Captain Caveman was off in to Hang Son Doong on the morning of Wednesday 3rd April so he’d gone on ahead to Oxalis via the Glass House. We’d decided that I needed to get my bicycle, Bluey, out of storage so I could use her to cycle in to town. I did my measurements, but without any scales I wasn’t sure how I was doing. I’d put 1cm on my waist and hips but stayed the same on my bust. I’d also had 316 syns in the last week with 108 of them being on alcohol so, if I’d been at the Dalyan (Not So) Fat Club weigh in today, I’d have probably put weight on. The weather had certainly got a lot warmer in Phong Nha since I’d returned and walking the 3km in to town wasn’t an option. I arranged to grab the dirty laundry and walk to meet Captain Caveman at Oxalis, where we could have breakfast and I could pick up Bluey. By 8.20am I was tucking in to a bowl of pho bo while admiring the river view. At 10am I was back at Sunshine Homestay, with Bluey, having the remainder of yesterday’s Vegan fresh spring rolls, for a second breakfast. It felt really hot at 38°C and 44% humidity compared to what I’d been used to so I stayed in the room for lunch with the AC on. I ordered the tofu in tomato sauce with steamed rice from Phong Nha Vegan and it was really delicious. In the late afternoon I managed a video call with Vanessa in Sheffield who was doing well to be recovering quickly from her surgery and hoping to get well enough to be able to drive again soon. For dinner I met an old friend, My Linh, owner of Green River Cosy Homestay, at Phong Nha Vegan. We both had a soup, shared the mushroom skewers and she had french fries. It was good to see her but she was so busy at her 2 homestays that she barely had time to eat. That evening I had a bad stomach but I was pleased with myself for having had zero syns on weigh day.
Captain Caveman had booked both of us on the SE6 train at 10.22am on Tuesday 2nd April, from Danang to Dong Hoi. The journey takes 6.5 hours but he’d booked the top bunks of a 4 berth coach so we could lay down. The cost was 319,000VND (£10) each so quite a bargain. Captain Caveman ate my leftover pizza for his breakfast. I don’t eat before travelling because I don’t like to have an upset stomach but there were both squat and western style toilets on the train that weren’t too bad to use. Captain Caveman brought us a packet of crisps each for the journey and ate his straight away. The train was on time, we were lucky to have well behaved bottom bunk passengers and all went according to plan. I ate my crisps once I got hungry and even managed a bit of a snooze.
When we arrived at Dong Hoi we were sharing a car with a customer who was going on an Oxalis tour on a different day to Captain Caveman. We dropped him off at Funny Monkeys, Captain Caveman went straight to Oxalis for his briefing and I checked in to Sunshine Homestay, where I would stay for the next 5 nights. I didn’t have a bicycle and Captain Caveman, in his rush to get ready for work, forgot to give me any money so I walked to Oxalis to pick some up. I then continued to walk to Phong Nha Vegan to get some much needed food. I ordered fresh spring rolls, sweet potato fries and mushroom fried rice which was for both lunch and dinner. I had a watermelon juice to drink and really enjoyed my dinner. I walked to The Villa’s next where I had 1 glass of red wine and then had a bad stomach. Our friends Giang and Aaron were back in Phong Nha on a brief visit, with their young son. They came to meet me and Captain Caveman joined after his briefing. He had 4 beers and I couldn’t manage more than the 1 glass of wine so I was a cheap date with 184,000VND (£5.77) for our combined bill.
Meanwhile, the man in charge of the Saigon Children’s Charity had been back at work after the cycling event. For those of you who have already donated, here’s what Damien (Head of the charity) had to say about how he spent his Tuesday back at work, having had Thursday to Monday off, for the ride;
“All, today I am back at work in the Saigon children office and wanted to tell you what your fundraising efforts REALLY mean….
Today I have paid for:
138 ‘regular’ scholarships for disadvantaged children in 3 provinces
21 ‘special’ scholarships for children living in a leper colony in Binh Duong
Completion payment on 2 schools in Hau Giang, and penultimate payment for 1 school in Hau Giang
Playground & classroom furniture for 1 school in Tra Vinh
Training on autism therapy for professionals in Can Tho City
Online safety training for 144 parents across the Mekong Delta
This is a fairly normal day, and it only happens because you support us!
Thank you for helping us raise money to change lives 🙏🏻.”
A slideshow from the Saigon Children’s Charity cyclists
It is a month since Captain Caveman did the ride, but Saigon Children’s Charity is still accepting donations, if you didn’t get chance to donate before but can now:
I was hungover on Monday 1st April when Captain Caveman got up early and went down to breakfast without me. After his 3 days of charity cycling, I really didn’t know how he was still able to move. I checked my stats for March on my blog to find that the most popular country was still the UK for my readers, by a lot. Second, as I’d expected, was Turkey but the Netherlands were now a surprising third. Readers from Vietnam were still less than half as many from the Netherlands but I hoped the Vietnamese numbers would increase in April. Today marked the first day of a long term tenancy agreement at Fire Opal in Dalyan and work had started to replace the pergola that had fallen down a few years ago. I paid Aslı, in our apartment complex in Dalyan, 2,350 lira (£58.75) for the new pergola – this was a tenth of the total cost. Our wooden balconies were also getting repaired and replaced so the place was going to look good in a couple of weeks time. I wasn’t feeling too good and had a dodgy stomach, Captain Caveman brought me back a small croissant and I forced it down with a tea I made in the room. We packed all our stuff and got ready to check out as we were off to stay at Aha Thang Bom apartment in another area of Danang for 1 night. On the way, we popped in to Quang Optic opticians for them to double check my glasses and prescription. I’d found I struggled with distance in buildings such as airports. All was fine but it was to do with the transitional lenses.
