman would meet me in Danang after completing his Saigon Children’s Charity cycle event, over 3 days.
Around 4pm we had a saunter by the river to The Villa’s to meet up with our mate, Tatas. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stop long as we had been invited to a family dinner with Mr & Mrs Lucky Homes and 2 other guests. We had a feast and I got to drink fizzy grape juice while Captain Caveman took the rice wines in his stride. We had a lovely evening with great home cooked food and I even got acquainted with Lu and So, the homestay dogs.

Phong Nha – 16th March

I was late out of bed on Saturday 16th March as Captain Caveman and Andrea were ready for our cycle ride. Before 8am we had Lucky Homes’ free bicycles at the ready and I thought I might have been better off getting Bluey from the Glass House. Captain Caveman said I’d be fine on the borrowed bicycle and, obviously, he knows about these things!
I wasn’t daft and was well aware that Andrea and Captain Caveman are keen cyclists so I had already got through half a litre of water and put some in my bag, just in case. The idea was that we would cycle the 10km to the Phong Nha Farmstay for breakfast, before it got too hot. I was physically and mentally ready for this torture and off we went, me at the back as I don’t like to ride side by side on narrow roads. We got about 2km down the road when Captain Caveman pulled in to Tree House. Andrea and I were surprised but he wanted a coffee. I ordered a ginger tea which took a while to drink as it was so hot, but eventually we set off.
We were nearing where we used to live, not too far from the Phong Nha Farmstay, when I could no longer see Andrea and Captain Caveman. Luckily, I knew the way from where I was and soldiered on, trying my best to catch up with my fellow cyclists. Close to the turn off to Elements (our former home during Covid) I cycled through a wedding tent which was being prepared for the festivities later on. I had a view of a long stretch of the road but there was no sign of Andrea and Captain Caveman. I cycled faster, familiar with the route, and all of a sudden they appeared from a side road to my left, having taken a scenic shortcut through the rice paddies. They said they thought I had seen them turn off near the petrol station, to be honest I didn’t recall seeing the petrol station.
At the Phong Nha Farmstay I had a green tea and a chicken noodle soup (without chillies), Captain Caveman had an iced black coffee and a cheese & onion toastie, Andrea ordered a cappuccino and bacon & eggs. Here are the prices before the service and VAT charges, in Vietnamese Dong;
Green tea 25,000
Pho Ga 90,000
Black coffee 25,000
Toastie 70,000
Cappuccino 50,000
Bacon & Eggs 100,000
Total paid (with taxes) 408, 240VND (£13)

It’s worth pointing out that only the fancy places itemise the bill to include the tip and the extra fees separately, generally the price you see on the menu, is the price you pay in Phong Nha.

Our next bout of cycling was to visit René at Greenfield Ecostay, where Andrea, Captain Caveman and René all had beers but I resisted and had a rum and coke. René’s place was looking really good and I made a note that we needed to stay here while I’m in Phong Nha, to try it out.

We decided to break up the journey on the way back with a stop off at a newly opened cafe/restaurant, called Lotus. We know the owner and staff from a previous restaurant and were keen to visit this new place in the Cu Nam area of Phong Nha. My fellow cyclists had more beers and I treated myself to a hot chocolate. We paid less than £2 for 2 Huda beers and a gorgeous hot chocolate and it was another place to add to my list to come for food.

From Lotus, we cycled all the way back to Lucky Homes where I was desperate for a shower, after managing the 22km total cycle. I think both Andrea and Captain Caveman were reluctant to suggest we cycle out for dinner, in case I had a melt down, and suggested the short walk to The Villa’s. Captain Caveman got word from one of the cavers, who were back from their caving expedition, that the wrap party was happening at Mr Toan’s, so off he went to that. He did invite us but we were already looking forward to Andrea’s last night in Phong Nha. We shared a half and half pizza (Margarita and Showstopper) with a garden salad and a bottle of wine and had a lovely evening. Captain Caveman arrived back at The Villas, a bit sozzled and near to the 10pm closing time. We pushed it again and didn’t leave there until almost 11pm, with arrangements made to be back again for breakfast at 8am.

