On Tuesday 14th June Captain Caveman was up early, ready for his next tour. I asked him to resend me his schedule for June, July and August as I didn’t realise that he’d only have 2 more days off in the rest of the month. Captain Caveman had already had the first 8 days of June off to go to meet me in Saigon. I hadn’t realised this before my flight was booked to turn up 5 days into his days off, I should have come earlier if I wanted to see him more. Before Captain Caveman left, we went out to see Bluey, my bicycle, and he managed to adjust her seat for me so that I had a way of getting about, if it ever got cool enough for me to attempt it. I didn’t bother with breakfast as I was feeling too hot but by the time it got to lunch time I was peckish. I put the rice cooker on and had my left over butter chicken and naan bread with steamed rice and it was delicious. In the afternoon I chilled out by the pool with my new book, Two Pillars Remain, and a White Russian (the cocktail, not a war refugee). I got in touch with Tatas and Darren to arrange doing something tomorrow, as they both had a day off then a briefing together. We hoped to go to one of my favourite places in Phong Nha, if the weather was ok.
Monday 13th June was another fun day and I was looking forward to Captain Caveman getting back later. I was still struggling with the heat and, despite me having the AC on 24°C, the temperature in the room was over 30°C at 10am. The cleaning staff were surprised, but happy, to see me back at Elements. They came to give the place a spruce up and bring more towels for the bathroom and pool. I spent a lot of time swimming because my trapped nerve in my left glute was hurting and I didn’t have lunch until 2.30pm. I finished off the rest of the bolognese with spaghetti and probably shouldn’t have eaten so much because I had plans for tonight. Captain Caveman was back home about 4pm but then had to be at his briefing for the next tour at 6pm. He had bought some new jeans for motorbiking while I’d been away and he looked really good in them. While he rode back off to Phong Nha I waited for my lift. Bich and Ben had decided to restart the Monday curry night at The Villas which was nice, as they used to do a lovely butter chicken. Bich came over and had a friend in the car with her who wanted to look round our villa so we did that first. We were still at The Villas before 6pm and I was going to sit in the AC room but Bich’s friend was making a call to his wife in Australia. He’d already spoken to her in the car on the way but he continued to speak to her for a long time, while I sat at the bar with a Pina Colada (50% off on a Monday) and free popcorn. Stu, the kids and a friend from Dong Hoi were meant to be joining the curry night but only Stu made it, by which time we no longer waited for the guy to finish his video call with his wife. The butter chicken came with steamed rice and garlic naan bread and was a generous portion. The curry was delicious but I couldn’t finish it all so I got a doggy bag just as Captain Caveman came to join us. Stu pre-ordered enough for the guys back home plus took half of his home too. Captain Caveman had already eaten at his Oxalis briefing and we had another event to get to. One of the lads who he works with, Núi, was getting married tomorrow so tonight was the stag party, to which we were both invited. If Captain Caveman hadn’t been driving, and working tomorrow, we’d have been able to give the ball a right kick. Instead, I had to take a few beers for the team with the lads. We didn’t stay long but it was good to see a few friendly faces and it was a shame we would miss the wedding.
I found Sunday 12th June to be a more positive day. I decided to make some plans to go out, while Captain Caveman was on day 3 of his 4 day tour. Tomorrow, Captain Caveman would come out in the afternoon, have a shower, put the washing in and repack to go back in the cave. He would attend the briefing of the next group instead of the gala dinner of the existing group and be back in Son Doong the day after, for another 4 days. This was disappointing for me but I focused on him having 2 days off on the 18th of this month, so only 6 days to wait until we could do something together, perhaps. I didn’t bother with any breakfast but I did have a lovely lunch. I’d taken another mystery jar out of the freezer to find that Captain Caveman had made Bolognese with pork mince and bacon. There was further disruption to my exercise schedule this week as the dead bird was still in the pool. By this time I had seen Duyet who had sent another man to remove the dead bird from the pool. He couldn’t find the bird even when I was pointing to it while wrapped in my towel, having just got out of the shower. I decided to ask Duyet for a lift to the Phong Nha Farmstay, for my first time this year, where I hoped they still had a bar and a happy hour. While I was waiting to get in the jeep I noticed we had a new pet. Unfortunately, Carrot the dog was no longer with us so it looked like we now had a squirrel. In a cage. The word for squirrel in Vietnamese is sóc so I promptly named it Sox. There was water and banana for it to eat but it was quite shy and looked a bit scared of me. The drive up to the Farmstay brought back memories as I saw the farmers planting or tending to the rice paddies along the way. When I arrived and logged in to the free WiFi (I still didn’t have a SIM card yet) I noticed Kat had been trying to call me. She only uses Instagram but I didn’t have notifications turned on for it. Kat and Buu had decided to come join me at the Farmstay for happy hour and a Sunday Roast. I couldn’t believe my luck when I discovered that there was draft beer and the Sunday dinner had been restarted too. As I was at the bar I noticed there were some pretty good ‘not on the menu’ specials, including the notorious Sam Mackenzie Veggie pie, apparently available every day. The staff were still getting used to having international customers again but there were a few of us about, including a lady I remembered seeing just as the pandemic hit Vietnam. As I had been desperate to eat pork again I ordered my roast dinner with just pork and no lamb, Kat and Buu shared a meal and ordered a Spaghetti Bolognese too. I had the red wine which came with the deal too. It was good to see Kat and Buu again who had remained in Vietnam throughout the pandemic. We chatted with Bich too, who had some funny stories from her recent Australia trip. There was a new book on display at the Phong Nha Farmstay which Veronika and her friend, Sue, had written about the local area of Cu Nam. It was a available for a minimum 100,000vnd (£3.60) donation towards the village museum. I donated 200,000vnd for a copy of it and popped it in my bag to read by the pool one day. Kat and I shared my chocolate fondant cake as it’s very rich and she hadn’t tried it before. She shared her carrot cake with Buu and offered me some but by this time I was too full. The set price of 300,000vnd (£10.80) was the same as last year but I did notice the portions, although a generous portion, weren’t quite as big as the last time I had one. I ended up with lamb and pork despite my ordering specifically without lamb because the staff forgot, there was no crackling and the Yorkshire pudding was small – I suspected the oven was opened during the cooking process. I enjoyed my dinner and I even took half home to pop in the freezer. After saying our goodbyes and agreeing to meet up for wine drinking at a girls night for us cave widows we all went home. I got a lift back with Duyet after having an extra beer because the happy hour had not included draft beer but I’d had 1 draft and 1 bottle, so now I needed 1 more bottle. Even though the draught beer was so much nicer it was 45,000vnd (£1.62) for a half so I would have to limit them. My total spend for today had been 600,000vnd (£21.60) which was kind of a bit over our usual budget, but did include a book, 4 alcoholic drinks, a dinner and a pudding.