By this time it was lunch time and Captain Caveman fancied calling in to one of our favourite places, Olivia’s. My stomach was still dodgy but I was hungry so I took medication and ordered the same as Captain Caveman, a cheese and bacon burger. We had a side salad and chips too so the diet was going very well! The food was amazing and we also got complimentary shots of chocolate vodka before we left. Our lunch bill came to 724,500VND (£22.89) which included the tip.
In the evening Captain Caveman and I met up with Caroline, Vee, Julie and Gareth at Roof Top Bar. My stomach was still bad so I just had water but the others had a few beers. The bill for 13 alcoholic drinks, 1 soft drink and a water was 1,107,450VND (£34.74) which included a tip. Our restaurant of choice for dinner was Pizza 4Ps where we sat outside and ordered pizzas. I just had half of a margarita with burrata and took the rest as a takeaway. Unfortunately, it was our last night together as tomorrow, Captain Caveman and I were off back to Phong Nha as Captain Caveman had to be back at work for his 6pm briefing. I’m not sure of the prices as Caroline paid the bill before we could notice. Caroline was the first to leave with Vee on a Grab bike, then next were us as I still wasn’t feeling well. Julie and Gareth had another couple of days in Danang before going to Hoi An. It was sad to say goodbye to everyone but we would definitely see each other again in the not too distant future. Back at our accommodation, Captain Caveman was fast asleep by the time I had come out of the bathroom. I had a bit more pizza and then went to bed too.
Saigon Children’s Charity is still accepting donations:
Thank you very much; if you have already donated. If you haven’t donated yet please do, if you can – no amount is too small. In my opinion 308km of hard hot riding over 3 days is surely worth the cost of a pint!?
Sunday 31st March was a busy and full on day to end the month with. It was also my Dad’s birthday and I hoped I would be able to speak to him later on. Caroline went to 9 Grains Bakery while I packed and tried to finish my Canva course as today was the last day. I didn’t get too far on practising anything as Caroline returned with a little friend; Le’s little boy. She also brought me a tea and a croissant for my breakfast which was good of her. Captain Caveman was cycling from Hue to Danang today for his last day of the Saigon Children’s Charity Cycling Adventure. We were leaving by car for Danang at 1pm so it was only right that Caroline thought it a good idea to put her bikini on and jump in the shower with Vee, the dog, to give her a good wash. Vee needed to be clean before her girl’s night away at The Sheraton. She was also trying to teach Le’s son how to shower a dog, neither the kid nor the dog seemed keen. Le’s wife arrived to pick up the child but there was almost an incident when the small child decided to scale the balcony side to see the small dog downstairs better. He almost fell over the side, a massive drop, so the mother decided it was time to go. Caroline and I had a couple of things left on the to do list that we hadn’t got round to doing yet. They were; buying some leather flipflops and trinkets to take to Phong Nha, eating the traditional Hoi An noodle dish of Cao Lau and Caroline wanted me to get my hair chemically straightened at her hairdresser’s. I decided the only one on that list which was feasible was to eat the Cao Lau, so Caroline ordered it to be delivered. It was so tasty and Vee loved us sharing a bit with her, but only the meat. Caroline also decided she needed to give me some unwanted clothes, which I was surprised to find did fit me. But they wouldn’t fit in my rucksack and I had to use a Vietnamese laundry bag. At 1pm the car was here but, of course, we weren’t quite ready. Jake was staying in the apartment while we were gone and there was still the issue of whether the thumb print door knob would work. By 1.20pm, we were on our way to Danang, to a yet to be confirmed location and finish line for the Saigon Children’s Charity cycle adventure.
Captain Caveman had sent me the map coordinates of where we needed to be for the finish line. This is where Caroline got the car to stop, after we had dropped our bags off at our respective hotels. It was literally in the middle of nowhere on a busy main road. Caroline kept the driver on stand by which was definitely a good thing. I messaged Julie and Gareth so that they could join us and we all waited at a little stall for word from Captain Caveman. After 30 minutes of being sat about, Captain Caveman sent a photo of himself at the top of the Hai Van Pass – he’d made it up the hill! They were waiting for the rest of the cyclists to all get to the top and then they would do the last section, downhill, together. He video called and he looked hot and sweaty but happy he was almost finished. We were told to look out for a bus or wagon which would come to mark the finish line. When we saw the guy on a motorbike with a finishing flag, it was almost too late. Captain Caveman and whoever was in the front were only a minute behind this man and we only just captured the video of them arriving. It was so hot and all the cyclists made it to the side of the road where Heart of Darkness had provided some beers. I was thirsty and eager to have a drink but I made sure I waited until all the cyclists had one. It was great to see them all so humble but quietly proud they had done it.
