Saturday 25th September was meant to be a quiet day and trying to get back on track with healthy eating again, but that didn’t pan out. For breakfast I had Turkish cornflakes with fresh milk (wasn’t ill) and really enjoyed them. I read the Vietnamese news out of habit, did some blogging and relaxed a bit, time seemed to be going by so quickly already. Back in Saigon, Vietnam, they had decided to make the gap between 1st and 2nd Astra Zeneca vaccines, only 6 weeks, here’s the article: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210924/ho-chi-minh-city-cuts-astrazeneca-vaccine-dose-gap-to-six-weeks/63261.html For lunch I had the leftover chicken kebab and flat bread, from yesterday’s lunch at Lukka bar, and added a few olives, I also had some cherry juice which is one of my favourites. In our booze cupboard we still had 2 bottles of wine so I decided to open the one called Dikmen to have with a bag of crisps (I still had them from Vietnam), salami and cheese. The wine was probably best kept for cooking, it must have been bad as I could only manage a small glass of it. I went to the bank as I needed to get more cash out and have my bank books updated and, this was the only place I have noticed it so far, you have to show your HES code to enter the building. Masks must be worn and they are quite strict about the lay out and social distancing. Jamie had been in touch about his 15 minutes of fame, he’d been part of a TV show where he’d had to speak about British tourists coming to Turkey, it was going to be on TV tonight so he’d invited us to Lukka bar to watch it. When I arrived Jamie, Sarah and Jax were already having a drink, I ordered a red wine and we all ordered food; Sarah had a nicoise salad, Jax and Jamie had pasta arrabiata, while I had a rather delicious garlic mushroom and salami pizza. I really enjoyed my pizza, I forgot to save half and ate the whole thing but then I was flagging and couldn’t even manage another red wine. Jamie’s bit of filming never appeared and so I left those 3 having another drink because my body clock thought it was already past midnight and tomorrow we had a bit of excitement to look forward to.
When I was in Phong Nha, Friday night was all you can eat pizza night, now that I’m in Dalyan, Friday is fish and chip night. On Friday 24th September I had pre-ordered my fish and chips at Lukka Bar, local restaurant/bars not far away from our apartment. I was very excited to be having fish and chips, having not been to the UK for 3 years, it would probably be one of the English meals I do miss from back home, even though I had eaten it a few times in Vietnam. When I woke up Captain Caveman had sent me a video of the rain where he was and it didn’t look good, potential flooding was still possible and he wasn’t going anywhere. I also kept checking the Vietnamese Corona data to see if there was any increase in cases in our village, as Bich had been told by the policeman. Interestingly, there were still no cases reported in Khuong Ha, like last time and they never increased the lockdown the day after I left, as Captain Caveman and I had suspected. This was not the first time we had been told there were positive cases near us and then it turned out not to be the case. Captain Caveman and I think that when a person is suspected of being positive and goes for testing they are assumed positive regardless and the gossip goes round that they are, when they come back negative nobody is shouting about it – very misleading and causes unnecessary panic. In Dalyan it was sunny as I headed off to the Millennium Shop to buy a battery for my scales, on the way I noticed the new pergola at the entrance to Block A on our complex, it looked nice. There were 2 new places behind Jiks Bar; a coffee roasting cafe and a pet shop, I got 2 batteries for 15 lira (£1.27) and then walked to Migros, one of the main high street supermarkets, where I bought quite a bit of stuff.
For those of you who want to know what was in my shopping basket that morning and the costs of the items, here it is:
Migros Supermarket 2 simits 2.25 Washing up sponges 4.95 1 packet of salami 6.85 1 litre of cherry juice 7.95 Cornflakes 7.95 2 packets of biscuits 8.00 1 packet of cheese slices 8.50 200g of butter 8.50 1 litre of milk 9.25 2 croissants 9.80 Bin bags 9.90 Mouthwash 15.21 Ziplock bags 15.50 Toothpaste 17.95 3 liquid soaps 39.36
Total spent 204.92 lira (£17.37)
I noticed that people were wearing masks in the shop but not social distancing at all. At the check out I was surprised to see my loyalty card still worked and I was pleased as I got a 3 for 2 deal on soap. It wasn’t an average weekly shop though as there were quite a few things that I would only shop for every now and again and I couldn’t carry all that I needed to in one go. Back home I noticed the pergola to Block B (our’s) was leaning under the weight of the extremely overgrown bougainvillea plant and I had a little sit down as my ankle was hurting, I was definitely finding the walking about slow and a bit painful, but I was doing ok with the 2 sets of marble stairs at home. I was excited to have a battery in my weighing scales and was looking forward to seeing how much weight I had lost. I checked it 3 times, just to be sure, but I wasn’t happy – I was the same weight as when I left Turkey 20 months ago! I could tell it was from eating so much bread recently, which was not good at all. I still had a huge breakfast of 2 croissants, 1 simit, and a bowl of Turkish brand cornflakes with normal milk as I was feeling hungry, none of this made me ill.
Video from Captain Caveman in a rainy Phong Nha, Vietnam
Block B, new pergola
Coffee shop
Pet shop
Block B, old pergola
Croissants!
For lunch I met Jamie at Lukka Bar where he had 2 starters, nachos and chicken strips, which were huge portions and I had my first Turkish restaurant meal, a chicken shish, which was also massive and I took half home for tomorrow. There’s a new shop next door to Lukka Bar, it’s Katrina’s shop and has some really nice items in there – it also smells divine! Maizie Moo has quite an upmarket, luxurious feel to it and looks really nice, I even got some free samples to try as well as having a good old sniff at all the scents. My eczema on my face had been made worse by the wearing of a mask for 48 hours and so Katrina recommended a skin treatment which I started straight away (here’s the Facebook page for her new shop: https://www.facebook.com/maiziemoohomescents/). After having lunch and a mooch round Maizie Moo’s we were sensible and went home, 2 years ago we would have been on an all day and night session but we needed to take it easy as we had booked for tonight not fully realising what we had let ourselves in for!
