Phong Nha – 16th & 17th June

On the morning of Sunday 16th June I packed a lot of my stuff. Captain Caveman was due back later and would only have a couple of hours today and some of tomorrow for us to get organised for my departure. As we still didn’t know when Captain Caveman and I would be back in Phong Nha after this season, or what job either of us would be doing next year, I decided to take almost everything. I would have one suitcase to take anything I had still in Vietnam so I decided to put all the things I could live without in to a bag to give to Chung and Hoan. They could keep anything which they could make use of and give the rest to charity. It felt a bit weird not really knowing what would happen next year but I felt confident things would find a way of working out.
I worked from The Villas again and had a treat of beans on toast with a pot of tea for breakfast. For my lunch I had fresh veggie spring rolls and I was still working when Captain Caveman arrived at The Villas. He’d had a good trip but it had been incredibly hot, meaning the group had been out a little later. I updated Captain Caveman on my new job, he was pleased but we didn’t have long to chat as he was off to Chay Lap for his gala dinner. After finishing work for the day, I treated myself to a bottle of wine and some peanuts while I waited for Captain Caveman to return. When he arrived he ordered a pizza as the food at Chay Lap is still below par and he never eats there. I decided to try the ‘new to the menu’ cheeseburger, even though I’m not a massive burger fan.
Captain Caveman devoured his dinner and half the bottle of red wine, he was very hungry after his tour. My burger tasted very good but it was a bit chewy with it being beef. I let the manager know and she did say the Victory Road burger was better as it’s mixed with pork so that might have suited me better. Our total bill came to 890,000VND (£27) which included carrot cake. The Villas had started doing fresh cakes again and it did not disappoint! Maxime and his family were back in town to renovate the Nguyen Shack and had waited to say hello to Captain Caveman. It was almost 10pm when we cycled home, Captain Caveman was very tired.

Captain Caveman had the day time off on Monday 17th June but he still had some work tasks to do, of course. We were awake by 6am but his alarm was set for 6.30am anyway. The weather forecast said it was only 28°C but 83% humidity so it definitely felt hot and muggy. It also said it was going to be cloudy all day but the clouds had definitely not got that memo and it was scorching!
By 8.30am we had cycled to The Villas for me to crack on with work and later have brunch. I had my usual Pho and a smoothie but Captain Caveman had his favourite Eggs Benedict washed down with a Bloody Mary (which are usually 50% off on Mondays). Our bill came to 372,000VND (£11.30) and I didn’t notice at the time that the Bloody Mary was charged at full price of 180,000VND (£5.46). I said goodbye to Ben, as he was off to Mongolia tonight and would be away until the 29th June, when I would already be in Turkey.
While Captain Caveman got prepared for his next tour and his briefing tonight, I was thankful for a rest in the AC back at Son River House Homestay. By 3pm the humidity levels had dropped considerably but it still felt unbearable outside.
After work, and while Captain Caveman was at the Oxalis briefing, I went to Phong Nha Vegan. I was chatting with Ha when something truly awful happened. We heard a commotion down the road, towards town and, when I looked, I saw a woman in the street, a motorbike, something white on the floor and a few people gathered around.
I knew it as soon as I saw the white, it was May, the dog. He had been hit by a motorbike and the owner was trying to save him, I called Ha and we ran down. What happened next was quite upsetting so I won’t go in to too much detail. I felt for a heartbeat and little May was still alive. I called Chung and asked her to call Bom’s dad who is a farm vet and tell him to come quickly. She did and he said he was coming. The owner picked up May and was very distressed about the whole situation so we took him inside the gate. We both kept stroking and talking to him and willing him to pull through. Other dogs in the area were coming to check on May and I nervously kept them at a safe distance. The vet was really taking his time and I called several times for Chung to chase him. Ha and the others left me with the dog’s owner, who spoke no English and then May could fight no more. It was terrible and it looked like he had some bleeding from inside. I consoled the woman and we used Google translate to talk to each other and later her daughter. We lay May in a quiet spot in the garden and waited for her relative to arrive. Eventually, I left and having been strong for the owner, I had a little cry. The Vegan girls wanted to feed me but there was no way I could eat and I was conscious that I’d been holding May. I had a good wash but didn’t want to touch any of the tables at the Vegan and decided to call it a night. Our friend Dung was there having dinner and I asked him to come back and help me talk to May’s owner, which he did. It turned out her husband was a vet and there had been nothing we could have done to save May but at least he knew we loved him. I cycled to The Villas to meet Captain Caveman, with a takeaway snack of vegetable tempura which Hanh had insisted on making me. Once I’d calmed down and was getting through the shock, I ordered a Spaghetti Bolognese and shared a bottle of red wine with Captain Caveman. We paid 472,000VND (£14.33) which I didn’t think was bad. Our last night in Phong Nha together wasn’t the celebration it could have been, though.
Back at the homestay, I got some news to cheer me up; my friend, Briony, was going to be in Sheffield when I was, and had booked her flight from America. I ate the veggie tempura and then went to bed, still sad about little May, the dog.