Video of Captain Caveman finishing the cycling event
Video of more cyclists finishing
Video of more cyclists finishing
Captain Caveman joined the rest of the group to go to the Nalod hotel to shower and change. Caroline, Vee, Julie, Gareth and I got in the car and went to Maia Beach Bar for drinks. It was a lovely place but, as is the case with a lot of the beach bars in Danang, service wasn’t the best and there was no soap in the toilets. Captain Caveman joined us briefly before he headed off to the end of the event dinner at My Casa. Our next stop for the 4 of us was to Esco Beach bar where we ordered food, and more drinks. Caroline ordered Vee a steak and she was a bit fussy over how it was cooked but ate it. I had a really nice sweet and sour chicken with rice. Caroline ordered seafood, while Julie and Gareth were keen to try some Vietnamese food. When Captain Caveman rejoined us, he was proudly wearing his medal from the Saigon Children’s Charity Cycling adventure. He was quite merry but pretty tired and we went back to the hotel when the bar closed. Vee got the best service at the Sheraton hotel, where they really cater well for dogs, so Caroline was really happy. At 12.50 am, it was 6.50pm in the UK so we were able to call my Dad and say ‘Happy Birthday’. I still hadn’t told my parents the news about Captain Caveman’s job at Oxalis finishing this year and it wasn’t the right time to discuss now and spoil Dad’s birthday or a great weekend for Captain Caveman. Hopefully, I would get to speak to them properly once we were back in Phong Nha in a couple of days.
Captain Caveman went to Oxalis on his day off on the morning of Monday 25th March, while I did more of the free Canva training course. I’d managed to get most of the way through it but I found it quite difficult and my brain couldn’t cope with it all. I didn’t have any breakfast as we had a special lunch arranged for Captain Caveman’s day off, and our last day together for 5 days. Captain Caveman drove Trigger, the motorbike, with me on the back to another one of our Phong Nha favourites. It wasn’t far to East Hill and we were there by midday, ready to order the BBQ chicken combo which comes with sticky rice, peanut salt and cucumber. The chicken is always so tasty and the place is picturesque and peaceful during the weekdays. I noticed there were quite a few cats around, for the first time, and they wanted food. We researched some flights for when Captain Caveman and I go to the UK for a family wedding and he got his flight confirmed for the beginning of July. Unfortunately, his flight back to Turkey in October was an extra expense for us to worry about as he’d definitely have to carry back more than hand luggage! I also still needed to book my flight out of Vietnam and hadn’t got the cash to do that just yet. This was a concern as, for now, Captain Caveman was giving me the money required to remain resident in Turkey. We even transferred some and I paid off my Turkish credit card and paid our pool and garden management company while we sat at East Hill. Our lunch with drinks (water for me and beer for Captain Caveman) was 380,000VND (£12.01) and was as amazing as I remembered it. As we were about to leave, I saw a very strange and hairy caterpillar, apparently harmless.
Our next stop was just a quick one to see René at Greenfield Ecostay. He’d been napping and we disturbed him but got chatting a little. After popping back to Diep Le Homestay where there was a bit of confusion over where our laundry had got to and whether I was booked on the 7am or 9am bus tomorrow, we were off out again. We cycled for a quick beverage at Lucky Homes, where we received a box of biscuits as a gift from the owners, which was really kind.
We carried on by bicycle to Tree House as I’d not eaten there yet and I wanted to try it. I’d worked with the owner a few years ago and it was good to see how his business had grown, since then. Captain Caveman had beer and a pasta dish and I had a Strongbow cider and ordered pork fried rice. I hadn’t realised my meal would have bacon instead of pieces of actual pork so it wasn’t as I’d expected. Captain Caveman’s had a few mushrooms in his, which he doesn’t eat, so I had those in my rice. We noticed it was happy hour between 6 and 8pm so we ordered a margarita cocktail each. Captain Caveman paid the bill by QR bank transfer (popular in Vietnam these days) so I didn’t take a note of the exact costs but it came to something like 450,000VND (£14.21) in total. We didn’t plan on staying out late as tomorrow I had to be up very early for my trip, however, we ended up in The Villa’s, yet again! We had 2 glasses of white wine and 2 Huda beers at a total cost of 200,000VND (£6.34). Even though it felt like we had really splashed out for Captain Caveman’s day off, we had still only spent a total of less than £33 for the 2 of us and it had been such a great day.
It was a busy day on Sunday 24th March, also my mom’s birthday. Being 7 hours ahead of the UK was proving somewhat difficult, though, to have regular calls as it meant I’d have to wait until at least 7pm to call England. This was generally our dinner time and the time my mom was coming round of a Sunday morning. Or I could get up at 5am to call her at 10pm but then would have missed her birthday. We arranged 5pm our time (10am Ma’s time) and could only talk for an hour as she was off out for her birthday. I already decided it was best not to worry her about Captain Caveman not working for Oxalis after this season. We had not had chance to think of what he/we might do yet and I didn’t want to dampen her birthday plans with any worries. The weather was very humid and I thought it looked like it might rain as I took the wine glasses back to The Villa’s. Captain Caveman had gone to Oxalis and I was going to log on to my next bit of Canva training and have breakfast. I had jasmine tea and my favourite pho ga and got stuck in. Captain Caveman and I had arranged to meet a friend of his, as well as Chung and Uy at Phong Nha Vegan for the all you can eat buffet at 11.30am but only Captain Caveman and I made it, Chung was helping out in the kitchen because it was so busy. The food was excellent and Captain Caveman got a child to look after, temporarily. It was good to see so many people and I had trouble recognising a few of the locals. I never tire of watching the buffalo either, as they mosey along the river. After delicious Vegan food, we had a last attempt of getting a Viettel SIM card as I still didn’t have a working phone. We failed again but I didn’t need one unless there was an emergency situation. I spotted there were plenty of sweet potatoes for sale outside the phone shop and wished I had a kitchen and my airfryer.