Dong Hoi to Phong Nha – 15th March

Captain Caveman and I had plans for Friday 15th March which included our friend, Andrea. She was due to fly from Saigon on the same flight I’d taken 2 days ago, arriving in to Dong Hoi at 9am. We had arranged to meet her at the airport to pick her up and go to Phong Nha. But first, for breakfast we went to Mr Bull’s for Bo Ne again and, while we were there, Andrea messaged to say her flight was delayed. We thought it might be, as there was fog in Dong Hoi.
At 10.15am we were sat in Dong Hoi airport waiting for the flight to come in. I noticed that the cafe sold pho for only 55,000VND (£1.73), which is reasonable.
Once Andrea had arrived, we drove the 50km by private car, which Captain Caveman had booked through Oxalis, to Phong Nha. Captain Caveman had also booked 2 rooms at Lucky Homes for the weekend and we were able to check in before 12 noon, which was nice.

We were given a downstairs family room which was lovely with a massive bathroom. Andrea had an upstairs triple room and I gather we got the last 2 rooms of this perfectly located homestay. We have known Mr and Mrs Lucky Homes for 7 or 8 years, have eaten and drank at their riverside restaurant quite a lot but we’ve never stayed in their homestay. Captain Caveman already rents a room at the Glass House but it wasn’t in an ideal state for me to stay there at the moment so he preferred we stay in other places during my visit.

By 1.30pm Captain Caveman and Andrea were on the Huda beers at The Villas, which is a restaurant within Victory Road Villas hotel, owned by our friends Ben and Bich. I had a jasmine tea, determined not to have beer. The drinks were 30,000VND (95p) each which was still very reasonable given the location and quality of service.

Back at Lucky Homes we borrowed the free bicycles for guests and cycled to Tree House in town. We shared some wine; a bottle of the Francis Gillot red was 400,000VND (£12.79) and the Benjamin Mendy 450,000VND (£14.39) so quite reasonable. I preferred mine warm but Andrea and Captain Caveman popped ice in their red wine!

We cycled back to Lucky Homes to unpack and freshen up but then cycled back again to go out for dinner. Captain Caveman had chosen Ganesh, the only Indian restaurant in Phong Nha, and a massive favourite of ours. We had a feast to share between the three of us. These are the dishes and drinks with prices in Vietnamese Dong;

1 Huda beer 25,000
1 soda water 25,000
Saffron rice 49,000
Vegetable Samosas 60,000
Garlic Naan bread 60,000
Onion bhajis 85,000
Taka Dahl 98,000
Chicken 65 115,000
Chicken Tikka 120,000
1 bottle of red wine 270,000
Total spent 907,000VND (£29.00)

I’ve not had an Indian meal for a while so I wasn’t sure if that was good value but it seemed it to me and there was more than enough food for the 3 of us – we even took some back to the homestay.
On our way back we had to have a couple of drinks at The Villas again for good measure. Andrea and I had margaritas which were still as good as I remembered them, 180,000VND (£5.78) each. Captain Caveman had gin and tonic. It’s worth noting that the bar closes at 10pm and we were certainly pushing that deadline a little as we paid up and went off to get some sleep. I didn’t know it at the time but Andrea and Captain Caveman had plans to wear me out tomorrow.

Dong Hoi – 14th March

It was quite cold in Dong Hoi in comparison to Saigon so I wore my jeggings on Thursday 14th March. Obviously, Captain Caveman was up early but I managed to stay in bed until 7.30am. As I’d missed (Not So) Fat Club in Dalyan yesterday, I did my measurements to find that the results were terrible;
Bust +1cm,
Waist +3cm,
Hips +2cm.
I put it down to having had 298 syns in the week and water retention. Humidity was much higher here and I could feel my ankles swelling already and I was quite tired.
By 8am I was on my way down in the lift to meet Captain Caveman at Mr Bull, as he’d gone on ahead. We only had one more day and night in Dong Hoi so we had a very full itinerary today. Mr Bull is one of our favourite places for breakfast in Dong Hoi as it has the best Bo Ne. The Vietnamese breakfast dish comes on a sizzling skillet and comprises, steak, sausage, pâté, onions, salad garnish, fried egg and a baguette. I obviously donated the ingredients I don’t like to Captain Caveman who ended up with a massive portion of it and I just had the steak, onion and bread.

