Dong Hoi – 10th June

Captain Caveman had an appointment at the ultrasound clinic on Monday 10th June, first thing. I popped to the chemist to try to get contraceptive pills but none of the 3 pharmacies I tried, had them.
We went in to town afterwards and, while Captain Caveman went to the Gold shop, I went to another pharmacy. I had to settle for a different kind of pill, which I know gives me side effects but I had no choice. Here’s what I bought, prices in Dong;

Pharmacy
1 Diclofenac 27,000
1 Loperamide 27,500
5 Ibuprofen 194,000
6 Contraceptive pill 898,800
Total 1,147,300VND (£34.80)

At the WinMart Captain Caveman bought bread, crisps and 2 bottles of cheap Italian wine for when Stu and the boys arrived later. They were due back later than expected so we tried the Banh My place next to the gold shop, as recommended by Duc at Cang’s vintage clothing. It was cheap and tasty and didn’t have all the pâté in, that I don’t like. After the sandwich, we ventured in to the market just as it was starting to get quite sweaty. Captain Caveman wanted to get something specific for his cousin’s wedding which we were going to in July. Our next stop for a bit of light refreshment was our favourite coconut stall and coffee shop. The man there is super friendly and hard working so we have been going to that particular guy since we were recommended him by Thao a few years ago.

Back at the house, Captain Caveman was in charge of kitchen cleaning and feeding the dogs while I had the sweaty job of hoovering up. We cleaned the house as best we could before having our cheese sandwiches for lunch. I told each dog (separately) that their family was coming home and I think they understood. Over the 10 days we had been looking after them I’d gained their trust by telling them short stories about dogs who were scared of the people looking after them.
Stu and the boys were due in around 5.30pm but I couldn’t wait to open the wine and had started celebrating their return without them. Rodger had always listened to my stories but Terror was having none of them, until today when I told him a story about a dog who’s owner had returned from a holiday and was very excited to see his pets. Terror jumped on to the sofa and licked my face and he knew his family was coming back.
When Stu and Max returned (Jack had gone straight to meet someone at the airport), they took it in turns to greet the dogs. Rodger was first and was so excited he did a wee while Terror whined to be let out of Jack’s room. When Jack returned briefly they got excited again and were very pleased to have the boys back.
The boys drank beer, I had a bottle of red wine to myself and we ordered takeaway from Oregano, of pizza and potato gratin. It was a good welcome back, we decided to stay over one more night and Max gave us his room again. Tomorrow we would head back to Phong Nha where I had just 10 nights left before I started my journey back to Turkey.