We cycled to Tree House, I was convinced it would rain, Captain Caveman said we would be fine. At 1.30pm he had a Huda beer and I had a Strongbow, knowing I had been quite bad on the syns this week, already. Then the rain came but it didn’t last too long and we managed to cycle back to The Villa’s for me to call my mom to say Happy Birthday. I went in the back room so that I didn’t disturb anyone but I needn’t have bothered, as a girl on the next table had a very loud video call to England with her family.
That evening, Captain Caveman fancied an Indian so we went to Ganesh. I made 2 mistakes there and ordered a chickpea dish, which was not to my taste and then asked the staff to take a photo of us, when the food came. This makes Captain Caveman angry as it slows down the start of his race to snaffle his dinner. After he’d stopped being annoyed with the need to pose for photos we had a lovely meal. We shared a bottle of red wine, lamb samosas, onion bhajis, garlic naan, saffron rice and a chicken tikka starter. Captain Caveman had a dahl which he enjoyed but we left most of the chana masala. The total bill came to 887,000VND (£28.25) which wasn’t bad considering what we had.
Captain Caveman had a bit of a woolly head when he woke up before 6am on Saturday 23rd March. Even though it was his day off, we still went to Oxalis, as is customary for him to run some errands at the office. We both ordered a bacon sandwich and a drink and I was very impressed with the crispiness of the bacon. The price is 60,000VND (£1.90) for a bacon sandwich with salad items in, I had mine without. I spent part of the morning doing my first free course on how to use Canva while Captain Caveman did work related stuff and sorting out his laundry.
I walked back to the homestay and we met at Lucky Homes for a light refreshment by the river while watching some buffalo. For lunch we went to an old favourite which we call The Pork Shop. It’s actually called the Thang Nhung, but pork shop is easier to pronounce and describes what it sells. Captain Caveman had a Banh Mi (a pork sandwich) which I love but I just can’t ever get one without chillies or chilli sauce in it, so I have stopped trying. I ordered BBQ pork with steamed rice and morning glory with garlic. It is so cheap and really tasty – an average meal is about £2 and the pork fat is crispy.
Afterwards, we called at the phone shop to be unsuccessful, yet again, in being able to get me a Viettel SIM card so I still didn’t have a working phone. The sun was pretty hot today so I needed a fresh coconut at Bamboo cafe. It was nice to be welcomed back to Phong Nha by Little Ha and all the staff there. On our way back we called at The Villa’s and sat with Ben and his son, Howie, with another beverage. We paid 185,000VND (£5.88) in the fanciest place in town, for a soda water, 2 Huda beers and a glass of white wine.
Unfortunately, our plans to meet Tatas and eat at Phong Nha Vegan that evening were cancelled as she had to tidy her room and get packed for her 2 day Hang En tour tomorrow. We went back to Diep Le Homestay for a short time before returning to The Villa’s for more food and drink. Here’s what we had on our bill this time, and the food was excellent ;
1 soda water 25,000 1 red wine 90,000 2 white wines 180,000 1 Son Doong pizza 190,000 1 Duck with lentils 250,000 Total 735,000VND (£23.34)
It’s obviously not the cheapest place in town, in fact it’s one of the most expensive, but it’s good. With us being neighbours and friends, they let us borrow 2 wine glasses to take back to Diep Le when they closed. As I only had the 1 glass of red wine with dinner, when we got back to the room we opened a bottle of red wine and I had 2 more glasses. The diet had strayed a little again and I was on 266 syns already this week, but still less than last week at this point.
Captain Caveman was due out on the afternoon of Friday 22nd March and I was looking forward to seeing him. It turned out that Aussie Pete was looking forward to seeing him more, though, as he had lots of questions to ask that only the expert would know the answers to. I did a quick calculation on how much money I had spent while Captain Caveman was away, this last 4 days, and it came to 1,805,000VND (£57.56) which was definitely more than I’d have spent in Dalyan. The disadvantages of not having our own kitchen and having to eat out all the time were definitely going to make budgeting more difficult. I’d only been gone from Dalyan for 2 weeks but I was already missing making my own meals and I wasn’t thrilled about going back to having a random dodgy stomach. For breakfast I had an apple, some cheese and 3 cream crackers. For lunch I just had a cereal bar, and noticed one of the 3 I bought were mushroom flavoured. Around 3pm, Captain Caveman was back in Phong Nha but he had a busy agenda. They were a little late after dealing with a guy who had a motorbike accident, he was showering and doing washing at the Glass House but had to hurry to get to a porter party. He invited me but I’d already said I’d be at The Villa’s to meet Aussie Pete. Captain Caveman went straight to his gala dinner at Chay Lap while I had fresh spring rolls and a cup of Lipton tea at The Villa’s. I was still peckish a bit later so I had the tasty vegetarian spaghetti for main and more tea. Aussie Pete was getting twitchy and more merry while waiting for Captain Caveman’s arrival so I even texted him to ask him to hurry along as Aussie Pete wanted to pick his brains. At 8.55pm Captain Caveman arrived, rather drunk, and ordered a pizza and a beer. The 2 men caught up for all of 8 minutes before Aussie Pete nodded off, just temporarily. We left before the 10pm closing for a change but Aussie Pete was still finishing a beer. The bill came to 396,000VND (£12.58) which I thought was reasonable. Captain Caveman and I were now celebrating him having 10 days off, with some adventures away from Phong Nha planned.