Our next adventure was to go to the cinema as Captain Caveman wanted to watch Dune 2. I was reluctant as I don’t like that genre of film and haven’t seen Dune 1. But when I was told we were loading up on treats and it was 3 hours in a comfortable seat, I changed my mind. I wasn’t allowed Dairy Milk chocolate bars which were only 20,000VND (63p) but Peanut M&Ms and Korean crisps were in the basket. We paid 180,000VND (£5.71) for 2 cinema tickets and we needn’t have been tight by smuggling in our own snacks as the popcorn, drinks and hotdog combos were reasonably priced. As we took our allocated seats I knew I was going to have a bit of a nap as the massive seats were so good. Captain Caveman loved the film, I thought it was a bit boring and went on for far too long. I had a couple of naps and got confused that Josh Brolin’s character wasn’t the same person as Javier Bardem’s.
After the film, we went to the Gold shop so that Captain Caveman could change some money. We walked through the market to the bag repair man so that I could get my bag stitched where it had torn. We left the bag there and said we would come back after lunch.

Ngon Saigon Deli is another one of our go to places for a cheap and tasty lunch. We both had pork, broken rice and veggies for 42,000VND (£1.33) and Captain Caveman had his with a fried egg for an extra 7,000VND (22p). He had a cold Huda beer at a bargain 15,000VND (48p) and I had a peach and lemongrass iced tea for 25,000VND (79p). A small vegetable soup each was served for free. We both really enjoyed our meal which was less than £5 for everything and I couldn’t even finish all of mine.
Feeling full, we still had lots more errands to run so we got a taxi to the porter sandal shop where we both got a new pair for about 140,000VND (£4.44). We tried to call in to see Thuy, the physio, but the premises had moved. On the way back in to Dong Hoi, we called at the bike shop so that Captain Caveman could buy a new cycling helmet, the wine shop where we picked up 2 bottles of red, the pharmacy where Captain Caveman stocked up on essential medications and then the phone shop. I needed a Viettel SIM card and the staff member took my passport and my photo, more than a few times, but couldn’t get them to match up. We were in there about 40 minutes before she wrote in Google translate on her phone that they were sorry that at this time I could not get a SIM card as my face in real life and the one in my passport don’t match. My passport photo is 7 years old and I know I’ve lost weight but I had managed to get on 4 flights this month with it, fine. I wasn’t too happy but there was nothing I could do about not having a phone and we would try again in Phong Nha, this weekend. Before we went back to the hotel, we went to collect my bag which cost just 10,000VND (32p) to get fixed and then we walked round the corner to have a fresh coconut before getting a Grab back to the Minh Quang hotel.

We had arranged to meet Stu, Max, Jack and Aussie Pete at a fancy new bar in Dong Hoi in the evening. Captain Caveman had been to Regal Legend once before and it was like a very small version of a Marina Bay Sands style rooftop pool and bar. On walking up the stairs to the bar, we were met by 2 staff who presented us with a big board showing the drinks menu. Captain Caveman chose a Huda beer and I opted for a margarita. We sat at a nice table by the pool and I took a few photos of the lovely new place, while waiting for the drinks and our friends. We’d hoped for a sunset view but it was cloudy and Captain Caveman was left disappointed when the bar man explained that they didn’t have any Huda beer, only Tiger Crystal. He had that and I was totally taken off guard by my margarita, which seemed to be more like a vodka martini with Cointreau and lime juice in it. The alcohol content was high so I didn’t complain but I didn’t have another one. When Aussie Pete arrived he was also a bit perturbed that he couldn’t get a Huda beer and had to have the more expensive Tiger Crystal at 22,000VND (70p). I decided I wanted to have a glass of wine but they didn’t serve it by the glass, only the bottle, with the cheapest one being unavailable and the next cheapest red being 618,000VND (£19.52). Captain Caveman was up for treating me so I went over to the bar to look at the bottles where the 2 bottles I checked had been opened. I decided against the wine and chose a whiskey coke from the menu which started a chain of confusion. Neither of the staff were happy with my choice as they didn’t have any coke. I didn’t believe this and decided to nip to the toilet downstairs while the staff tried to find me my ‘cocktail’ ingredients. At the same time Aussie Pete and Captain Caveman ordered 2 more Tiger beers.