Saturday 11th June wasn’t an amazing day for me and it was only my 2nd full day in Phong Nha. I started off trying to keep positive after not feeling particularly welcomed back by Captain Caveman, yesterday. Him not having made any room for me, or my stuff, was probably just an oversight as he had been working so much. I was obviously disappointed that he didn’t have much time off and, especially as more of my family were hoping to be in Dalyan soon, I could have stayed in Turkey longer to join in with their plans. I had a friend who I was talking to in Dalyan who was going through some not very nice things right now and I felt useless to help them. I also had another worry at the back at my mind too; although I’d been promised I could extend my tourist visa after the 5th of next month, I didn’t believe it. If I had to leave Vietnam it would have been a very expensive trip to hardly see Captain Caveman – the main point to my visit. I’d had a croissant for breakfast and was doing some editing most of the morning. I decided to eat up the rest of the pulled pork for lunch and I got the trusty rice steamer out to make some perfectly cooked rice to go with it. I sniffed the pulled pork in the jar to see if I could tell how spicy it was. I couldn’t smell anything and even when I ate it, the taste was nice and I couldn’t tell if there was chilli in it. Of course, it made me ill and I even had to have a nap after I finally got out of the bathroom. By 4pm I was so hot but I couldn’t swim in the pool because there was a dead baby bird in it. I tried getting it out with a colander but couldn’t so asked the staff if someone could get a pool net or something, they said yes but it didn’t come before dark. I had to cancel the evening plans because of my stomach and went back to bed. By 9.30pm I was wide awake and hungry so I had a slice of Kate’s fruitcake with Dick’s Red Leicester cheese and a gin & ginger ale. I hoped for a better day tomorrow.
My first full day in Phong Nha on Friday 10th June was a little surprising. It was before 6am when Captain Caveman was up, packing and rustling about with the laundry bag and getting something that he needed sewing. I said goodbye to him as he went off to work on his first trip of several this month. Unfortunately, the time off I’d hoped he might have in June, was not as much as I had anticipated. I started to realise I would be spending a fair bit of time in Phong Nha without him, for the rest of this month. It was a cloudy day but still too hot for me to cycle the 10km in to town. I went to see Bluey but Captain Caveman had left the seat too high for me and I couldn’t free the leaver to change it. I put some of my stuff in the bathroom, where there was some space for me to use. I sent my passport to the Phong Nha Farmstay receptionist to register me as staying there, as the villa we are staying in is in their private villa portfolio, ideal for longer term stays where you want a home from home. It was nice to see the Elements Collection villa in the daylight again and it did look really lovely in the bright sunshine. For lunch I cooked half the defrosted pulled pork and put the rest back in the fridge for a second meal. I didn’t even get half way through my food before I had a bad reaction, it had chillies in it! I rested up, mostly in the bathroom or drinking water until I started to feel better. Later in the afternoon, I got my swimmers on and had a bit of a dip. The pool was as warm as bath water so I only did about 20 lengths before getting out for a lay on the sunbed in the shade. Just as I had resigned myself to having a very sedate weekend I was invited for a lift to a night out. Ben and Bich, the owners of the Phong Nha Farmstay, were back from their Australia visit and had relaunched the infamous all you can eat pizza night, from 6.30pm to 8pm this evening at The Villas restaurant! I was up for that and was looking forward to not having to eat 2 portions of spicy pulled pork in the same day. I sat outside while waiting for my lift with Bich, which gave me time to sit and admire the matured gardens, getting bit by mozzies at dusk. I watched the staff saturate the garden with a hose and wondered why all the Christmas decorations, including a 5ft tree, were still up.
When I arrived at The Villas restaurant I was so happy to see lots of people I hadn’t seen in ages, some since before the pandemic had started. Ben, Bich and the boys were excited to be back in Phong Nha and we were all delighted that international tourism was back in Vietnam. Stu was with his kids and a friend, who I had met once before. Next to them was a guy who said hello but I didn’t know him, I would get to meet him again. At a table up the steps was Hanh who sat with her son, some female friends and Drifter. I said hello to all of them but Kat and Dung were already waiting for me to go join them by the river. After welcoming hugs we ordered margarita cocktails (50% off on pizza night) and sat down. Dung used to be my boss when I worked at Jungle Boss and it was great to catch up after so long! I was pleased to see Kat, a really smart American girl with great hair, who I had become friends with during the pandemic. Her boyfriend, also a friend of mine, is a cave guide for Jungle Boss so she and I had automatically formed a cave widow appreciate group (aka CWAGs, formerly Cavers Wives and Girlfriends). We joined a table with Leo, who I am good friends with and worked with at JB, and his girlfriend Su, the new manager of the Sales team. All the staff were still there and it was good to see them again, they looked like they were happy to see Phong Nha welcoming back more people and were ready to see some busy weeks and months ahead, hopefully. We had a great laugh and I had about 8 pieces of pizza and 3 margaritas. It was only day 1 and, so far, I had spent 160,000vnd (£5.76) on the pizza and 225,000 (£8.10) on the cocktails. Bich was giving me a lift back so I had to leave my friends, which was a shame because I was just getting in to the swing of it. I was invited to the Jungle Boss event tomorrow night where they were having live music and a mobile bar in the town centre. I was home and in bed before 10pm, feeling very full and happy to have seen quite a lot of my Phong Nha friends tonight. I was so distracted that I forgot to take any photos of my own, I’d have to go again next week and try harder!
Thursday 9th June was not a relaxing day, we were off back to Phong Nha as Captain Caveman had to be at work for 6pm. After finalising some packing, and Captain Caveman getting cross with me for not having sufficiently wrapped the Stilton cheese, we were ready to check out of Melia River View apartments. Our flight was in the afternoon so we still had time to meet up with another friend, Quyen, in District 1 of Saigon. We temporarily left our luggage at her place while we walked round to a nearby restaurant. As luck would have it I’d requested a Japanese restaurant and it couldn’t have been a better choice location wise. I ordered a peach tea drink and a pork dish, the other two had fishy stuff. We got brought some warm boiled gingko nuts which look like pistachios but taste more like a slightly off, cheesy chestnut. The food was delicious and we had a nice catch up with Quyen, who’d I’d not seen for quite some time. After our meal we went to a cafe round the corner for a hot beverage and then it was sadly time to say bye to Saigon and Quyen. We were off to the airport for our 3.30pm flight to Dong Hoi, there was still no rain which was lucky.
At the airport Captain Caveman found some Ron Zacapa rum, which was a lovely surprise and he bought a bottle to take with us. By 3pm we were near the front of the queue to board the flight and I should have known it would happen. Captain Caveman got in a separate queue to me, so he didn’t have to speak or listen to me for the next half an hour while we waited to be let through the gate and on to the bus to the plane. He made out it was because 3 Vietnamese men had pushed in by starting a second queue but he was doing the same by becoming the 4th person in it. We were lucky to not have anyone sitting on the aisle seat on our row so we spread out after take off, I had some dried mango and Captain Caveman had Pringles. The flight was quick, slightly delayed but landed in Dong Hoi around 5pm. I left Captain Caveman getting our luggage while I went to the toilets, they had soap which only I used. I remembered a couple of years ago some Vietnamese women telling me they didn’t like to use soap as it makes their skin look older. The pandemic was obviously a thing of the past for hand washing with soap in toilets again, but of course everyone wore a mask over their mouth and nose. Captain Caveman had arranged an Oxalis car and driver to pick us up from Dong Hoi airport, drop me off and take him to work. He would cycle back after work, to where I would be staying for at least another 3 weeks.