I slept in until 7.30am on Thursday 21st March and went for the homestay breakfast at 8.30am. This time I requested the vegetable noodle dish without butter and a green tea. The views of the river were good, the temperature was cool and the rain had gone. I felt a bit out of sorts and couldn’t put my finger on what was wrong. My skin had started to itch again and I thought either my eczema was coming back or that I had ring worm. My stomach wasn’t great and it took a lot longer than I’d expected to buy a bus ticket. Captain Caveman had instructed me to purchase my Phong Nha to Hoi An bus ticket from the Diep Le Homestay so I attempted that. We used Google translate and I thought I’d booked the 7am bus on Tuesday at a cost of 400,000VND (£12.62). I thought that seemed expensive but I had no reference point, having not bought a bus ticket since before Covid. I am also not a fan of the bus journey which takes 8 hours, changes in Danang and the drivers can be a bit iffy.
I cycled on the borrowed homestay bicycle to the pharmacy as I wanted to get some medication, it cost me 75,000VND (£2.38) for imodium and fungal treatment which would have been 5 times the price in Europe or Turkey. In the queue, I started to feel unwell so I popped next door to Lantern restaurant for a green tea and to be near a toilet. When I recovered, Tatas joined me there for lunch and we both had vegan pho, her’s with extra chillies and mine with random pineapple in it. Lunch was cheap at 60,000VND (£1.90) for my tasty soup and drink, which Tatas paid for. My next stop was to call at the supermarket, here’s what I bought and the prices in Dong.
Winmart Supermarket Goûté biscuits 30,100 3 cereal bars 34,000 6 apples 105,512 Total spent 169,612VND (£5.35)
I’d completely forgotten how expensive apples are in Vietnam, compared to Turkey and the UK, so I bought them without thinking. At 55p per apple I probably wouldn’t be buying them very often. I headed back to the homestay and had a video call with Vanessa. We had a great chat and she was still making good progress on her recovery.
After an hour I had to leave to go meet Veronika who had yet another treat in store for me. She’d only brought her own quality red wine with her to The Villa’s and had put the grandchildren (who she was in charge of) on a separate table so we could have dinner and wine together. We shared a green salad and a Momma D pizza which was lovely and before we’d hardly started, we had company. Aussie Pete arrived and proceeded to commence his ritual of asking the staff for a cold Huda and a glass with ice. As we were getting on with our evening we had another visitor; Marc (from Germany), had decided to surprise us. Once Veronika and I had got settled in to our dinner ‘date’ with Aussie Pete and German Marc, there was a call from Bich, Veronika’s daughter-in-law. She wanted to check on how the kids were doing and what they were up to. Unfortunately, they weren’t supposed to have been left to their own devices in the room watching Netflix, so Veronika had to resume babysitting duties and leave us. Tatas arrived in time to save the dodgy looking soirée and another bottle of wine was consumed. Before 9pm Aussie Pete fell asleep (standard practice) and we got kicked out at 11pm, an hour after closing time. As Veronika had provided wine for 2 nights running I paid for her meal too, a total of 595,000VND (£18.90) including tip, which was reasonable.
On the morning of Tuesday 19th March Captain Caveman and I had breakfast at Diep Le Homestay as it was included in the room rate. We’d booked online for 8 nights and the room cost was just less than 300,000VND (£9.53) per night for a family room. The bed was comfortable but I don’t think either of us had slept as well as we could’ve done. I was pleased that there was more than one pillow each though. The window didn’t close well so there were a few mosquitos in the bedroom. I took antihistamines so that the bites I had were not a problem. Captain Caveman had omelette with bread and black coffee for his breakfast while I went for the veggie noodles and green tea. Mine tasted like it had butter in it which I wasn’t a fan of but there was plenty of bak choy in the dish. Next, we borrowed one of the free bicycles from Diep Le and went to Oxalis where Captain Caveman had more coffee and I had a mango smoothie. Captain Caveman left for his Son Doong trip at 9am and would be gone for the next 4 days. Despite the news yesterday he remained in good spirits and was optimistic. He appeared to be far less worried about the future than I was! I had packed him some of my homemade fruitcake and a noggin of cheese for him to have at Camp 1. I had a lunch date with Chung but had to move it to the evening as I didn’t know if my stomach would be better. I wasn’t sure what had caused it but I didn’t feel too well. I had a veggie pho packed with vegetables and tofu, at The Villa’s, to see how that helped but my stomach was still iffy all afternoon. I paid 110,000VND (£3.49) for my massive bowl of noodle soup and a pot of Jasmine tea. At dinner time I was definitely feeling hungry so I met my old friend, Chung, at Phong Nha Vegan. We had an absolute feast of roasted peanuts, mushrooms in Lalot leaf, veggie fried rice, fresh spring rolls, a pineapple & carrot juice and a ginger tea with red apple. The spring rolls were the best I’ve had yet, the mushrooms are my favourite dish and it was just a really great dinner. I was pleased to see Chung again and the Lazy Ladies Club (LLC) was back together again. I paid the bill which was an absolute bargain of 260,000VND (£8.26) for the two of us. I cycled back to Diep Le Homestay for an early night, half expecting to be ill again but I was fine. I got ready for bed and then started to mull over some ideas. I’d been thinking of starting my own business now that I was out of work, but perhaps Captain Caveman and I could do something together for 2025. I got my notepad out and started making a list, by the time I went to sleep I had drafted out quite a business idea to put to Captain Caveman when he got back from the cave on Friday.