At the bottom of the stairs was a fridge, interestingly it’s contents were 2 shelves of Pepsi, one shelf of 7Up, one of water and the last of cold Huda beers. The bottom shelf of Huda beer had just 2 Tiger beers left, which the waitress was getting out. I went to the loo where staff were taking selfies and drinking coffees in there. I went back upstairs to reluctantly let the guys know there was Huda in the fridge.
Jack had arrived and Stu was on his way but we all were laughing at the beer situation. I’d been given a large Jack Daniels and 3 staff were now arguing about not having a coke, with a Pepsi in their possession. I took the can, they looked confused and the guys all ordered Huda. When they said there was none, I produced a photo to show the fridge and they dutifully brought them. We weren’t allowed to knock up a tab and had to pay as we went but Huda beers were only 15,000VND (47p), which was ridiculously funny for Stu and Aussie Pete who didn’t have small notes. They forgot Aussie Pete’s change, overcharged Captain Caveman and didn’t think it was weird to charge Stu on a bank transfer for one beer at once. My Jack Daniels and Pepsi was 99,000VND (£3.28) on the menu but I’d definitely ended up with a larger serving than it should have been.
We only went there because Stu’s mate worked there. We learned he’d quit when he didn’t get paid over the Tet holiday so we probably wouldn’t be going back in a hurry.
They didn’t serve dinner (probably a good job they didn’t) so we left there and went back to Oregano for the second day running. Just Aussie Pete, Captain Caveman and I made it for food where Captain Caveman ordered a potato and bacon pizza. Aussie Pete and I both ordered the spaghetti carbonara which was really nice for 50,000VND (£1.58). Once again, it was an early night as we would be getting up early tomorrow to pick up our friend from the airport, then head to Phong Nha.

Saigon to Dong Hoi – 13th March

I checked out of the Common Inn at just before 5am on Wednesday 13th March. I’d really enjoyed my 4 night stay there and for a total of 3 million Vietnamese Dong (£95.11), it was definitely worth it. By 5.30am I was checked in at Tan Son Nhat airport for my flight to Dong Hoi. Vietnamese Airlines didn’t give a stuff how many cases I had and let me check 2 in. I didn’t board for over an hour so I had a walk around the airport and noted that the Burger King Cheese Burger and fries were 169,000VND (£5.36) but the Pho at Big Bowl was only 132,000VND (£4.18) for the ordinary beef. Vietnam airports in comparison to UK and Turkey seem not to be quite as much of a rip off, but are still far more expensive than in the towns.
My flight was on time and we landed before 9am. Mr Minh Quang was there at Dong Hoi airport, with a sign and a smile, to meet me. He took my bags and spoke great English as we went over to the car. Once at the hotel, around 9.20am, I was able to check-in early and I went for a lay down. I fell asleep immediately and only woke up when Captain Caveman knocked on the door.
We had a late brunch at Tree Hugger, walking distance from our hotel, which I’d missed a lot. We both had the refreshing frozen lime and mint drinks, Captain Caveman ordered his favourite egg salad sandwich and I tried the yellow smoothie bowl for the healthier choice. Our meals cost 50,000VND (£1.58) and 60,000VND (£1.90) which was reasonable and I noticed that the White Russians were still the same price as last year.