Lukka Bar and Maizie Moo, Dalyan
Not only was it fish and chips night but it was also Lukka’s Bingo night, this week was a 90s theme. Sarah had organised it and had booked a table for 8 of us. Jamie ordered Hunters chicken and chips, while the rest of us had fish and chips, mine with plenty of vinegar. It was good but took a while to be served as the place was full and so we were all a bit tiddly by the time the 90s bingo started. My fish and chips plus the red wines came to a total of 127 lira (£10.76) and I definitely got a large portion. Süleyman arrived later and sat on the end of the table, next to me and Jamie, ordered a burger and we ended up having a right old laugh. There was lots of photo and video taking (by other people) and so we gave it our all on the singing, mainly because it had been such a long time since we’d all got together and we were having a great time. I’m not a massive bingo fan but the games were well planned and Mehmet was so amusing as he was reading out the songs! Here’s a video of bingo at Lukka bar: https://www.facebook.com/338112536849107/posts/857332751593747/ One thing I had noticed about being back in Turkey was the amount of people still smoking and I found it hard to deal with, especially as I’d not encountered many smokers together in Vietnam, so when the bingo finished I went home, reeking of fags – I was definitely going to get through more hair products in Dalyan if I had to wash my hair more often!
I woke up before 7am on Thursday 23rd September, expecting it to be almost lunchtime. My watch said 10.45am but that was still on Vietnamese time which is 4 hours ahead of Turkey. I had slept well but was still tired and hungry again. I had more of the provisions from Leanne for my breakfast, adding the şakşuka/baba ganoush that I’d brought from the plane which had leaked a bit, then made a list of all the things I needed to do. One of my first jobs was working out which keys are for what and checking all the stuff I packed away in locked cupboards, just over 20 months ago, surprisingly it was still ok. I also started a shopping list as I would need more stuff and I needed a new battery for the bathroom scales ready to see how much I weighed, I didn’t have any scales in Phong Nha. I was slightly concerned that I had been near to more people last night than I have in months, in Vietnam. Today I would try to have a quiet day, I got busy with unpacking and doing some laundry. I only had some almonds and cashews for lunch (taken from one of my plane journeys). For dinner I decided not to go out to eat, as I was struggling to stay awake past 6pm so I went to the local kebab shop and ordered a chicken kebab and chips. When I got it home I watched more Netflix and ate the delicious chicken wrap, I didn’t really need the chips. It would be interesting to see what the scales said tomorrow as I definitely felt like I was lighter than when I was last here so we would see – being back in Turkey with so many eateries and bars open was going to be hard though, the diet would be almost impossible with so much food choice here.
Here’s my shopping from Leanne which was very kindly popped in the fridge for when I arrived (prices in Turkish Lira and is about 11.8 lira to £1):
From Migros supermarket 1 carrier bag 0.25 1 apple 1.34 3 cucumbers 1.93 1 pear 2.29 1 bottle of water 3.25 1 pack of chicken slices 3.95 Tomatoes 5.02 Bread 5.50 1 pack of gluten free biscuits 5.95 1 pack of cheese spread 6.25 1 pack of salami 6.85 1 pack cheddar slices 8.50 Olives 8.79 6 eggs 9.00
Total spent 68.87 (£5.84)
Some things were cheaper than in Vietnam, but overall a little more expensive so I would need to budget well, given that I was expecting to be here for a while. I congratulated myself on managing to have a fairly tame first full day in Dalyan and wondered how long that would last for.
My 2nd flight, from Singapore to Istanbul on Wednesday 22nd September, was at 1.45am, had no more than 30 people on and only 1 person, that I saw, in business class. I had last slept in a bed on Sunday night and even though I’d had a couple of nodding offs, I still was so tired. We all got a row of 3 seats to ourselves, on the Singapore Airlines flight, with pillow, blankets and plenty of food, drink and snacks. Service was excellent and the 2 red wines I had were very pleasant. I used to look forward to watching a film on a flight but I didn’t find any that looked worth watching or any I had heard of so I had a little nap, at last! Before we landed I checked with staff on the flight from Singapore about my luggage and they also said I had to clear immigration and pick up the luggage at Istanbul, before getting the domestic flight. We landed 30 minutes late because of a dead carcass on the runway and couldn’t disembark for another 15 minutes after we stopped, luckily I had booked on the later flight to Dalaman anyway so I wasn’t rushing. Once in Istanbul airport everything was busy and like Covid didn’t exist and it felt quite overwhelming. It seems most people, if they do wear a mask, only cover their mouth and there is no adherence to social distancing whatsoever. There was even a train that had that annoying Baby Shark song on a loop while transporting families up and down the terminal, which I really could have done without. As advised by check-in back in Hanoi I tried to collect my luggage but was told it had been booked all the way through, which is what Captain Caveman and I had thought would happen. It was a long walk to the domestic transfer, I was slow, my ankle was giving me some gyp and when I got there they asked me if I had collected my luggage and rechecked in. I left not knowing whether my suitcase would be there or not. I decided to book the Turkish Airlines lounge for $18 and had snacks and soft drinks, water, tea/coffee. I tried to get a wine, not realising it was only the morning and that they didn’t even do alcohol but got directed to the tea and coffee facilities by a kind member of staff. The social distancing was better, signs saying if you touch it you take it on the food, toilets good and you get straight to the gate without any hassle. My last flight, Istanbul to Dalaman, was very full and, although when the flight attendants gave a meal and drink out they asked people to not take masks off everyone at once, they did. I didn’t eat or drink and took my picnic in my bag to have later. When I landed at my final destination, Dalaman, there was no luggage but a helpful member of staff came to find me and asked me to follow him through a door to international arrivals to check if this was my case, and it was – that was fortuitous! I walked outside and my driver was waiting for me with a sign with my name on, the air was hot, sunny and dry as we walked to Sonuç’s car. I was looking forward to getting ‘home’, after 48 hours in my mask, letting everyone know I had arrived and getting some much needed sleep!