Wednesday 20th March was the day of the 2nd (Not so) Fat Club meeting that I had been away from. I had no idea what my weight was as there are no scales at the homestay we are staying in. I did take a note of my measurements and wasn’t optimistic as I’d consumed 302 syns this week. To my surprise, I had lost 1cm from my bust and hips and 2cm from my waist. At 6am it was only 17°C, a bit rainy and 97% humidity so I was quite chilly. For breakfast at Diep Le Homestay I tried the banana pancake which came with chocolate sauce on and was cooked in some type of margarine. I had a bad stomach as soon as I’d eaten it, which didn’t surprise me. In the afternoon I was invited to join Veronika at The Villa’s where she was going to be staying for a couple of nights and had some birthday champagne she had been saving. The evening was really lovely, I ate salami and prawn pasta which was great but did come with a chilli in despite me saying no chillies. Luckily I spotted it and the staff did offer to get me a new one. I spent just 260,000VND (£8.22) and was on 51 syns for the day.
There was no celebrating of St Patrick’s Day for me in Phong Nha on Sunday 17th March. Captain Caveman, Andrea and I started the day with a lovely breakfast at The Villa’s. The 2 of them had Eggs Benedict and coffees while I had my favourite Vietnamese breakfast, Pho Ga, with Jasmine tea. Here the chicken noodle soup was only 60,000VND (£1.90) and I think it tasted better than others I’d had recently. After breakfast, Andrea checked out of Lucky Homes where we had all had a good stay. We waved Andrea off then went back to bed for a lay down and some forward planning for the rest of March. We had put some laundry in and it was already back, folded nicely too. Captain Caveman booked me a hotel in Hoi An, which was near to the bus station so that it was convenient. I was off to visit Caroline for a week later in the month and was going to get the bus from Phong Nha to Hoi An. Captain Caveman would meet me in Danang after completing his Saigon Children’s Charity cycle event, over 3 days. Around 4pm we had a saunter by the river to The Villa’s to meet up with our mate, Tatas. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stop long as we had been invited to a family dinner with Mr & Mrs Lucky Homes and 2 other guests. We had a feast and I got to drink fizzy grape juice while Captain Caveman took the rice wines in his stride. We had a lovely evening with great home cooked food and I even got acquainted with Lu and So, the homestay dogs.
I was late out of bed on Saturday 16th March as Captain Caveman and Andrea were ready for our cycle ride. Before 8am we had Lucky Homes’ free bicycles at the ready and I thought I might have been better off getting Bluey from the Glass House. Captain Caveman said I’d be fine on the borrowed bicycle and, obviously, he knows about these things! I wasn’t daft and was well aware that Andrea and Captain Caveman are keen cyclists so I had already got through half a litre of water and put some in my bag, just in case. The idea was that we would cycle the 10km to the Phong Nha Farmstay for breakfast, before it got too hot. I was physically and mentally ready for this torture and off we went, me at the back as I don’t like to ride side by side on narrow roads. We got about 2km down the road when Captain Caveman pulled in to Tree House. Andrea and I were surprised but he wanted a coffee. I ordered a ginger tea which took a while to drink as it was so hot, but eventually we set off. We were nearing where we used to live, not too far from the Phong Nha Farmstay, when I could no longer see Andrea and Captain Caveman. Luckily, I knew the way from where I was and soldiered on, trying my best to catch up with my fellow cyclists. Close to the turn off to Elements (our former home during Covid) I cycled through a wedding tent which was being prepared for the festivities later on. I had a view of a long stretch of the road but there was no sign of Andrea and Captain Caveman. I cycled faster, familiar with the route, and all of a sudden they appeared from a side road to my left, having taken a scenic shortcut through the rice paddies. They said they thought I had seen them turn off near the petrol station, to be honest I didn’t recall seeing the petrol station. At the Phong Nha Farmstay I had a green tea and a chicken noodle soup (without chillies), Captain Caveman had an iced black coffee and a cheese & onion toastie, Andrea ordered a cappuccino and bacon & eggs. Here are the prices before the service and VAT charges, in Vietnamese Dong; Green tea 25,000 Pho Ga 90,000 Black coffee 25,000 Toastie 70,000 Cappuccino 50,000 Bacon & Eggs 100,000 Total paid (with taxes) 408, 240VND (£13)
It’s worth pointing out that only the fancy places itemise the bill to include the tip and the extra fees separately, generally the price you see on the menu, is the price you pay in Phong Nha.