When we arrived at Elements Collection, the villa where Captain Caveman has been staying since September 2020, he was pushed for time. He left the luggage downstairs, gave me his keys and got back in the car to go to the Oxalis office. Part of his job, as a cave expert on the Hang Son Doong tours, is to meet the guests at their briefing and dinner on the evening before their 4 day expedition. I started to move the bags and looked for somewhere to unpack my stuff. I also took a jar of mystery contents from the freezer to defrost for my dinner. Unfortunately, in the time that Captain Caveman had been away in Saigon, he had forgotten to inform anyone at the villa or Phong Nha Farmstay that I was coming back. There were only half the pillows and towels in the room and the place was not looking like it was ready for me coming to stay. I was a bit miffed about this as I thought Captain Caveman would at least have moved all his winter clothes out of the wardrobe, or cleared me a drawer or shelf to use. The stuff I had left here back in September had been put in storage in the Glass House and were still over there. I put all my clothes back in my suitcase and got myself a can of cold Huda beer. The pulled pork that I had got out of the freezer still hadn’t quite defrosted 2 hours later and I was peckish. Instead, I had spaghetti with pesto mixed in – basic but tasty and it would do. Captain Caveman cycled Bluey, my bicycle, back from Phong Nha so that I would be able to get about while he was away for the next few days. By 9.45pm he was back and we were having a Huda beer before an early night, as Captain Caveman had an early start tomorrow.
I was back on track for getting some sleep now and on Wednesday 8th June I woke up feeling almost human again. Storms with very heavy rain were forecast for the afternoon and it was our last day in Saigon so Captain Caveman had a plan. He booked a Grab taxi and we went to Lubu for lunch. Almost 7 years ago to the day I met a lady called Beth who I went on an Easy Rider motorbike trip with from Phong Nha to Hue, via Khe Sanh, as a group of 4. She has a son, who we met while he was the manager of Mekong Merchant in Saigon, when we caught up with Beth again a few years ago. Her son, Jay, is now at Lubu, and we happened to see him. Captain Caveman took a terrible photo of me with Jay to send to Beth and he gave us a glass of wine each on the house, which was really nice of him. Captain Caveman and I ordered the lunchtime special which I would definitely recommend. I ordered a green salad starter (get me!), the steak and chips with garlic butter and a pannacotta type dessert. Captain Caveman went for the Gazpacho, chicken schnitzel and ate both of our desserts. This surprised me as he doesn’t ordinarily like sweet stuff and I don’t like the texture of a pannacotta. My complimentary red wine was lovely so Captain Caveman decided we would have a bottle of that. We sat and relaxed while sipping our beverages and discussing plans for when we were back in Phong Nha.
Our next stop was to have a wander in to the Annam Gourmet shop where I wanted to get some treats. They had bottles of Prosecco for 550,000vnd (£19.25) but Captain Caveman wasn’t interested in buying any to take back with us. I spotted the 4 Limited Release Lab Series gins from Lady Trieu too but we didn’t even buy any of that, on account of us not really having enough luggage space. We wandered our way through District 2 and by 3.30pm we were in the pub. I’d already been warned there were no late night bars open in Phong Nha so I was making the most of it. We met Andrea for a couple of ales in Bia Craft (one with an indoor AC section), I accidentally ordered a snack of shredded cheese, not realising it was sprinkled with hot chilli flakes and I had to drink a lot of beer, rather quickly. The snack menu had a Caeser salad on there but I didn’t point out to Captain Caveman that it had egg in it! When Andrea’s colleague and friend, Amarjit, joined us we had one more drink before going out for our last dinner in Saigon.
Captain Caveman and I had chosen Baba’s Kitchen because we love it there and it’s my favourite Indian restaurant in Saigon. The food was lovely, the drinks flowed, I was pretty merry so I forgot to take any decent photos. We also ordered 2 portions of Chicken Jalfrezi and 2 Butter Chickens to take away. It was a lovely last night which Captain Caveman and I finished off in a bar where we discovered a sport I’m good at; shuffleboard. We had several games of it and I am much better at this than pool or darts, maybe we needed to find one in Dalyan for the winter. The storms held off all day and night so I had been lucky to not encounter any rain yet. When we got in, Captain Caveman made sure our curries were in tupperware boxes, sealed properly, in the fridge. They would be packed to take to Phong Nha, tomorrow.
I didn’t wake up until 7am on Tuesday 7th June, although it was still 3am on my Turkish watch. I was missing having 2 pillows and having to get used to a hard bed again. Captain Caveman was already up and about in the kitchen making himself peanut butter wraps because he was hungry. For lunch we went to the same place as for breakfast yesterday, as Captain Caveman was complaining that I couldn’t walk far, or quickly enough. I thought my foot was ok but I just wasn’t used to walking at his pace so it was starting to hurt a bit. I was back to walking several metres behind my man again and it felt weird. While Captain Caveman ordered a Caesar salad and a smoothie I ordered chicken fried rice and a draft Platinum beer. When Captain Caveman’s salad arrived it had poached eggs on which I commented was unusual. Our first argument happened because now Captain Caveman was insisting that there is always eggs in a Caeser salad. I agreed that eggs were in the dressing but I had never seen cooked/poached eggs in one, but of course he had to argue the point until I really couldn’t care less if it did or not. I could see I was going to have my work cut out for me as I’d temporarily forgotten how much Captain Caveman likes to argue and be a know-it-all. I still maintain he is wrong but I just said ‘lovely’ then drank my beer and ate my chicken fried rice without speaking. My food was ok, it didn’t have much flavour to it, but the beer was good so I had another one. We were sat in the shade, with a fan on, it was only 30°C but I was melting – the humidity was a bugger!
By 4.30pm we were on our way to meet Keith from Grimsby, who lives in Saigon. I’d asked Captain Caveman to think of a bar which had AC as I didn’t want to drink in this heat and become sick with dehydration. When we arrived at Bia Craft, which I already knew would be an outdoor place, we picked a table near to a fan in an attempt to keep me cool. It was still unbearable but of course we were here now so I may as well get a beer. I chose a beer made with rice in the attempt that I wouldn’t consume too much gluten and have a bad stomach. It tasted ok but when Keith arrived he let us in on one of his top tips that there is another beer which is a lot cheaper if you buy the bigger size. We all had one of those and ordered food. I had already decided I was having a rack of pork ribs with chips, Keith ordered a burger and Captain Caveman ordered a sausage but was giving Keith his chips as he’s not a fan of them. My ribs were so good and we had several more of the better value beers.