The driver helped me with my luggage up the stairs to Captain Caveman’s apartment in Dalyan and the fare cost me 240 Turkish Lira (approx £20), apparently it’s cheaper to get a taxi at the airport but I knew if I didn’t have enough cash on me I could pay later. I was looking forward to getting in, letting Captain Caveman know I’d arrived, having a shower and bed, even though it was only the afternoon! Unfortunately, none of those things were about to happen in the short term. My friend, Leanne, had got me a welcome pack of provisions in and popped on the AC so it was a pleasant welcome back and I had some cold water to drink. Of course, my Vietnamese phone stopped working as soon I left Vietnam and I didn’t yet have a Turkish SIM card to replace it, I’ve not been in the UK for 3 years and so I no longer have my other phone number either. I was hoping the internet would be on but unfortunately it wasn’t working and I promised I would let Captain Caveman know when I arrived ‘home’. If I went to bed I would probably sleep for a long time and so I chose to rectify the internet situation first. I decided to go to a nearby empty bar where I could use their internet to contact Leanne to find out more about the internet, I walked to Heybe which is a short distance from our apartment and as I approached I noticed a couple of people I recognised, Angela and Nick, who saw me as I spotted them. I was masked up but of course no one else was and it turns out masks aren’t compulsory in Dalyan. I told them my issue and we got the WiFi password, Leanne had already been trying to get in touch to tell me she couldn’t connect the internet without my phone number and a physical look at my passport and that I needed to go to Captainnet office before 6pm. I messaged Captain Caveman to tell him I arrived and to confess that I was accidentally already in a bar, now with a cold Efes beer in front of me, courtesy of Nick. Before I had drank 1 beer I had also met the owner of the bar, Donny, a singer called Onur, the owner of a new restaurant and had the pleasure to witness a gang of shirtless lads from Dublin who had just arrived for a holiday! I went back home to get some money and my passport, then walked all the way to the other side of Dalyan town to update the internet. While in there the staff wore masks but the Turkish customers sat drinking coffee so had their masks down under their chin. On the walk back my ankle was feeling sore and was very swelled up, I also noticed the local police all had their masks under their chin or worn as an armband on their elbow – maybe it was a new fashion! As I got back to Heybe’s Maddie had finished work and had come to join everyone, surprised to see me, so I had another beer and agreed to go get a burger for dinner with everyone, from a new (to me) place called Wonky’s. I went for a bacon burger but it came without the bacon and I forgot to ask for it without the sauce, which had chillies in. Even after avoiding the sauce, we all discovered the burgers had chillies in, they were good but I’m allergic to chillies so I didn’t eat it all. Onur had chosen a really good mixed pizza and I had a slice of that too, I enjoyed it. While in there, a few people I knew came over to me asking why I had my mask on and telling me they can’t catch it because they have been double jabbed. Another friend said there was no need for me to have my mask on as it’s safe here! I was in shock to meet some people who think they can’t catch the virus and spread it if they’ve had the vaccine. I was genuinely worried that I should be trying to keep away from people until but it was a bit difficult to do, the town felt very busy to me, compared with Phong Nha, Vietnam. My friend Jamie arrived and we had a glass of wine before heading off to Lukka for a quiet wine there where we started planning stuff, it felt so good to see him after all this time and to actually be able to plan ahead a bit. I finally got back home, the internet was working, I had a 2nd dinner and watched an episode of Sex Education before bed. It had been a very long day and I was ready to have an extra long lay in tomorrow!