Our next bout of cycling was to visit René at Greenfield Ecostay, where Andrea, Captain Caveman and René all had beers but I resisted and had a rum and coke. René’s place was looking really good and I made a note that we needed to stay here while I’m in Phong Nha, to try it out.
We decided to break up the journey on the way back with a stop off at a newly opened cafe/restaurant, called Lotus. We know the owner and staff from a previous restaurant and were keen to visit this new place in the Cu Nam area of Phong Nha. My fellow cyclists had more beers and I treated myself to a hot chocolate. We paid less than £2 for 2 Huda beers and a gorgeous hot chocolate and it was another place to add to my list to come for food.
From Lotus, we cycled all the way back to Lucky Homes where I was desperate for a shower, after managing the 22km total cycle. I think both Andrea and Captain Caveman were reluctant to suggest we cycle out for dinner, in case I had a melt down, and suggested the short walk to The Villa’s. Captain Caveman got word from one of the cavers, who were back from their caving expedition, that the wrap party was happening at Mr Toan’s, so off he went to that. He did invite us but we were already looking forward to Andrea’s last night in Phong Nha. We shared a half and half pizza (Margarita and Showstopper) with a garden salad and a bottle of wine and had a lovely evening. Captain Caveman arrived back at The Villas, a bit sozzled and near to the 10pm closing time. We pushed it again and didn’t leave there until almost 11pm, with arrangements made to be back again for breakfast at 8am.
On Friday 29th December Captain Caveman and I walked Big Boy and Lucy together and then I got ready to leave Villa Infinity, until the 2nd January when Captain Caveman would be leaving. This morning, he was off to Bridge club and I was going to Jamie’s for 5 days. He cycled, obviously, while I caught the bus a little later, and went via home to drop off and pick up more clothes. We arranged to meet for lunch so that we could finally try Sheche Burger too.
When Jamie left, I played with Norman and Edna, let them out on the patio for a bit then headed off to try the burgers at Sheche – diet once again on hold. Captain Caveman and I both ordered the Smoked Beef Burger which came on a tray like a fast food joint. It was piping hot and very fast but I had forgotten to ask for mine without sauce. Captain Caveman loved it and said it was the best he’d had in Dalyan for a while. I managed to scrape off the mayo (which I hate) with an over-powdery french fry. I did eat all of the burger and it was very tasty, the brioche buns aren’t my favourite but I’m generally not a burger person. The cheese, bacon and gherkin were great but I couldn’t finish my chips. A lot of eateries like to jazz chips up with powdery stuff (paprika, chilli flakes, dried herbs) but I prefer them plain or with salt. On the way home we called in to Bim for wholemeal bread and some marshmallows. A friend had invited us to her birthday curry night at the weekend and I was taking fizz and marshmallows for round the firepit. I wanted to buy more than 3 packets but Captain Caveman said that was more than enough. Our shopping cost us just 87.50 lira (£2.33) and we hurried back to Jamie’s.
Poor little Norman was in his bed near the TV when Captain Caveman and I got to Jamie’s. Edna was looking worried and kept looking from Norman to us and wouldn’t come to us from off the sofa. As I went to check on Norman it was clear that he was in a bit of a tangle and had to be picked up and taken for a shower. He was such a good dog and sat in the shower waiting, I grabbed towels, gloves and soap while running the water to the right temperature. He looked slightly concerned when I took my socks, jumper and jeans off! Captain Caveman was there to help me but that was more luck than planning. I did the showering by myself so I could cope if I needed to do it again but he was there if Norman and I needed him. After his thorough wash, Norman was dried and wrapped in hamam towels, given lots of love and reassurance, then taken downstairs to the sunny patio. Edna was still upset and wouldn’t go near any of us. I grabbed Norman’s little pushchair and popped him in that and he seemed to be doing ok. Jamie had warned me that Norman was having trouble with his back legs, hence a dog pushchair, and would need extra love and attention. When Captain Caveman left to go back to Villa Infinity, to feed and be with Big Boy and Lucy, we had lots of cuddles and I tried to make sure Edna was ok. I was a bit worried about Norman and I could tell she was too. She wouldn’t go to him and we had to have a little story about what happens when doggies get old, while she was on my knee and he was in his pram. I hadn’t left time to make any dinner, I was still full of cold and a sore throat so I made myself a crisp sandwich. Norman slept loads and Edna watched TV with me, it had been a while since I’d watched A Place in the Sun.