As we were in Dong Hoi we had arranged to meet Stu and the boys for dinner and, as a treat, Aussie Pete would join us too. Stu chose the Laotian BBQ place to meet but I had to insist that Captain Caveman and I would go for cocktails at Tree Hugger first. I knew the BBQ place, which I’d never been to before, would only have beer to drink and I wasn’t going to have any. We had 2 White Russians each at only 60,000VND (£1.90) each and they were so good.
On arrival at the Laotian BBQ place I could already sense that it was very basic and I was concerned about hygiene. Captain Caveman, Stu and Aussie Pete were on the beers but I just ordered bottled water. Stu recommended the beef jerky and the sausage, of which Captain Caveman devoured. I couldn’t stomach trying it as it looked greasy so I just had sticky rice with peanut salt. We had some pork scratchings that come in a packet and were tasty. I needed the toilet and went in the back to find it. Unfortunately, I saw one of the staff/owners scraping animal parts (raw and cooked) in to a gutter which was congealed with fat and blood and I almost puked over the closest customer as I turned to leave. I would have had to step over the waste gunk to access the not so sparkling squat toilet and I just couldn’t face it. When Captain Caveman ordered and ate chicken feet, it was game over for me. I made the mistake of comparing it to the time we’d ate at the bird restaurant with Thuy, the physio, and I had to leave. I was dry wretching as I walked back to the hotel trying my best not to be sick. I got ready for bed, expecting Captain Caveman to make a night of it with Aussie Pete.
By 8.30pm, Captain Caveman had returned to the hotel to get me and we were off to Oregano for pizza and beers for him, water for me. I still felt rather queasy but did manage to share some of the lovely Hawaiian and Vegetarian pizzas. Oregano was nice but it closed at 9pm and we were back at the hotel for an early night. In Dong Hoi and Phong Nha it’s common to be in bed by 10pm.

Thao Dien – 12th March

I had my first pho for breakfast on Tuesday 12th March, it was only a Family Mart supermarket one but it was nice and I was able to leave out the chillies. I spoke to Captain Caveman who had some good news, he was not joining the others on the last trip of the caving expedition as he was going to Dong Hoi to renew his Vietnamese Driving licence tomorrow, which meant he would be able to meet me there! I was excited until I realised that he had probably remembered me saying he would miss Steak and Blow Job night on the 14th – and he does love a steak! Captain Caveman had booked us a room at the Minh Quang hotel in Dong Hoi for 2 nights and it was near all of my favourite food places.
I was going to visit Soma again for lunch but then realised that Micro Boulingerie was open again today and I fancied a nice sandwich. I really like their cream cheese and cranberry one but they had almost sold out of everything as it’s so popular. I had to make do with a Bluebaba sandwich which I thought wouldn’t really be my thing but it turned out to be such a great combination. Nutella, banana and blueberries on a fresh baguette – definitely not diet friendly but it did have 2 lots of fruit in it. Given that a tablespoon of Nutella is about 4 syns, I was still within my daily allowance so it wasn’t too bad and I ate both halves despite trying to save some for tomorrow’s breakfast.

In the afternoon, I created a little more excitement for myself by venturing out on foot, without a phone or purse, in pursuit of a cash machine. Thao Dien is not a cheap district of Vietnam and it tends to have some really good international places to dine so I’d not be sticking to a budget. It was hard to know how much the car to the airport would be as well as from Dong Hoi airport to the hotel. I found a cash machine and tried 3 times, with my Turkish bank card, but to no avail so I walked a bit further on to find an HSBC. It worked but taking out just 1,000,000VND (£31.65) cost me an extra 13% which was a bit steep. I got back to the hotel and packed as I was leaving at 5am tomorrow morning and didn’t want to be faffing about. I also bought some sourdough from Micro Boulingerie to take to Phong Nha with me.
That evening I got a Grab car over to District 1 to meet Quyen, I was early on purpose so that I had time for a quick beer in 7 Bridges and could find the restaurant. My 240ml Yuzu Wheat beer cost 75,000VND (£2.38) and was very nice but I was severely limiting how much beer I drank this year. I’d worked out my maximum was 3, before I noticed my waist size increase. When I arrived, Quyen was outside the closed Japanese place. Luckily, she had a backup plan and we went to Izakaya Ten, another authentic Japanese restaurant which was fantastic. We ordered lots of little sharing dishes, 5 vegetarian, 3 meat and a bottle of plum wine. The prices of them varied from 35,000VND (£1.11) to 68,000VND (£2.16) each and the 360ml of spirit was 230,000VND (£7.30). Everything was so tasty but our favourites were the pork and the steamed gyoza which we ordered a second portion of. We paid 425,000VND (£13.48) each, including tip, which was an absolute bargain and one of the best meals I’ve had. Quyen is also so lovely and easy to spend time with too, she called me a Grab car to go back in and we said farewell until next time. I was in bed by 10pm but I was watching something on Netflix to help me fall asleep. My alarm was set for 4.30am and I was looking forward to my trip to Dong Hoi.