Having managed to escape from Khuong Ha last night on the cusp of what we were lead to believe was going to be another severe lockdown, my 12 hour car journey to Hanoi airport wasn’t as bad as I expected. Tuesday 21st September started with us getting through another checkpoint, Danny was great, friendly but professional and any fears about being a woman on her own in a car with a driver I’d never met were short-lived. He’d been recommended by Ben at Phong Nha Farmstay so I was happy he would be trustworthy and he drove very safely. I was glad to have my neck pillow from Uy and Chung but it made me feel sad that I’d not been able to say goodbye to my friends, I managed to drift off to sleep for an hour but woke up needing a pee, our next toilet stop was a western style toilet and even had water and soap. Colin, who had left last month, had told me that they weren’t allowed to stop at services to use the toilets on the journey north to Hanoi. Of course you are, I think I used 3 or 4 services facilities on the way and I never saw anyone else and all were useable. The rest of the checkpoints went smoothly and I didn’t need an Embassy letter or any documents that supported letting foreigners leave the country. There was only one occasion where the checkpoint staff came to the car to look at me, but didn’t ask me anything. The most difficult checkpoint was the last one, nearest to the airport and, because we were coming from a potential locked down province to a less strict one, they scrutinised all our paperwork. Danny was a bit cheesed off when he could have used his expired PCR test as they only went by dates at this checkpoint, not the number of hours like everyone else had. I arrived at Noi Bai airport just as Hanoi had gone to a less restrictive Directive 15, just after 7.30am, Danny and I had a photo before saying our goodbyes. The airport wasn’t busy, less than 50 people there at any one time, I had already been given some advice for the airport so I went straight to Desk D where there is a charging station for phones and I logged in to the free WiFi which was working quite well. I ate some of my packed lunch (jam sandwiches and green tea had never tasted so good), the AC was on, the suitcase wrapping man had a small queue and there were girls coming round to ask if you needed money changing. These girls also had a chat and told me to keep my food and drink when going through security as there is nothing once you are airside – this was invaluable advice, and I gave them both one of my Fox’s Glacier mints. At the check-in desk it got a bit stressful; I was the first to check in for my Singapore Airlines flight to Turkey, which only opened 2hrs 15 mins before the flight. I had all my documents at the ready, including on my phone the Turkish entry form and onward flight out of Turkey. They checked all documents very thoroughly and asked me why I was going to Turkey. They only weighed my hold luggage, which was under weight, allowed me to take a carry on case and a bag for under the seat but didn’t check the weight. They did ask what I had in the second bag (mainly food, drinks, a towel and a pillow) they told me I would not be allowed to take the 4 drinks through security but sandwiches were ok. He also told me my luggage would not go to my final destination and that I had to collect it in Istanbul and recheck it in. Just as I thought all was completed, he asked for my proof of quarantine hotel on arrival in Turkey – this was not expected and totally threw me off guard. Turkey permits entry, whether vaccinated or not, to all with a negative PCR test except for a small number of countries (not applicable in my situation). I knew I had the proof of requirements on a screen shot or link somewhere and as I was taking too long to find it, he had got the manager and their huge rule book out and was insistent paid hotel quarantine was required and gave me the list of hotels (none where I was going), to book one, presumably!? I stayed calm and asked the manager to double check, an English man in the business class queue was also having issues and had started to shout at the staff a bit so I knew that wouldn’t help. I asked the check-in staff what are their rules if vaccinated and he said you don’t need to quarantine if double vaccinated more than 14 days ago. At that point I stalled him with a paper copy of my vaccinations but my 2nd vaccination was only 2 days ago so he didn’t know what the rules were. That helped me find the link to the Turkish entry rules and I was allowed to proceed, I have no idea why they have the wrong information but if you weren’t certain that they were wrong, they were convincing and I could have been denied the flight or forced to pay for a quarantine hotel I didn’t need. Due to the Covid restrictions the check-in staff are not from the airlines, they are limited Vietnamese staff who are doing the check-in for all international flights and they are finding it hard to keep up with the new information, they get confused and don’t want to be challenged but I found out if you can calmly ask why the information on the official sites say differently and can they check again, they will do. Luckily, I am used to flying, knew all the rules, had all my documents in order and was the first in the queue but it definitely caught me off guard a bit!
Going through security at Hanoi airport on Tuesday 21st September, there was just me and they allowed all drinks and food. It was quick and easy, I didn’t even need to take jewellery or shoes off or take liquids out of my bag. My first job was to find the tax refund and cash exchange office to change my emergency Dong in to Dollars so that I could buy my Corona Insurance at Istanbul airport, I’d not changed it earlier in case I got denied and had to get a taxi to do another PCR test for a flight another day. The AC was much cooler at the gate and there was lots of space to spread out and have my 2nd breakfast of a crisp sandwich and more iced green tea. Just before midday I boarded the plane from Hanoi to Singapore, the plane was massive but only had about 12 people on, in fact there were more staff than passengers. I got a nice row to myself with space in front of me to stretch out and before they had even shut the doors I had been asked if I’d like an alcoholic beverage! On arrival at Singapore the ‘ushers’ organised us according to our connecting flights and marched us single file to the transit holding area. We got a green wrist band and were shown to a small area, some passengers didn’t know about this, were annoyed and the staff got a bit shitty. I approached one member of staff and asked about WiFi, food, where we could sit and when we would get picked back up etc. She was polite and informative, the staff seem generally stressed, though. I had a 8.5hr lay over in the transit area, which was obviously boring, the lounges were for business class only and you can get a hotel for a minimum of 6 hours, I wish I had the spare money to do that but I coped well without sleep. I watched Netflix, I finished reading my book and left it for someone else to read and I ate some peanut butter sandwiches and crisps. The walk to the next terminal was hard work and the usher went without me as I couldn’t keep up, luckily I had the Singapore Airlines app to tell me which gate to go to so I didn’t mind and just took it steady as it was a long way. Security at the gate in Singapore is lengthy, absolutely no drinks to be taken through but food is ok. Also you could only go to the toilet in the transit area, a child on our plane wanted to go at the gate but there were no toilets, they had to wait until on the plane, which would be after midnight.