It was the day that Josh and Martha had to go home on Tuesday 26th December and I was going to miss them a lot. We had laughed so much this last week and had done some really nice things together; mainly eating and drinking! It had also got me through the depressing fiasco of having not been paid and took my mind off being skint. My Christmas Day this year had been one of the best I’d had abroad and we’d spent less than £120 between the two of us. I wondered how much the average Christmas Day spend had been amongst my friends in the UK! I cut up an apple and some of the Köyceğiz cheese and fanned it out all posh on a plate so that Martha could have a nibble or two before we had to leave the apartment. Josh was on ‘provisions for the airport’ duty and I helped by giving him spare food. I had my overnight oats with persimmon for breakfast, I was going to have to get back on the Slimming World plan as the weigh in on Wednesday was probably going to be quite enlightening. When Martha had packed she asked me if I would like her hair straighteners, as she was buying new ones when she got home. What a lovely thing to do and it was my first set of hair straighteners in years. I’m not sure what on earth was going on in Captain Caveman’s head because what happened next was awkward! We’d mentioned previously that we would be getting the bus to Bill and Jaxx’s, who were on the same flight as Josh and Martha. Jaxx had said to get to Villa Infinity, between Marmarlı and Okçular, for about noon and we could go through the final dog requirements and have a wee drink before the taxi came at 1pm. Captain Caveman and I were sharing the dog sitting while they went back to the UK to visit Bill’s mom. I’d mentioned the bus several times, we’d toyed with the idea of getting a taxi but had discounted it as we would have 4 of us, plus bags meaning not enough room for a regular taxi. We were ready and about to put our shoes on when Captain Caveman said he was cycling and would see us there. I was confused, I didn’t have internet on my phone so I couldn’t call or find it if we got lost and, if there had only been 3 of us we would have ordered a taxi. I was fuming with him, why hadn’t he said this earlier? I knew he’d probably done it to force me to learn how to find my way to places as he hates that I don’t use maps and I get lost easily. It was embarrassing and I could tell that Josh and Martha were doing the looks to say this was one of ‘those moments’. I didn’t even say bye to Captain Caveman as I was so annoyed that he would be so rude and the rest of us went to the bus stop. We got off the bus and Captain Caveman was waiting at the side of the road a bit further up to point out the turning to us. I was even more mad now that he probably thought we couldn’t manage to find it without him. I knew in his head he wanted to make sure he had his bicycle with him because he probably wanted to go Dogging tomorrow, after missing it yesterday – but he could have communicated it. Josh and Martha could see I was mad and couldn’t understand what was going on either, they didn’t even laugh at the situation this time. Big Boy, the big black dog, and Lucy, the Airedale terrier, were pleased to see us and were friendly. They really liked Martha and tried to encourage her to share her pack-up for at the airport. Bill took Captain Caveman in to the kitchen to show him how to work the TV, coffee machine and fire, show him what was what with the dogs, etc. I sat outside with Jaxx, Josh and Martha and had a wine. The taxi arrived and we all said our goodbyes, with plans to visit Josh and Martha in July 2024. The dogs were a little sad that their parents had gone and I tried to speak to Captain Caveman about what was going on with the bike v bus palaver earlier. He didn’t think he was wrong, obviously, and he got more wine and some pastries out of the kitchen. Bill and Jaxx had told us to help ourself to wine and food but I didn’t want to take advantage, I never do. Captain Caveman was on fire duty and we both cuddled and stroked Big Boy. Lucy was a bit more free spirited and quite vocal. When it came to the dogs’ dinner time, they wolfed it down and enjoyed it, they also had some home made dog biscuits which looked great. Captain Caveman cooked us some veggie pasta for dinner and we had a cosy night in our new temporary home. I still totted up my syns for the week and was on 426, 4 times the allowance! I was bound to have put weight on but I’m sure anyone who had said ‘well, it is Christmas’, would be in the same boat.
My first day back in Dalyan on Thursday 21st September should have been a quiet one and, as I’d been away for a while, I had a few errands to run. The first job was bank related to sort out stuff for my forthcoming residency renewal meeting, the second was to contact Sonuç to ask if he had got my appointment date yet. It turned out that he had not been able to go any further with that while I was out of the country, because I had not yet paid for my health insurance for next year. I asked for a price and to get that sorted so we could proceed then went to the supermarket and bakery to get some provisions for breakfast. Here’s what I bought and the prices back in Turkish lira:
Fresh loaf of bread 7.50 1 punnet of plums 27.14 2 Quark 35.90 Total spent 70.54 Lira (£2.11)
I was surprised to see that Quark prices had increased, but good that plums were in season now and really cheap. By the time I got home I had a price of 2,100 lira (£58.78) for a year’s insurance so I arranged to go in to the office and pay it. I also popped to the photographer for new passport sized photos at 200 lira (£5.60), again for the residency renewal application. At 5pm I met Sonuc, and Leanne, at Lukka bar where I gave him my passport photos and signed some documents. He told me I worried too much and to stop taking any notice of what other people were saying about the renewal process and people getting rejected as I would be fine. By 7pm I had popped round to Jamie’s to give him his birthday wine and the bottle of Tanqueray gin then accidentally ended up staying to try pineapple gin with diet lemonade which Jamie was having. It went down very well and I got asked to stay for dinner – a delicious veggie pasta bake with cheese. It was a lovely night and I was a bit tipsy when I got home. Drew was leaving for the UK the next day so it was good to have a bit of an impromptu send off session.
On Friday 22nd September I had more excitement in the diary; after a breakfast of fresh bread with butter and a cup of Yorkshire tea then a lunch of Toblerone and plums I was ready to get picked up for a quick trip out of Dalyan. I was going with a friend to Fethiye to run an errand. It went as expected and we even had chance to stock up on sea sickness tablets and some migraine tablets for a Dalyan dweller who was having trouble finding them locally. Once we had done the task we went for, we had a cup of çay before coming back to Dalyan. For dinner I made a Slimming World chicken and chickpea curry with steamed rice and it was rather good.
