Dong Hoi – 5th June

We woke up on Wednesday 5th June to another hot and sticky day. I took my measurements to find I had put 1cm on my bust and hips but my waist had stayed the same. I had lost 0.85kg (1.9lb) which was a good result considering how many syns (251) I’d had. Captain Caveman had found a pho restaurant not too far away and we rode there for breakfast. I really enjoyed Pho Ly Quoc Su where we had 2 Pho Bo (beef noodle soups), dough sticks, a coffee and a peach tea for 170,000VND (£5.28).

We rode back home and chilled out, Captain Caveman played Bridge and we let each dog out separately.
In just 3 weeks I would be back in Dalyan and I kept reminding Captain Caveman this. There was also a heat wave happening there and I hoped my parents were coping.
For lunch we had bananas and cheese toasties so I used some syns there. Later in the afternoon, we had some progress with Rodger when he came in to Max’s bedroom with me. He only came for a look and then when back out but it showed he was trusting me more. He still wouldn’t go for a walk but Terror was really enjoying his evening walks now.

In the evening the diet went by the wayside yet again as we went by taxi to a new place for dinner. Here’s what we had with prices in Dong at a rather nice restaurant;

Khoi Bistro
Peanuts 10,000
1 Full Moon Beer 45,000
1 Hero Beer 50,000
2 Rosé Beer 58,000
2 litre Beer keg 120,000
Pork and veg with rice 180,000
Pork ribs with salad 250,000
Total spent 713,000VND (£22.13)

The food was really good and we particularly liked the beers. It turned out to be owned and run by a guy who used to live in Phong Nha so we got chatting with him. We also got some children from the next table come to say hello and they took a bit of a shine to Captain Caveman. I’d really enjoyed the meal and the beers and hoped we would visit Khoi Bistro again while we were in Dong Hoi.

Dong Hoi – 4th June

The heat wasn’t letting up any on Tuesday 4th June as the warnings at 6am were that it felt like 35°C and 76% humidity. By 9am we had ventured out on the motorbike to Mr Bull for another Bo Ne breakfast. At 1.30pm the humidity had dropped to 56% but with a feels like 44°C and it was quite unbearable. Today was the day I should have been moving in to Steve and Michelle’s house in Lardos, Rhodes, to look after their dog and several cats. I noticed on Facebook that Steve and Michelle had unfriended me and they were about to head off on their round the world trip of a lifetime. Obviously, it was a shame that it had come to that but given that I had let them down on the dog sit I knew their reasons. Unfortunately, without any income and all the uncertainty in my life right now, I couldn’t have done anything else and some things aren’t meant to work out. They now just came up as ‘People I may know’ on my Facebook.
It took me ages to prise Captain Caveman away from his Bridge but by 2.30pm I was rather hungry. We went to another one of my favourites, Tree Hugger, where I had a chicken salad and a peach tea. Captain Caveman had his usual egg sandwich and a smoothie, followed by a lime and mint slushy which he was meant to share but forgot.

Back outside Stu’s house, there was lots of drying squid which made me feel sick. There was also a lovely old building nearby which I liked the look of. Rodger still wouldn’t go for a walk but sat outside sunbathing once it got a little cooler. We walked Terror and then went to Oregano again for dinner.

I ordered a Spaghetti Bolognese, Captain Caveman ordered a Carbonara and a salami pizza, of which I had half. When we got back to the house we decided to open some wine we had brought but there was no corkscrew in the house. Captain Caveman went back out to buy one and we shared the wine while trying to encourage Terror to not chase bugs/mice in the under stairs cupboard.
This week I’d had 251 syns, 58 of which were alcohol, and tomorrow was weigh day – it wasn’t looking good!