It was a very long day on Monday 20th September, which started with my alarm going off at 5.30am. My driver, T, was due to pick me up at 6.15am but he arrived at 6am and I wasn’t ready. When I got to the car at 6.15am T had gone to help one of the staff move something heavy and then we had to go to Duyet’s house, around the corner, to collect a pig to take to Khanh’s in Dong Hoi. I watched as the butchered and bagged up pig was transported less than 20 metres by motorbike by Duyet’s dad, in to the back of our van. I knew we were going to be late for my important PCR test as we pulled in to the petrol station to fill up. We arrived at Medlatec in Dong Hoi 12 minutes late and I incorrectly went up the slippy wet steps to the main reception only to have to come back down them, turn left and in to the loading bay area where a PCR testing facility had been set up. There was just 1 other customer there and about 4 staff and I was given a form, this one was in English, to complete all my details. I decided to ask for a rapid test and the RT-PCR test so that if there was any errors with the RT-PCR certificate I would still be able to travel to Hanoi and get another RT-PCR test there. Although 1 nostril hurt more than the other, this time the pain wore off much easier than the previous couple of times I’d been sampled. I was moved to a waiting area and told to wait 20 minutes for the rapid test result. I checked the Corona numbers and the news as well as reading an email from Singapore Airlines, reminding me I could check in for my flight! I didn’t, as I still didn’t know if I would be actually getting on the flight. The news in Vietnam had an article of some crazy stuff going on now, check this out: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210919/vietnamese-teacher-purposely-receives-two-covid19-vaccine-shots-within-10-minutes/63171.html The technician came over to say there was a problem with my rapid test and I had to wait a little longer, this was the first hurdle of the day. She showed me that my result was negative on a plastic testing device but said she couldn’t get the computer to send the paper document with this on, someone was trying to fix it. This was worrying because my RT-PCR test result needed to be printed at 5pm today and I hoped it wouldn’t be an issue. Less than 10 minutes later it was fixed and I got my certificate in a nice envelope and was told I could collect the RT-PCR test certificate at 5pm. I introduced T and told them he would pick it up, I also advised that they needed to put my full birthdate, not just the year, on the print out, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to fly.
The next of the morning’s activities, having got my negative rapid test results from Medlatec, was supermarket shopping. T dropped me off at the Vincom centre which was still closed but the VinMart Supermarket was open. It was a strange feeling doing the ‘essential’ weekly shop not knowing if I would be in Vietnam or Turkey in the next few days but I hoped after all this hassle, that Captain Caveman would have all the provisions to himself.
For all of you who have missed a list of my shopping items, here’s what I bought;
1 baguette 9,500 Baby wipes 10,000 Green beans 15,057 Potatoes 20,417 Sandwich loaf 21,000 Ziplock bags 23,000 Carrots 23,616 Red cabbage 33,085 Mushrooms 33,900 Cherry tomatoes 35,108 Onions 36,476 1 tin of mints 46,100 Sunflower oil 57,000 Mouthwash 58,000 Spaghetti 61,000 1 jar of jam 138,000 1.5kg chicken 143,700 500g of butter 161,400
Total spent: 926,359vnd (£29.68)
I was looking forward to seeing how much a comparable shop would be in Dalyan, I suspected it would be more expensive.
As I was leaving at 8.40am the main escalators were still not on so I decided to take my shopping and trolley down in the lift, it was only 1 floor and I intended to leave from the side exit to go to the car. When the lift got down I found the door was locked and I tried to recall the lift but it would only open from the main shopping centre side. I was wondering how on earth I was going to get out when the security guard came to rescue me – if I couldn’t get out of a building without a hitch, things weren’t looking too promising for my attempt to leave the country!
I was on my way back from Dong Hoi on when I got a message from Danny, the driver, he had to get another PCR test, as his would run out at midnight tonight, and he was 150km away from where he needed to pick me up. He said he couldn’t get his results until 4pm and he would be arriving about 6.45-7pm, later than expected. That was fine by me as my results weren’t getting picked up until 5pm in Dong Hoi so it did mean I might have time to eat and say some goodbyes. When I got home Captain Caveman was once again in the kitchen making me a nice breakfast, this time with baked beans. Stu was on his way over to say bye and I had a shower and packed a few last minute things in to my hand luggage. I just happened to look outside and saw a policeman so I told Captain Caveman that maybe he should delay Stu until he’d gone, as we were still in Directive 15 and shouldn’t be having visitors. Before midday I got a call from Bich to tell us the reason for the police visit; apparently there had been some positive Corona cases 500m from our house and so he was letting us know, and telling everyone in the area, not to leave the house. Bich advised that I couldn’t go anywhere and I was gutted but Captain Caveman said we would still go ahead with the plan for me to leave and if I got stopped then so be it. We spoke to Stu to tell him not to come and that I still didn’t know if I was leaving or not, we decided against me inviting anyone else over or me going to say bye to friends. Regardless, I made packed lunches and packed frozen bottles of green tea in to a cooler bag, in readiness for a journey that might not happen. We decided to watch Sex Education on Netflix and have some red wine while leftover beef stew was on the cards for my last meal. Because of the cases Bich told us about we were probably going back in to Directive 16 tomorrow and so it was a bit concerning whether I should have permission to leave, if we asked it was likely the People’s Committee could say no, so we didn’t. By 4pm we were almost finishing the wine so we decided to have an early dinner, which we had with rice and it was delicious. Danny had his results and was on his way, the rain had started to become heavy and I was a bit anxious if T would manage to collect my PCR test result as requested – more importantly, would it be correct!?