Next, Captain Caveman had arranged to meet his friend, Hung, at a Bia Hoi place not too far away so we invited Keith to join us. When we got there Hung was already on his way and had several Bia Hoi containers at the ready and snack food. There was duck and beef jerky, later he ordered frog. I was too full to eat anything more so I just stuck to the beer. It was a great evening and I enjoyed catching up with Hung and Keith from Grimsby as it has been a long time since I’d seen them, due to the pandemic. Keith was the first to leave as it was a school night, but luckily he didn’t live far from the Bia Hoi bar. By 9.45pm I was ready to say bye to Hung and go back to the apartment, I was so full of beer and still jet lagged. I could tell Captain Caveman wanted to stay out so I said he could and I would go back by myself. It was decided we would both leave as I don’t yet have a working Vietnamese phone or access to the Grab app. Back home Captain Caveman got the washing out and was annoyed at me that I had not secured the Stilton cheese in a Tupperware for transporting all this way, so some of my clothes still smelled of cheese. I thought he’d be excited to try some of Kate’s fruitcake because he does like fruitcake, but he didn’t want any. As soon as we got in to bed Captain Caveman was snoring very loudly so it took me a while to get to sleep. At least tomorrow we had no plans to be up early, as far as I was aware of!
Monday 6th June started off with me being rather crotchety at not having had enough sleep. Captain Caveman had set his alarm for 7am and then turfed me out of bed to get a shower and get ready for the day. I was confused as my watch still said 3am, the blackout curtains fooled me in to thinking it was still night time and, at that moment, I didn’t really care what the plan was. I wanted to stay in bed and go back to sleep but Captain Caveman was insisting we needed a hearty breakfast because today’s activity would require sustenance. All I could think was ‘please don’t let it be an outdoor/adventurous pursuit’! First, we went to a nearby cafe for breakfast where I got to watch Captain Caveman shovel in a plate of my least favourite breakfast items in one meal; avocado, tomatoes and poached eggs with toast. I had Pho Bo (beef noodle soup) with a pot of earl grey tea.
After breakfast we asked a security guard to call us a taxi and we headed to Bach Dang ferry terminal. Captain Caveman had booked arranged for us to go on a gin tasting experience which we were told to meet at 9.30am for – I love a good gin but, crikey! We were early and it transpires we weren’t getting on the ferry anyway. I had a wander about, used the portaloo (which was quite clean and had soap) then saw a statue of Vo Thi Sau, a girl who had fought in the war against the French occupation, more about her here: https://theculturetrip.com/asia/vietnam/articles/vo-thi-sau-the-story-of-vietnams-guerilla-girl/ Captain Caveman’s friend was sending a speedboat to pick us, and a few other select guests, up. I’m not one for speedboats, I was even seasick on one in the Maldives, so I was a bit apprehensive. The others arrived and we all walked across the ferry to get on to the speedboat. We got our life jackets on while Captain Caveman explained to me how these ones with CO² cannisters work. They automatically inflate in water and so, as we sat at the front of the boat, I moved my bag from across my chest in case it inflated by accident and injured me.
We were on the speedboat for quite some time and as we passed District 12, where Captain Caveman had cycled yesterday, we saw a big fire. It turned out that a tyre factory was in flames and was nicely polluting the area. After a total journey of 75 minutes we had arrived at a small area where we could use the facilities and wait for a car. When the car came, the guide expected the 8 of us to get in, but the 4 western fatties amongst us looked at him like he was insane. In no time, one of the guys was on the phone to request a 2nd car. By 11.30am (7.30am on my Turkish watch) we were at the distillery of Lady Trieu gin, having a water and meeting the very talented master distiller.
It was a strange feeling to have been out in Dalyan (Turkey) on Friday night, travelling to Vietnam all weekend, eating Lebanese food in Saigon last night and now it was Monday morning – it didn’t feel real. We liked Adam, the Master Distiller at Lady Trieu, straight away. He was knowledgeable, engaging and funny as he ran through the process of how they make gin here. The downstairs part of the warehouse was super hot for the 8 minutes we were stood listening to Adam. We went upstairs to an AC room which was set up for us to taste the gins in and at 11.46am, Vietnamese time, we were about to find out more and taste the Limited Release gins. The clientele were reminiscent of us being in a corporate meeting but that didn’t stop me trying to smell and taste my way through the gins with much enthusiasm.
For the gin lovers amongst you, here’s the Lady Trieu Limited Release gins we tried, neat: 1. Mekong Delta Dry Gin – has star anise, pepper, kumquat and orange peel flavours. I liked this one and could see me drinking this with a dry ginger ale, as I don’t like tonic. 2. Dalat Flowerbomb Gin – floral with chrysanthemum, jasmine, citrus, lotus and coriander. I didn’t think I’d like this but I did and would definitely buy this one. 3. Sapa Citrus Tea Gin – the oolong tea and pepper flavour was amazing. This became my new favourite of the 3 and I’d fancy this as a martini cocktail, so no need for tonic. 4. Hoi An Spice Road Gin – ginger and black cardamom flavours which was fantastic and would go well with a curry. By the 4th neat gin tasting I was starting to get tiddly and hungry but we still had the newest and best gin to taste. It was also apparent that almost everyone in the room, except for us, were suffering the after effects of a whisky event yesterday. One of the guys had popped out of the room to get himself a coke and a banana. Meanwhile I was getting right into it and my seasickness feeling was back with a vengeance. Lady Trieu, named after the famous warrior, was being sampled and reviewed by 12.20pm, this time I tasted it neat then with the recommended Fever Tree tonic and ice. I loved it.
In my mind it was 8.20am and I was pretty sozzled already as we went in to the next room, which had even more AC on and was where the magic and science happened. There was also a shelf with lots of glass bottles on which Adam, the Master distiller, explained were the ones that didn’t make it in to the final gin. By 1pm we were back downstairs, getting pictures with the rest of the Lady Trieu team and we were honoured to be allowed in the store cupboard to look at, touch and smell the ingredients. By 2.20pm we were in cars and almost back at the speedboat. As is usual for me, Monday madness was only just beginning and we happened to have an extra passenger!
As we got back on to the speedboat at 2.30pm, I foolishly thought we would have a calm ride back and then a taxi back to the apartment where I might get a little nap before whatever shenanigans Captain Caveman had slotted in to the schedule for tonight. We had brought Adam, the Master Distiller, with us and within 2 minutes of departure he was driving the speedboat. While Captain Caveman and I looked on at the impressive speedboat driving skills, the others were sat at the back of the boat drinking bottled water and eating plums. On the 75 minute journey back, anyone who wanted to drive the speedboat down a Saigon river, could. Well, when in Rome! I can now drive a speedboat and I loved it. Captain Caveman could already drive one, obviously – what can’t he do!? Unfortunately I peaked too early and, after the real driver took back control, I had to have a little sit down inside the boat, while the men chatted business. I was so jet lagged, tired and drunk, that I took my Volleys (shoes) off and had a short siesta. When we got off the speedboat Captain Caveman, Adam the gin man and I said bye to everyone else and jumped in a taxi. Captain Caveman had booked a grab to take us to a bar he likes, which I’d never been to before and couldn’t tell you where it was. I found that our new best mate liked Pulp as we blasted ‘Babies’ out and sang along to it. When we arrived at The Orient, I insisted we go in the AC, our friend Andrea, arrived to meet us. Unfortunately Adam, the Master Distiller, couldn’t stay out for more than the one drink and we said our goodbyes and thank yous.