Thao Dien – 11th March

I had a really good day on Monday 11th March and I think I made the most of it on the food and drink front, yet again. When I got up I decided I needed some exercise and to try to stick more to the Slimming World plan for the next couple of days. I didn’t want to be putting the weight I’d tried so hard to lose, back on. It had only just sunk in that I was the lightest weight I’d been in a few years so I was quite proud of myself for not giving up. I walked to Soma, which wasn’t that far but it was quite warm, for a fairly healthy breakfast. I ordered the Berrylicious breakfast for 120,000VND (£3.80) which is definitely more than I’d normally pay for a breakfast in Vietnam but it was absolutely lovely. It contained mixed berries, banana, coconut, strawberries, granola, chia seeds and cocoa nibs so wasn’t exactly diet friendly but it would do. I washed it down with a hibiscus and rose tea which was pretty powerful for 60,000VND (£1.90). I sat and did a bit of editing in the Air Con of Soma where lots of people were working on their laptops. A guy next to me ordered a detox drink which I liked the look of and a woman on the other side was boring a man to death while she talked about how good her business idea was. Neither the man nor I found out what her actual business idea was and I was surprised to see she didn’t tuck in to her breakfast straight away.
I was still there for lunch so I decided to have the Masaman udon noodle soup with poached chicken as an added extra and a Red Detox juice. The soup was full of vegetables with a sprinkle of peanuts in and a bargain at 180,000VND (£5.69) and I really enjoyed the drink at 65,000VND (£2.05). I felt so much healthier but the soup did have chillies in which I picked out, only to realise the broccoli had chilli flakes all over it. Soma was lovely and I really enjoyed my meals there, the total bill with the 8% tax on came to 459,000VND (£14.68) so was a bit more than I’d usually spend but I was on holiday and it was excellent value for money.

I walked back to the Common Inn hotel, via a quick look in the Family Mart supermarket and had a bit of a rest and a couple of video calls. My first one was with Captain Caveman who was back in Phong Nha for the night and wasn’t sure if he was on the next expedition tomorrow. He was happy as they had found a few more kilometres of new cave and hadn’t ran out of rope!
My next video call was with a contact I’d made from the Race to Recurring Revenue Challenge with Lisa Johnson. We were booked in for a chat at 4.30pm (9.30am her time in the UK) to get advice about setting up an online business without having to do live/speaking on social media.
Later, I used the hotel’s free washing machine and dryer to do some laundry and the security guard/handyman helped me, which was kind.

In the evening I managed to install Grab and get a car to take me to one of my favourite wine bars, Soho, where I met Andrea and her friend Wanda. We drank a lovely glass of red wine each at only 80,000VND (£2.53) for a decent portion. We walked to Blu Bar and Grill for dinner where we met Elena and had more wine with dinner. I ate pork wontons which were amazing then shared a chicken dish with Andrea. It had blue cheese in it and came with potatoes and nicely cooked vegetables. It was a lovely night and I really enjoyed myself. I was proud I had managed to get a Grab there and back without issue too, as I’m not great at maps and I still didn’t have a SIM card yet (nowhere in Thao Dien sells Viettel ones). I stopped at the Family Mart to stock up on water and snacks and ended up with a rather tasty pork gyoza for 9,000VND (28p). By 11.20pm I was ready for bed and looking forward to my last day in Saigon tomorrow.