The final part of the day was pretty stressful! We’d already been told by Bich that the police had informed everyone to stay where they are and that there were positive Corona cases very near to our place which meant we had no idea what would happen when Danny came to pick me up. Captain Caveman and I decided I should still try to leave because tomorrow we would be in no better position and we didn’t know for how long that could remain, plus the forecasted wet weather could also impede my attempts somewhat. There was also the fact that Danny, the driver, was on his way and he would charge another 7 million vnd (£250) regardless of whether I made it to Hanoi airport with him or not – I felt like it was now or never. The evening before, Ben and Bich had mentioned that Danny wanted to pick up 2 bicycles from previous customers that had been left at the Phong Nha Farmstay but I had decided to disregard the details of that, I just needed to get out and not worry about other people’s stuff, plus I’d had 1 too many glasses of fizz. At 4.30pm I got a couple of messages from T, who was already at Medlatec in Dong Hoi, followed by a phone call to tell me to look at the photo of my PCR test result certificate to check it is ok for him to bring back to me. It didn’t have my nationality on it, which I was concerned about, but it didn’t say I was Vietnamese either, Captain Caveman helped me check it and we thought it would be ok, my full date of birth and the dates all matched – T was on his way and I had sent a copy to Danny. This was it, I was going! Captain Caveman weighed my suitcase and it was 22kg. My hand luggage was about 8kg, bang on the allowance. When T arrived he had the PCR test paper in his hand, in the rain, no envelope or in a pocket, but at least it was here and I could use it to get on a plane tomorrow. At 7.15pm in the middle of a rain storm Danny messaged to say he was here, we looked outside and he wasn’t. Danny was at the triangle junction off the main road but near to the Phong Nha Farmstay – not walkable with my ankle, the suitcases and the rain. I called Bich, she explained that she didn’t know what was happening with the pick up location but earlier she had sent T back to deliver a bicycle to Elements (so the bike was at our place too), she asked me to put Duyet on the phone. Duyet would have to drive me, my luggage and 1 random bicycle, to where Danny was, which meant Captain Caveman couldn’t say a private goodbye to me at the car or help with my luggage. Duyet, Cuong and Captain Caveman were all struggling to get the bike in the van while I sat there trying not to cry. It was not quite the farewell I had in mind and I only got to quickly kiss Captain Caveman and have a very brief hug, despite not knowing when I would see him again. The bike had to go in with the wheels on as no one could remove them and when we got to the barrier we had to stop. I didn’t have any permission slip from the People’s Committee, neither did Duyet, and I have no idea what Duyet told the man but they let us through – I was so relieved and had tears running down my face as I waved bye to the man. A few minutes later we got to the next road where Danny was, there was no barrier so we quickly transferred my suitcases in to Danny’s car in the rain. Then Duyet and Danny faffed about for a while trying to get the bicycle apart and in to the car. They managed it eventually but it did mean I didn’t have the whole back seat to spread out on and was sat behind the driver’s seat in a car with mosquitos trying to avoid the rain. I tried not to dwell on the oil and cobwebs on my luggage and near my head as I got back out in the pouring rain to give Duyet a hug, this was not actually allowed but we didn’t care! I had finally left the village and we were on our way to our first checkpoint, 3 hours later we had successfully made it through the 1st checkpoint without me having to get out of the car and feeling happy I had my documents in a plastic wallet. By 11.10pm we had made it to the first empty services with a squat toilet which I managed fine but, as I was coming out I saw a big momma rat carrying it’s baby. We made each other jump on the wet tiles and she dropped her baby in front of me, it made me think of my mom and how much she would freak out. I kept calm, walked slowly and got back in the car, only 7 or more hours to go until I would get to the airport – it was going to be a long night!
Sunday 19th September was one of those remarkably good days, it was my 25th day of #STFAH during the lockdowns and Captain Caveman made me the best breakfast ever! Beans on (Lake House sourdough) toast with Stu’s smoked bacon, it was so delicious and I had missed baked beans more than I ever thought I would. The number of Corona cases in our district were none and there were none in Dong Hoi. This was good news because tomorrow I was attempting to leave Quang Binh again; I had booked to have my PCR test at Medlatec in Dong Hoi, which I had booked on their Facebook page, I’d booked a taxi there and back with the Phong Nha Farmstay receptionist and I had also decided to combine it with an ‘essential’ shopping trip. Captain Caveman got on with writing a shopping list while I got the suitcases back out and had a repack. We knew, in order to leave Vietnam for Turkey, that I needed to have a flight out of Turkey before my free 3 months visa was expired there. Even though I fully intended to renew my expired residency in Turkey, the rules don’t allow for me to not have an onward flight out of Turkey booked, so Captain Caveman had a look for a cheap flight for me while I had a dip in the pool. Before we knew it we had found a flight, booked and even managed to get it within the dates of me having my 3rd and 4th vaccines in Turkey, assuming I will need them to get back in to Turkey and possibly to get in to the UK without quarantine, by then. So, I now had a flight booked from Istanbul to Heathrow which would land on Saturday 11th December at 4pm, how exciting that I would probably get to use it too. It was only £35 so a bit of a bargain and I could now go back to my home town for Christmas, even if I had to self isolate for 10 days down south first!
In the afternoon I still didn’t know if I was leaving or not, we would find out tomorrow, but we did decide to do something a bit naughty. Veronika had invited us over to say bye and drink some sparkling Lindeman’s white wine at her Jungalo Collection private pool villa, next to the Phong Nha Farmstay. Captain Caveman had already gone to Stu’s to pick up some ‘essential’ pork products while I took Veronika’s remaining box of kitchen stuff, in the jeep with Duyet. There was no longer a blockade between Elements and the Farmstay so it worked out ok, Captain Caveman was there to meet me and carry the box when I arrived. Veronika had hummus, roasted peppers, olives and rice crackers too for us to have with the chilled bubbly. We thought, if my plan comes off, it would be the last time I would see her for a while, so we ended up having 3 bottles of the fizz, Bich and Ben came over and they gave us pizza and calamari. It was the end of an era as I said my goodbyes and I was sad that we didn’t know when I would see them all again. I was also pretty tiddly and it probably wasn’t the best thing to do when I would perhaps be having the longest day in quite a while, tomorrow! In my head I was expecting that I would be still in Phong Nha for Christmas so it was all a bit unknown right now.