We, on the other hand, managed another beer before going on to a restaurant of Andrea’s choosing where the 3 of us shared 2 bottles of lovely pinot noir red wine and 2 cheese and meat platters. Needless to say, we had an absolutely fantastic first full day together in Vietnam, I don’t recall getting back to the apartment over 12 hours after we left it, but I do remember wondering why all my clothes smelled of blue cheese.
When I wrote my list of what I will miss when I leave Dalyan it automatically meant I was thinking about what I was looking forward to in Vietnam. Some of them are pretty obvious:
1. Captain Caveman – after 257 days apart I was really looking forward to seeing my other half again.
2. Pork – I rarely eat pork in Turkey whereas it’s a very popular meat in Vietnamese dishes.
3. Tropical fruits – I love mangosteen, pomelo, pineapple, jackfruit, dragon fruit and passion fruit which are pretty cheap in Phong Nha.
4. Our own private pool – not having to worry about a boob popping out when swimming, or sharing the pool with a neighbour who clears their airways in the water, is always a bonus.
5. Cheap beer – at 250,000vnd (£9) for a case of 24 Huda cans I can get used to leaving the Efes behind for a bit.
6. The Staff – living in a managed property means we get our own team of lovely people to assist us. Whether it be cleaning the pool and rooms, doing the laundry, tending to the garden, driving us to or from the nearby Farmstay makes it feel like I’m always on holiday.
7. Buffalo – I love seeing the buffalo every day, especially when they get too hot and have to wallow in the muddy rice paddies.
8. People – while there are far less expats or westerners in Phong Nha there are still lots of locals returning now, so I will get to see friends I have missed.
9. The rice cooker – I never did buy one in Turkey so I’m looking forward to having plenty of perfect rice once again. I definitely plan to bring one back with me as they are so much cheaper in Vietnam.
10. Less distractions – with Captain Caveman down a cave a fair portion of the time, and me not being able to work in Vietnam, I’m looking forward to having spare time to work on a few projects and return to Turkey better for it.
As we were getting ready to land in Singapore on Sunday 5th June at 6am local time (1am Turkish time), it dawned on me that I had been on my way for almost 24 hours, already. I still had not had any sleep and I had a bit of a sea-sickness feeling. I drank lots of water and asked the air stewardess if I needed to pre-book the free tour in Singapore. Unfortunately, she informed me they were no longer available due to Covid restrictions. I now had 12 hours to kill in Changi airport and it was the busiest I had ever seen it. We landed at the same terminal which my next flight was going from so there was no need to worry about going to a lounge anywhere else. I thought I would try to find a place to sleep for a bit first. Masks are still required and are enforced in Singapore so it would be a long and uncomfortable lay over. I got the free WiFi to update people on my journey but there were no quiet seats available anywhere. In fact, it was so noisy everywhere, as if the world had forgotten that headphones for phones existed. I decided to head for the lounge and would be there from 6.50am until 10am, I wasn’t boarding my next flight until 4.30pm so the staff at the lounge said I could book another slot later on if I wanted to, which was nice. By 7am I was having paneer tikka and rice with a Tiger beer and it was lovely, you had to keep putting your mask on and off though, to go up to get drinks and food, which was a bit of a pain but I obviously adhered to the rules. I had another beer, some more food and tried a pasty which I have no idea what the mystery filling was. I had a chicken stew, more curry then tried to get some Prosecco but it was finished because it was breakfast time! I had a couple of vodka and oranges as I was determined to get my money’s worth and then had ham, cheese and salad sandwiches. For afters I had lots of fresh pineapple but then had more bread and some more drinks. I left at 10am, although no one came to kick me out, I was going to have a shower but the queue was long. I decided I wouldn’t book the lounge again for later as I just really needed to get some sleep. The day dragged a lot, I managed to write a couple of lists for my blog which were things I’d miss in Dalyan and things I was looking forward to in Phong Nha. I took the opportunity to rehydrate and pee a lot. I eventually found space in a group of sleeping Indian men and took my chances to make a bed out of 2 chairs, with my hand luggage under my thighs, and my trusty neck pillow from Chung and Uy. I slept for 1 hour and woke up when my ‘neighbours’ became loud. I walked around looking for better places to sit/sleep but none of the places I went for were good enough to get any sleep. I kept checking the boards for flight information and there were no changes to my gate, terminal or flight time and I set an alarm. At 4pm there was an update that my flight was now leaving from a different terminal and I had to take the sky train then walk, quite quickly, through the new terminal to the gate, the furthest away possible. I met a robot hoover on the way and took photos and a video, not realising I was running late. The robot was great as he blinked when people got in his way and I liked him – clearly I was depraved of sleep. I only just made it in time to the gate and then noticed that my seat was a window one when I had requested an aisle. I asked a Singapore Airlines staff member at the water cooler if it was too late to change it and he sorted it out for me. We left at 5.15pm local time and were due to land in Saigon in 2 hours and 10 minutes. On the plane I was so tired I have no idea of the passenger next to me, only to recall the flight was full. I remember having a water and an apple juice with a meal of Singapore noodles which were super tasty. I must have nodded off on the short flight because I woke up to the jolt of us landing at Tan Son Nhat airport at 7pm. It was 3pm in Turkey, I had no WiFi and still had to collect my luggage, find a taxi and get to the apartment in Thao Dien where Captain Caveman would be waiting, hopefully!
I headed for the passport queue and, as is usual, it took quite a while to get to the front. I had to move to a different queue twice as the official at the desk went for a break. I got my stamp in the passport and I remembered to check the date was correct before leaving the passport control section. Next, I waited for my suitcase which arrived wet, slightly damaged but still wheeled. I headed to the exit and was astonished as to how busy the international arrivals section of the airport was. The heat, at almost 8pm, was pretty consuming and I could tell the humidity was high. I booked a taxi, as advised previously by Captain Caveman, which was 380,000vnd (£13.33) and was a bit on the pricey side. I also had to wait quite a while for a car to come and the staff organising it suggested I should share with a Vietnamese bloke in front of me. He was also going to District 2, but if I didn’t share, I would have to wait 30 minutes but, as I’d already paid, I said I wasn’t sharing. Without a working phone I knew that option was likely to be fraught with disaster and the Vietnamese are not known for their sense of direction at the best of times. I got chatting to another westerner in the queue and he was trying to calm me down by kindly explaining how things work with taxis in Vietnam. The taxi was big, comfortable and had lovely Aircon on which made me feel better as we drove for about half an hour to where I would be joining Captain Caveman for the next 4 nights. When I arrived outside Melia River View apartments, there were no signs of life and a barking dog was trying to see me off. I looked for a reception or a staff member but couldn’t find anything, a man came out of the dark and asked if he could help. As I asked which way was room 101, I saw Captain Caveman look out of a window upstairs. He came to get me, and took my cases to the lift, I got in with them but there was no room for him so he did the stairs. When I got to the room it was nice but there was no time for a rest or much else. I had a quick shower, put the cheese and fruit cake in the fridge then Captain Caveman hurried me out. It was already 9pm gone and he was worried we wouldn’t get fed. He had chosen a nearby Lebanese restaurant, called Beirut, and neither of us were quite prepared for the experience. It would be 5pm in Turkey now and we let family and friends know I had arrived after 42 hours of travelling. I was so tired that I seriously could have slept in my soup, had I ordered any. As it turned out, it was a great choice for dinner as it certainly kept me awake. We had Baba Ganoush and hummus with flat bread for starters while 3 belly dancers gave us a show. There were only 2 other couples in the restaurant and we didn’t know where to look as the girls isolated their ribcages and got their boobs shaking. Captain Caveman was more interested in the falafel and chicken liver while I seemed to be hypnotised by belly dancer boobs, as I tried to work out their nationality. It was a pretty tasty meal, the white wine was good and I would definitely eat there again. It was 11.15pm when we left, by this time my sea sickness feeling was taking over and I really needed to go to sleep. As we got in bed, I expected to be having a long lay-in tomorrow, as requested. Unfortunately, Captain Caveman told me that it was no longer the case and we needed to be up early because he had a surprise planned. He set the alarm for 7am!