Dong Hoi – 3rd June

Captain Caveman and I went to Mr Bull’s for breakfast on Monday 3rd June where we both had the Bo Ne (steak and eggs) for a total of 120,000VND (£3.73). I bought a bottle of water at the WinMart and we drove back to Stu’s. Captain Caveman was picked up at 9am to go back to Oxalis for the day, I was in charge of Rodger and Terror. Both of them were fine when allowed to roam around (separately of course) but they didn’t want any petting or any interaction. It was a shame as they are lovely dogs but it was obvious they didn’t trust us.
I had fruit for lunch as I was trying to get back to being healthy again, I was on 150 syns already for this week.
Captain Caveman arrived back in a good mood, as it cheers him up when he goes to work on a day off. He’d also managed to squeeze in a lunch with Ho Khanh and Nghia. After a walk with just Terror and several failed attempts with Rodger, who still hadn’t had a poo since Friday, we went out for dinner.
Oregano was open so we had a pizza, I chose the veggie one which was very nice. It’s a lovely place but they don’t sell wine, only beer which I was still trying not to have. We bumped in to an old Oxalis colleague of Captain Caveman’s who now owns a vintage clothes shop, Cang’s, which is opposite Oregano. Duc is good fun and I sat and chatted to Luke, another ex Oxalis member, on a video call while Duc and Captain Caveman drank beer.

Dong Hoi – 2nd June

Captain Caveman and I woke up on Sunday 2nd June to a severe heat weather warning. Even the weather updates were telling us to drink water. I decided I was not going anywhere I didn’t have to, but Captain Caveman, despite his day off, had to venture to the Gold shops to change the foreign currency from the tip money. He also decided to go to the shop as I was desperate for some fruit. He borrowed Stu’s motorbike and was gone a while, returning with the below;

Co-op Mart Supermarket
Bananas 13,450
Dragon fruit 19,391
Plums 20,152
Apples 31,283
5 Grains biscuits 51,500VND
Total spent 135,676VND (£4.21)

I’d not had any breakfast, and the dogs needed some lunch getting so Captain Caveman drove us to Saigon Deli. He and I had the pork with rice for lunch and ordered the dogs their usual pork, quails egg and rice for their’s. The food was very nice and cheap, my dish (without egg) cost 42,000VND (£1.31).
Back at our temporary home, I fed the dogs, Captain Caveman had put some washing on, including various items of the lads which he’d found around the house. I went to help him hang it up but he got snappy with me for doing it wrong! I left him to it and went back in to the Aircon bedroom and did some writing.
At 6.30pm I had to interrupt Captain Caveman’s afternoon of Bridge playing for us to attempt the dog walks. Rodger was having none of it and disappeared down the side of the house. We eventually got him back in and in to a spare bedroom, while we got Terror out. He was still a bit nervous around us but we got the lead on and off we went.
There was a drone event on in town which Captain Caveman was interested in going to, I wasn’t bothered. We took the motorbike to go for food at Oregano but it was closed. Instead we went to one of my favourite restaurants in Dong Hoi, 7th Heaven. Captain Caveman ordered a Caesar salad and a spicy dish. I ordered the not spicy chicken Luk Lak. Unfortunately, I couldn’t eat mine as it was so spicy and obviously had chillies in. I ordered some cheesy garlic bread and made do with that, we took the rest of my dish home and put it in the freezer. Of course, we then couldn’t go to see the drone show because I had a bad stomach, and Captain Caveman wasn’t too pleased. I went back to the AC of the bedroom when we got in while Captain Caveman resumed his Bridge. Tomorrow he had arranged to go in to work, on his day off, as he had the tips and some other stuff to sort out.