We were up and about at 5.30am on Saturday 18th September, I’ve never felt so excited to be having a needle! Captain Caveman dropped me off at the end of the road where it meets the highway and he waited with me. We had to wait a while, as is the norm, and eventually the big bus arrived. The bus was quite full and when we arrived at a school in Dong Hoi, being used for mass vaccination purposes, we were not allowed in the gate and were told to stand outside and space out, by the guard on duty. Once inside the gate there was about an hour of form filling and general waiting about, An (from Mountain Bar/House) became my translator and it was good to see a friendly face who could help make the waiting go more quickly. I caught up on the Corona data and the news while we waited to go inside; the Quang Binh cases were quite high at 49, 4 in Dong Hoi and 19 in Bo Trach, none near us but it did make me wonder if Bo Trạch may stay in lockdown for longer because of this. I was sad to read that dragon fruit imports were stopped due to the virus too, more here: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/business/20210917/china-suspends-dragon-fruit-imports-through-vietnams-northern-border-gate-after-discovering-coronavirus-on-shipment/63147.html By 8.40am I had received my 2nd vaccine of Astra Zeneca, 13 weeks and 2 days after my 1st vaccine and I was so grateful to Oxalis for being able to do this for me. I also felt a bit bad that so many people in Vietnam had still not had their 1st one and were so desperately wanting to be able to get it. There was no longer a 30 minute waiting period to check if anyone had adverse reactions and by 8.45am I had my paper certificate in my hand and was on my way to the bus, feeling the most relieved I can remember feeling. I could now really plan my escape to Turkey and would hopefully be there before October! On the bus back a porter was feeling a little queasy so I gave him my last 2 salted lemon sweets and he had a lay down.
By 9.30am I had been dropped back off and was enjoying a sunny walk back home as the blockade man and some locals asked if I had been for another test and was I negative. They cheered when I said I had been for vaccine number 2 and I thought it wouldn’t hurt to let them know so they may be more on my side when I try to leave town. When I got home Captain Caveman had already started brunch, knowing I’d be hungry, and we sat in the garden to eat bacon, potatoes, cabbage and mushrooms. We decided to break our promise not to eat all the crisps and shared a bag while outside by the pool. A no-masker workman came to fix the water compressor which meant I’d be able to give my hair a good wash at last. My passport had finally been picked up by Bich so I arranged to send Captain Caveman to collect it when he was running his errands later. That afternoon I felt a bit tired so I had a lay down while Captain Caveman went up to the Lake House to collect bread and a couple of cheeky bottles of wine. He was gone for ages but back at home, Captain Caveman knocked up some pulled pork buns with the fresh bread collected from the Lake House and we opened a bottle of The Accomplice wine. Tomorrow, Operation ‘Get me out of here’ would recommence – only Captain Caveman and I would be involved in the details until we knew it was going to work!
On Friday 17th September, day 23 of my #STFAH but day 2 of Directive 15 we had fruit for breakfast, there was more mushroom growth, Carrot cuddles and the sun was shining. There were 29 more cases in Quang Binh and there were only 1 in Dong Hoi and 1 in Bo Trach, things were improving. Because we now had more peanut butter we had some on toast for lunch and I had a cider. The pool was nice and I was in there until 4pm when it looked like another storm was heading our way. By 4.20pm it was raining hard, at 5.30pm I still hadn’t had my passport back so I sent a message to check progress. There is always a drama where my passport is concerned and today didn’t let us down because it had been forgotten to organise the picking up of it. By 7.30pm we had devoured our delicious carbonara dinner, made with Stu’s bacon and duck eggs from the market. It was a fairly ordinary day until a message from Oxalis came via Captain Caveman; I would be on the 6.30am bus to Dong Hoi tomorrow for my 2nd vaccine, a day earlier than already informed. This was great news because if things did work out it meant I could perhaps be in Turkey next week!
On Thursday 16th September, while the rest of our buddies were allowed to swan about in their Directive 19, we were on day 1 of #STFAH (unless it’s essential or to go to work) Directive 15. Of course I had no excuses to go anywhere so it was my day 22 of not going out unless it was to a hospital or clinic. I didn’t bother with the news as it was bad enough seeing that we didn’t have any recent cases in our village but we were still lumped in with the wider area for the new rules, which were to last ‘until further notice’. Captain Caveman decided to interpret the directive that he could go to work and go to do essential chores; go to the ATM, pick up his whisky from an empty house, pick up tablets from the pharmacy and buy some coffee and peanut butter, because we had ran out. I didn’t think he should really be doing any of this but it was within the rules. First I made us some bacon sandwiches, Captain Caveman made himself an egg to go on his too, for breakfast. When I watered the mushrooms there were quite a few new shoots on them so they were having a second wind. Captain Caveman did his errands but couldn’t buy any vegetables as they had run short in Phong Nha, and while he was picking up the ‘essentials’ he had lunch at Funny Monkeys and a coffee, while waiting for ground coffee, at Tree House. It was hotdogs for my lunch as a bit of a make do meal because, surprisingly, we had no more leftovers in the fridge. I had an update to say I was able to get my passport back tomorrow afternoon, my visa had been extended until 9th October and it was being sent with a driver to Duyet to pass it me tomorrow – all seemed straight forward there, then! I was tending to my mushrooms again with Carrot, he’s started bopping me on the back of the legs with his nose to try to get attention, or a nibble of a mushroom. Captain Caveman arrived back in a chirpy mood, despite not having bought any fruit or veg but I think he was just glad to have been out cycling, he reported that the blockades and checkpoints had been removed. He’d also brought me back my decent red shoes, that I’d forgotten about, a notebook and my TEFL workbooks. Captain Caveman had spoken to Oxalis and he had confirmed my 2nd vaccine would be on the morning of the 19th September. If this came off it meant I could potentially get a PCR test on the 20th and fly on the 21st, I sent my idea of the schedule to Danny, the driver, to see if he could be on standby and he could. Ben messaged me to ask if we fancied a pizza delivering because the Phong Nha Farmstay kitchen was open again and it made my night, it wasn’t even a Friday! Captain Caveman took this as a reason for another ‘essential’ journey and went to pay our 9 day overdue Elements bill, while collecting the pizza. While I was waiting for the pizza and Captain Caveman to return I had a good video chat with my parents and it was looking likely that I would get to see them this year and that made me very happy! The Netflix film that night was State of Play which wasn’t bad and had some famous people in it who can act. The pizza was good, we even had wine with it, after not having any for almost 2 weeks, I wore a dress so I could pretend I was going out, and as lockdown days go, it was a pretty good one.