I was a bit sloshed and very tired as Fikri drove me from Dalyan to Dalaman airport, in the early hours of Saturday 4th June. We were there before 2.30am and it had cost me 325 lira (£16.25) for the one way trip. I was able to check in straight away for my domestic flight at 3.30am to Istanbul, there was no queue. I didn’t bother with the airport lounge at Dalaman as there was no point, but I intended to go to the one in Istanbul, using my freshly acquired Priority Pass. The flight was on time, we got water and a cheese sandwich on the flight and when we landed I was so tired that I hoped the lounge had comfy reclining seats. I got the free ‘one hour only’ WiFi code in the airport, sat down to check messages and let Captain Caveman know I had arrived in Istanbul, it was 9am over there but only 5am here. I couldn’t check in for my flight until 10am so I waited, in various uncomfortable metal seats, until it was time to get in the queue. The check-in finally opened late, at 10.45am, and the woman dealing with me had an issue. My visa specified that I will land at Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City but my ticket was to Saigon. She had no idea they were the same place so, even when I told her, she still had to get her manager. We were wasting valuable lounge time here so I chatted to her a little in Turkish, I told her I was learning the language and that I’d been on holiday in Dalyan. She loves Dalyan so she became more friendly while we waited for the manager. Eventually I was sorted, nothing else was checked and my luggage would be checked straight through to Saigon. I was boarding at 12.40pm so I was disappointed that I now had less than 2 hours in the lounge. I had a couple of draught Efes before getting a couple of bowls of lentil soup, bread rolls, cheeses, olives, salads etc. The breakfast food was still out but they started to put out the lunch so I grabbed a couple of sandwiches then went back to the bar for more beer. My next flight to Singapore was the longest part of my journey, we set off on time at 1.25pm (Turkish time) and would be landing in about 11 hours time. I hoped I might get some sleep on the way but it was a full plane and there was not much chance of that. We got a nice meal of beef with veg and potatoes but I left the dessert which was a chocolate Cornetto – Singapore Airlines food is pretty good though. I managed 3 glasses of red wine, seeing as it was free but then there was a bit of turbulence and we all had to sit down for a few hours. The woman next to me was from Indonesia and spoke no English so that was a bonus, her daughter at the other side of her was nice and polite. She told me of a secret waterfall near Dait, where she lives in West Kalimantan, Indonesia, and invited me to go there. Maybe Captain Caveman and I would visit it one day, as he has been to, and has friends in, East Kalimantan.
A friend kindly pointed out that when I left Dalyan, after a 36 week and 3 day stay, that there was probably a lot I would miss. Here’s my list of what I think I will miss the most:
1. People – obviously I’m going to miss my family and friends. This visit has also meant I’ve been lucky enough to meet up with both old and new friends. I’ve been so grateful to meet some very special people who I love spending time with. I will particularly miss the banter and jokes that I can have with friends in Dalyan, it’s hard to find that same sense of humour when I’m away.
2. Independence – it’s going to be tricky having to get used to fitting to Captain Caveman’s schedule again. I’ve had 8.5 months of being able to do what I choose to do, when I want so it will take some adjusting to.
3. Boat trips – I’d been doing a few per month so it was going to be hard not to be enjoying all the lovely boat trips and swimming in the turquoise water.
4. Food – of course I will miss the massive choice of food available in Dalyan. Not having an oven in Phong Nha will take some getting used to. I was also going to miss Kate’s fruitcake and the fresh bread for only 3 lira a loaf at the local bakery.
5. Speaking the lingo – I’d made a bit of progress learning the Turkish language and was beginning to like being able to make myself understood. Despite having kept up some Vietnamese practice on Duolingo no one in Phong Nha understands a word of my Vietnamese, and never has.
6. The dry heat – although I’m not good in high temperatures I find it much easier in Turkey with the dry heat than the humidity of Vietnam.
7. Booze – in Dalyan there is so much opportunity and choice where alcohol is concerned. Going to a bar to drink or to someone’s house for a wine or two is no problem and mostly within walking distance. There’s never a day goes by without an invite to something involving a drink.
8. Supermarkets and shops – I’m not much of a shopper but I will certainly miss being able to walk or cycle to a supermarket, pharmacy or shop to buy essentials.
9. Exercise classes – I’m going to miss being able to go to Zumba and Pilates every week as I’ve really enjoyed how they had benefited my bad leg.
10. Transport – I’ve been spoiled by being able to use Mark and Kate’s electric bikes, I will certainly miss being able to whizz about with assisted pedalling when it’s hot or hilly. It’s also easy to go out and about with a taxi or a bus to a nearby place in Dalyan. It’s not as simple or as affordable as that in Phong Nha so it means relying on lifts and other people.
I think the words ‘hanging out of my own arse’ have never been truer than on Friday 3rd June, when I woke up to messages from Captain Caveman. He was suddenly excited to be seeing me and had sent me a blurred photo of a flight he had booked for when my visa expired, in case I needed to show it at check-in. I stayed in bed to transfer money to him for the electricity and water over the next few months. I’d had some really lovely messages from friends who’d been unable to come out last night, Sue managed to bring a tear to my eye with her kind words. Mark and Kate had invited me, Matt and my parents over to their place for a final farewell in the afternoon. I had a bit of a laugh at Matt, who may also have been hungover, when he posted on a group chat to say he would be going over to Mark and Kate’s for bacon sandwiches at 1pm. Mark had also replied on the group chat to ask me or Matt to bring bread and that it might be sausages as they were having trouble locating the bacon. My parents had the workmen in and so they couldn’t go, which hindered my plans slightly as I was meant to be cycling to Penny and Phil’s. The idea was I would ride Bluey2 to their’s, slightly before the others got the taxi to Mark & Kate’s. I could then drop Penny’s bike off and get in the taxi for the rest of the way. Instead, Matt would cycle over about 1pm, my Dad would wait in with the workmen and my Mom would come and help me pack. I would then cycle to Mark and Kate’s but drop the bike off on the way back before going out for my final meal. As my flight had been changed it turned out I could have gone to a Jubilee party after all. I checked the Jubilee group on Facebook so I could see what time to perhaps pop in but I’d been removed already. I’m not really in to the Royal family any way but maybe they’d found out how bad we had been on questions about the Queen at the Retro bar quiz and I had got an automatic ban – it might be better to leave it to the more patriotic. When Ma arrived her facial expressions were a treat as she couldn’t believe how far off being ready I was!