Dong Hoi – 1st June

Captain Caveman and I woke up, in Max’s bed, on Saturday 1st June feeling a bit woolly. I had just over 3 weeks left in Vietnam, until a brief visit to Turkey on my way to the UK to get a new passport and pick up some other documents from my home town. It was a bit too early to get up but we had to say bye to Stu, Max & Jack before they left for their trip to Australia. We also had to use the downstairs bathroom for the toilet. We went to Mr Bull’s for breakfast where we all had Bo Ne and I gave my egg to Captain Caveman.
After the guys had left we tried to be friendly with the dogs, each in turn. Rodger was so scared of us that he hid down the side of the house. Terror was not as scared but was intent on guarding Jack’s room by snarling at us if we went near.
Captain Caveman was sick with a cold, he was tired and grumpy and mainly played Bridge all day. Only he is able to ride a motorbike and we were quite a way from town so I would have to rely on him for the next 10 days to go anywhere. When it got to lunch time, Captain Caveman didn’t want to go anywhere as he was playing Bridge so I had some of the 5 Grains biscuits to put me on. I’d been looking forward to having a kitchen to cook in after 3 months without one. Unfortunately, it was too hot for me to bother with. I fed the dogs who had leftover pork, rice and quail eggs but they weren’t too pleased at me going in to their rooms to get the bowls. For dinner, I thought Captain Caveman would take us out somewhere in Dong Hoi but he was still feeling ill and playing Bridge.
Stu had left us some ham, cheese, bacon, lettuce and bread in the fridge so Captain Caveman made us a cheese and ham toastie. Since I’d been ill last month, I was still not great with ham and I wasn’t a fan of the sandwiches. It also meant that I was already on 131 syns for this week with 3 more days to go.
We tried to walk the dogs but neither of them were compliant, Rodger was absolutely having none of it. Terror wanted to but just didn’t trust us until eventually Captain Caveman got him on the lead. Once outside, he walked fine and we did a short walk together then came back. I didn’t take any photos of the dogs as they were not up for it, but I really they hoped they would get used to us.

Phong Nha & Dong Hoi – 31st May

The last day of the month, Friday 31st May, was a busy one. Captain Caveman was due back from the cave in the afternoon and we had plans for me to join him at Chay Lap that night. We had agreed to house and dogsit for our friends, Stu, Max & Jack, in Dong Hoi until the 10th of next month. They were off to Australia tomorrow morning and couldn’t leave the dogs with just anyone or put them in kennels. I packed my bag in the morning as I needed to check out and I paid the bill for Phong Nha Homestay, which was a bargain at 3,744,000VND (£115), including quite a bit of laundry, for a total of 17 nights. It was still one of my favourite places to stay in Phong Nha centre due to it being so clean, cheap and safe. Plus the family who own it are no-nonsense honest people. I left my bag for us to pick up later and I was heading to Phong Nha Vegan when I noticed it was about to rain. I had just stepped in to The Villas and shouted to the staff to let them know it had started to rain as they had the roof canopy open. While they rushed in to action to move stuff that was going to get wet, I got comfy and perused the rather hefty breakfast menu over a nice pot of tea and some homemade biscuits. I decided I was going to have the bacon and egg roll, but without the egg. It was really good and the bread was fresh and soft.
I spent the morning there as the rain poured down then I ordered the salami and prawn spaghetti with parmesan for lunch. It was delicious, although rather more generous with the salami than the prawns, so not great for that diet I was supposed to be on.
Captain Caveman arrived and had a pizza, as is his usual, and I didn’t share any. By 2pm we were taking full advantage of the summer cocktail offers and today, as it was Friday, there was 50% off margaritas! After a couple of drinks I got peckish again and ordered a Margherita pizza with more Margarita cocktails (this could get confusing). Our total bill with the summer offers came to just 917,000VND (£28.40) – great value and I was rather merry!
While Captain Caveman did the gala dinner with his tour group at Chay Lap, I played pool with the taxi driver. He thrashed me as he plays rules where you can hit any ball on any go – it made it quicker and certainly interesting. He offered to share his portion of french fries, which I politely declined, and we talked about his wife and family which was very nice.
We obviously arrived at Stu’s place quite late, and tiddly. Captain Caveman had shouted at me for not knowing the way when it turned out I did. I stormed off inside, leaving him to get all the bags, and we had a beer with Stu and met the dogs. They were Vietnamese dogs, and weren’t particularly friendly towards us. Rodger had a blood parasite and had recently had one eye removed so looked like a pirate and Terror was the son of Rodger, who hated his head being touched. The next week or so was certainly going to keep us on our toes, especially as the 2 dogs could not be in the same room at any time. Max, the eldest son, gave up his bedroom for Captain Caveman and I to sleep in and it had a decent AC unit which was very good of him.