Luckily for her, I’m a list maker and I had a note of all the jobs still to do (before 1pm ideally): 1. Print out my Vietnamese visa (I don’t have a printer but Kate was going to do it) 2. Pack away all my belongings in to the various lockable cupboards 3. Store all the non-perishable kitchen items in the lockable cupboard 4. Sort out 2 loads of washing 5. Empty the kitchen cupboards of spare food 6. Empty the fridge and decide who to give what to 7. Empty the freezer and give everything I could to Mom 8. Bin anything that wasn’t going to last or be donated 9. Empty the bins 10. Do the washing up 11. Pack my suitcase 12. Pack my hand luggage 13. Charge my laptop and phone 14. Defrost the fridge freezer
My Mom suggested I should let Mark, Kate and Matt know I’d be late and that it would be better for Matt to get the bread. I messaged (not in the group) to say I would leave mine at 2pm and then Mom and I got on with it. It was the hottest day of the year so far and it didn’t help that yesterday one of the Aircon remotes had stopped working. We had done a couple of hours without AC but we were both a drippy mess by noon. Luckily, I didn’t need any lunch on account of me only just remembering that I had eaten cheese on toast and the half portion of beef wrap from Hotel Dalyance at 3.45am this morning – more luck than judgement, really. Ma was instrumental in helping with the pots, sorting out the piles of clothes, packing and sorting the fresh and frozen produce out with me. She also managed to fill a whole bin liner of stuff to throw away. My Mom left looking frazzled and a bit bewildered as to why I hadn’t done all this sooner. She had a bag of store cupboard stuff, some frozen stuff and some very nice home cooked meals to see her through the week. I also ended up with a large bag of stuff for Kate, as I knew she wouldn’t have me throw stuff away, including a jar of pickled red cabbage. All I needed to do now was hang the washing out and cycle over to Mark and Kate’s for another last farewell.
I arrived at Mark and Kate’s house at just after 2pm, a hot and sweaty mess. I had the bag of stuff, including a meat pie, brown and BBQ sauce, Lurpak butter, the curry paste which Kate had made me, but I’d not used it yet, and a few other bits and bobs. Mark sorted me out with a shandy while I squidged items in to the fridge and freezer. Matt was already sipping a shandy and had brought plenty of bread for the hot dogs. We had a couple more shandies, then Mark got cracking with the sausages. He even treated us to fried onions with them and we used up some of the BBQ sauce I brought. Kate offered us all fruitcake with butter and Red Leicester cheese on but I didn’t want to upset Mark, I declined but Mark and Matt enjoyed some. I had even packed some of Kate’s fruitcake, Red Leicester and Stilton cheeses to take with me to Vietnam. I decided to change in to my swimmers so that I could get in the pool, I noticed my pink towel on the terrace railing, which was odd. I hadn’t remembered putting it in their bag last night so that I didn’t have to carry it round. Then it was time for my farewell treat; Prosecco! It was the real stuff too and it was bloody lovely, in fact we ended up having 3 bottles between 3 of us, Matt just had the 1 glass. We took some photos and we almost forgot to print off the visa, as Kate was in charge but getting a bit merry. I realised I’d still not been in the pool but it was almost time to leave. I still had to drop Bluey2 off at Penny and Phil’s, get home and get ready for dinner with my parents. In my head I’d mistakenly anticipated having time for a nap at some point today but that wasn’t going to happen. Kate and Mark kindly offered to sort out the returning of Penny’s bike and suggested I get a taxi back to mine so that I wouldn’t be too late. Matt left earlier than me, I gave him a big hug and then had 1 more glass of Prosecco. When it came to saying goodbyes I was sad, I said I’d call them from time to time, Mark and Kate said they’d keep in touch too. I got to say bye to the cats who were already glad I was going because they had ‘my’ bed to themselves. Fikri dropped me off at my apartment and we confirmed my airport pick up would be Fikri personally later, at 01.45am to be precise. I’d only just finished packing when it was time to go out.
We were booked in at our favourite restaurant in Dalyan for my last meal here. My parents and I arrived at 7.30pm and had a lovely table on the mosque square side of the restaurant. I’d already decided I would have steak and I think it was a given that we would have a bottle of wine. We love Bistro Blue because of the great food, excellent service, but also because we like the owners and staff, plus it has a lovely ambience which makes you feel relaxed. My Dad had one of his favourite dishes, the liver and onions with bacon, served with mashed potatoes. Mom decided she would have steak with onions and chips while I ordered my favourite, the pepper steak. The wine flowed, the food was excellent and I even got some good photos for our last night together. Our evening at Bistro Blue would not have been complete without seeing Selahı get out his huge grinder and pepper Annie’s plate, which made my parents laugh more than it should have. It was a little strange that we had no idea when we would see each other again or even which country it would be in. I’m lucky that I have residency in Turkey until October 2023 but my parents and Captain Caveman are only permitted to stay for 90 days in an 180 day rolling period, which is somewhat restrictive. The residency rules in Turkey have since changed and only 6 months as a maximum is allowed now. After saying bye to Annie and Selahı we had a wander home and, as you can probably imagine, Ma was up for a nightcap. My taxi wasn’t coming until after midnight so we went to Tez bar where I enjoyed another glass of red wine, my parents were on the spirits! Roy, Melanie and Gareth happened to turn up and so I got to say bye to them before I went, still disappointed I hadn’t been able to say bye to Debbie (Darling) or Sue who’d have probably had me crying. On my short walk round the corner I was able to quickly say bye to Jamie too, as he was at Lukka bar. I tried to be brave when I said bye to my parents but I was quite tearful after they had gone. As Fikri arrived to pick me and my cases up, I don’t think it had quite sunk in that I was actually going back to Vietnam and Captain Caveman!
It was my last full day and night in Dalyan on Thursday 2nd June and I wasn’t at all ready to leave. I was obviously looking forward to seeing Captain Caveman again, after 257 days apart, and was keen to find out what he had planned for when I arrived. Captain Caveman is a good planner but a man of very few words so he was keeping anything he did have in mind to himself. He did send me a photo of the place we would be staying at when I landed in Ho Chi Minh City. I was pleased it looked like the monsoon rains there were subsiding a bit and it was mainly happening in the afternoons. Here, in Dalyan, it was a lovely sunny day and definitely bikinis and pool weather. Our complex was full of holiday makers in or around the pool and it was the first time I’d seen it busy. At lunch it was time for my next leaving ‘celebration’ as I’d been invited out to Hotel Dalyance. Angela had organised for us to have a little gathering with Nick, Maddie and Lyndsey as they were unable to make my party that evening. I met them at Casablanca hotel first and had a coke before we wandered round. I was tempted by the chicken and mushroom alfredo but was conscious I needed to not have a reaction to the creamy sauce so I ordered the beef wrap with chips. I was not disappointed as it was delicious and a very generous portion for a lunch time meal. Others did have the pasta dish, Lyndsey had an omelette and everything looked amazing too. I even had a glass of red wine with my food but found I couldn’t manage all of the beef wrap and took a doggy bag home. It was a lovely afternoon and I was going to miss my friends, we were already talking of reunions in September. Just before it was time to say bye, both Maddie and I had bad stomachs, as is often the case with the pair of us, so Nick had to drive Maddie home without me saying farewell. I cycled home but had to take some stomach medication to make sure I was ok for tonight’s excitement. Kate had certainly pulled out all the stops with what she’d organised for my party tonight and I was looking forward to seeing everyone! By 5pm I was not any closer to being packed for my departure to Vietnam. The apartment now looked like a bomb had hit it and there were various half filled boxes all over the place. It was hot and I had a dodgy stomach so I had a little rest and lots of water before setting off for my leaving celebrations. I still had all day tomorrow to sort everything out and get packed – loads of time, what could possibly go wrong!!?
I had to cycle Bluey2 to Kaan’s Tequila boat, the venue for my final leaving party at 6.30pm. Kaan helped me on board as the promenade had not been finished and it was a bit of a to do to access the boats. He was also a bit worried that we had too many people as I think Kate had almost 30 potential attendees at one point. As I got on, one of my friends was stressed and came straight over to me, he had to get off because his wife was at home, quite ill and they couldn’t make it, which was understandable. Sarah arrived and had her dog, Yaps, in tow. Kate is allergic to and not a fan of dogs so then I had to faff about several times taking Yaps off the boat, but she kept getting back on. Yaps didn’t understand when I told her she wasn’t invited, and the boat was already too full for her to come, she just wanted to stay with Sarah. Kate had made one of my favourites, lemon drizzle cake and buns, which she had put on the table for all to share. She had brought my delivery from Trendyol (an online shop) for something that had arrived just in time for Vietnam. Kate had also took the opportunity to invite Shiela to bring her accordion and guests had been encouraged to request some songs for her to play later. I was very happy, who gets a real life accordion player at their leaving do? It was certainly a new first for me and I was so pleased. Mark had kindly taken over dog watch at the back of the boat as he could see I was getting thirsty while we waited for some stragglers! We waited another 10 minutes after the departure time, until 6.40pm, as we were still missing a couple of people who had not shown up yet. As we had only booked Kaan and the Tequila boat for 2 hours, we wanted to make the most of our booze cruise. Kaan’s fridge was so fully stocked with everyone’s preferences that we were certainly on for a great trip. Kaan was much happier that we had only 20 people on board; 4 had cancelled because it was a bit too busy for them, 2 no shows, 2 because of sickness, 1 had to work, and 1 decided to wait in Aşkın’s bar as we would be back by 8.30pm.
Kate and Kaan arranged for us to go to Jimmy’s island, I did a short speech to thank everyone for coming. I confessed I would miss everyone and that I was lucky to have had the chance to have spent so much time with such fantastic people. I was so surprised to see so many come to see me off (or make sure I left). I cut the cake and everyone had a slice or a bun, it was so delicious and perfectly moist. I played waitress for a few minutes, to help Kaan out and to make sure everyone had a full glass as we sailed along the river. Mark told me he had a present for me but he hadn’t wanted to give it to me in front of everyone (oo-er, that would get the gossipers going)! Kate had even suggested it would be more convenient if I could get it tomorrow, at their place, instead and I wondered what it could be. They both signed a card with a cat on to give me and I would keep it in my diary, which Ann bought me (to remind me of Dalyan). Kate had got her play list at the ready and had selected a relaxed stargazing selection which had worked well for her before. Shiela got her accordion out and we went on to sing a variety of songs. It was mainly Kate and I who did the singing but it was good to see Nanny Kay joining in on the ones she knew from singing group. Ma & Pa joined in too and Adam was forced to get involved when it was time for his request. Shiela had been learning ‘Friggin’ in the Riggin” by the Sex Pistols all afternoon and did a pretty excellent job while Adam, some of the men and I gave it our best shot. It was absolutely brilliant, Shiela played lots of great songs and we all loved it. When Mark questioned Kate’s choice of playlist, as Van Morrison crooned ‘Moondance’, she decided to turn it up a notch with her playlist, to party and dance mode.
The drinks flowed and we were positioned in a beautiful location at Jimmy’s island. Adam got off for a wander and found some donkeys and an English caravan club member to occupy him. I’d asked Annie to take some photos which was fortuitous as I either forgot, or took terrible ones. As we danced well past 8.30pm I realised I had a party dress stuffed in my bag, as well as a bikini and a towel which didn’t get used. I managed to change without going to the toilet, not revealing anything inappropriate, and I tried to get as many drunken photos with everyone as I could. I missed a few people out though which was disappointing. Kaan was amazing, and much to my astonishment, didn’t set off back to Dalyan until 10.30pm because no one had given him the instruction to. Of course, I’d had no WiFi while on the boat so the people who had gone to Aşkın’s for 8.30pm had either gone home without seeing me or were a bit peeved when I turned up a lot later than planned. In true leaving party fashion, I was hammered, so were most of us who made it out out! Matt, Mark and Kate were almost as plastered as me and were so funny at Aşkın’s. Adam and Kath were definitely merry on account of none of us having eaten a meal since lunch. Viv’s husband, Paul, was glad to see her and Nanny Kay were back safely and was happy we’d had an incredible time. Jamie was still there and I’m so glad I got to have a hug and a chat before I left, especially as I’d hardly seen him this visit. Even Gareth and Julie were still out with family so I got to say farewell to them too. Debbie (Darling) and Roy had waited as long as they could but I was very disappointed I wouldn’t get to see them one last time. When I went back to join Ma & Pa at the table, Matt was buying a T-shirt and was trying it on – he doesn’t usually do many boat trips so I was impressed and happy he had made it. I even said Vanessa should go away more often as Matt was on top form, being the life and soul of the party a few times. We had more drinks at Aşkın’s then went on to Sofra bar, which I don’t remember an awful lot of. I do remember my parents, Matt and I thinking we were the lasts ones standing at Sofra bar and deciding to go to Sunset bar for a last drink. They set off walking and I went to get my bicycle to ride there. When I arrived they weren’t there and I suspected they had given me the slip, but I still rode back to Sofra to check. Luckily, Davut and Şükrü miss nothing and said they had walked down the left path towards home. Merrily I cycled back to Sunset bar where I had drinks with Annie. We finished the amazing night off with me playing gooseberry and drinking Amaretto until about 3.30am. Good old Bluey2 managed to get me home, somehow unscathed. I didn’t quite appreciate the fact that this would be my last chance to sleep in a bed, until Sunday night in Vietnam.
joloyolo 