Phong Nha – 29th & 30th May

Wednesday 29th May was a long day for me. I woke up having been bitten even more and my elbow was swollen, there was a dead cockroach on the floor next to the bed so I was convinced, that was what had bitten me. I took my measurements as it was weigh day again and I found that my bust was the same, I’d put 1cm on my waist and lost 1cm off my hips. On the way to Phong Nha Vegan, I called at the pharmacy and she recommended Remos gel 51,000VND (£1.59) for my bites. I was early and knew the vegan wouldn’t be open yet so I called in at The Villas for a fruit salad with yoghurt and muesli and a pot of tea. When I got weighed at Phong Nha Vegan I was disappointed to find I had put on 0.85Kg (1.9lb).
For lunch I had Com Suon, a fake pork dish with steamed rice and veggies, and the place was still a bit understaffed. I had hoped a friend would be able to come join me for lunch but I didn’t see her.
After about 2.5 hours at the Vegan in the heat I cycled back to the homestay, for my postponed video call with Vanessa.
Unfortunately, there were more complaints from Dalyan because the neighbours had random dogs and cats in the stairwell and the tenants said to Jamie that the next door neighbours had also complained. I had to leave it with the agent and go back to the Vegan as my friend was waiting for me there. She had a papaya salad and watched me run about trying to help out as there were no staff again, I managed to squeeze in some mushroom skewers before cycling home to deal with Captain Caveman’s apartment complaints. On the way back, I stopped at the fruit lady and bought 100,000VND (£3.10) worth of mangosteen. The tenants staying in Captain Caveman’s apartment had decided to have a pool day but when they went down, the pool was being filled with chemicals and they couldn’t use it. This was the 2nd time the pool had been unavailable so they weren’t happy and had had to go to a nearby hotel to use their pool. As they were paying £400 per month to have a 2 bedroomed apartment with a shared pool, they were frustrated at not getting what they had paid for. I sent a message to the pool and garden guy to complain that he could have told us in advance, but he said didn’t know about it as his workers had done it. By the time he sent me an update, the pool looked good to me but it was already 4pm there. I was beginning to wish we’d never agreed to rent the place out. I was awake until 2am but then I had to turn my phone off. It was still 32°C in Phong Nha and I had to be up early tomorrow morning.

I had another busy day on Thursday 30th May, an early start for breakfast at The Villas. I had my favourite breakfast of pho ga (chicken noodle soup) with a passion fruit juice. I paid 100,000VND (£3.10) and really enjoyed my meal before heading off to Phong Nha Vegan. They had received some good Google reviews which was nice. For lunch I had arranged to meet Veronika for a farewell meal so I didn’t need to eat at the vegan. Nevertheless, Hanh cooked me some sweet potato fries with salt and pepper.
I arrived a little late to The Villas, where Veronika and Deborah were waiting for me. They both ordered salmon for lunch but I was craving some dairy so I chose a ham and cheese toasty with a vanilla milkshake. As Veronika and Deborah were off to Australia next week, it was our farewell lunch and it felt weird not knowing when we would see each other again. After our meal, Ben was waiting to give Veronika and Deborah a lift back the Phong Nha Farmstay so we said our goodbyes and I cycled back to the homestay for a shower and a rest. I was back at the Phong Nha Vegan that evening, where it was another busy one and I met some lovely tourists. Many kept returning as the food was so good. I ate a crispy vegetable ramen dish which was so tasty. The weather forecast kept saying rain and clouds but it was very hot and hadn’t been cloudy at all. Back at the homestay, I got in bed and waited for news from Ma & Pa that they had landed in Turkey, they were heading back to Dalyan tonight and would be there when I arrived.