We had a load of fruit for breakfast on Wednesday 15th September, the last day of week 3 of the Directive 16 lockdown, which was due to end at 7pm tonight. There were 26 cases in our province, none in Dong Hoi, 8 in Bo Trach but none near us so it was looking hopeful that we would be approaching some freedom perhaps. Captain Caveman, as usual, was more optimistic than I about this and he felt pretty sure that at least the part of our commune of Hung Trach, where we live, would be given a reprieve. Finally Vietnam daily Corona cases had started to decrease and in our local area there was some outside activity. Khuong Ha had been allowed to harvest the (half ruined by rain) rice and were given help to do so, there were lots of flowers blooming and the Elements staff were power washing the vans. Captain Caveman did us both peanut butter on toasted baguette and we ate it on the balcony, with a passion fruit treat for afters. We spent the afternoon in the pool and I had 2 ciders while Captain Caveman had beers. Finally we got the confirmation of the Directives for our area; all of Phong Nha and Cu Nam would move from Directive 16 to Directive 19 which meant people there could go out and about again. Unfortunately, because our village of Khuong Ha is in Hung Trạch (not Phong Nha) we would move from Directive 16 to Directive 15, which meant we could only leave the house for essential reasons, like going to work, to get food, etc. This was definitely bad news for us and Captain Caveman didn’t take it well, I had a feeling this would happen and just needed to know if the restrictions for leaving to go for a PCR test would be any easier. I let Danny, the driver, know the news that it may still be difficult for me to attempt an escape any time soon and he responded with news that Hanoi would be lifting their lockdown from the 21st September, which meant if I could get there I could get a PCR test to fly with, in Hanoi. We mulled over lots of different options and thought there could be a chance that I might be able to leave but it was also risky as it could still all go wrong and waste more money. We decided I would call Singapore Airlines tomorrow and move my flight to the end of September and hope our village was out of lockdown by then. At 6pm Captain Caveman got a message from his colleague at Oxalis to say that I would be getting my 2nd Astra Zeneca vaccination on Sunday and we were so happy! It actually made a pretty shit day so much better! We had one of our favourites for dinner; pulled pork with cabbage and pickled cucumber on baguettes and watched another film, All the Money in the World. It is definitely worth watching as I didn’t know the story about J P Getty, and it’s a pretty terrible one. That night, as we went to bed, there was one of the worst storms I’ve ever tried to sleep through and I was actually scared the roof might come in, although Captain Caveman had explained that it was structurally unlikely. We realised too late that we had also left the pool towels out but I didn’t want to risk going out to get them. The thunder and lightening were right above us and, of course, the power went out again. I lay awake for ages wondering if Duyet and Carrot would be ok and if we were getting the floods they had predicted.
Tuesday 14th September was a good day, I’d accepted I wasn’t going anywhere (for now), the drama had subsided and we were carrying on with getting to the end of our 3rd week of the #STFAH restrictions. There were 34 new cases in Quang Binh, 8 in our commune but not near to us. The daily case numbers in Saigon were finally starting to show a flattening off on the graph. I had buttered toast for breakfast and read a rather interesting article about foreigners living in Vietnam during the strict lockdowns, it gives you a bit of an insight in to what it’s like living in Vietnam during the strict pandemic restrictions, check it out: https://vietnamnews.vn/society/1030764/expats-face-tough-time-amid-the-covid-19-outbreak-in-viet-nam.html I was trying to think more calmly and rationally about my trying to leave escapade because you know you’re not thinking sensibly when you start to understand this kind of thing: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210914/15-people-flouting-covid19-restrictions-found-in-refrigerated-truck-in-southern-vietnam/63092.html We spent most of the morning in, or next to, the pool, my eczema on my face was bad again (from all the food I shouldn’t eat, beer and stress lately). I needed to relax more so we watched a comedy film while eating fried rice for lunch, The Internship with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson in – not a bad film and I think I’d seen it before. Duyet had got Captain Caveman some eggs from the market, he was still unable to get some fruit, but 3 dragon fruits appeared in the kitchen and when I checked the price they were a bargain 30,000vnd – less than £1 for 3! Bich had kindly arranged to send us some more provisions, mostly from her own kitchen at the Phong Nha Farmstay and it was like Christmas again when Captain Caveman returned with the bag from the blockade. We had cider, wine, HP sauce, baked beans, avocados, passion fruit and mustard – it was amazing!!!! The heavy rains came early evening, luckily I had managed more afternoon swimming already, so we closed the doors, lit the mosquito coil, and Captain Caveman treated me to what you could probably call a date night. He made one of the most exciting meals in a while; pulled pork Spaghetti Bolognese with home made tomato sauce and it tasted so good. I drank a Magner’s cider which Bich had given me and it was so enjoyable compared to the beers that don’t really agree with me. Captain Caveman also picked the Netflix film, Crazy Rich Asians, which was an odd choice but certainly not the worst film I’ve seen, in fact it was quite amusing. Tomorrow we would find out for certain how our lockdown would proceed, would they lift the restrictions, extend them as they are or extend them but with changes? – anything could happen!
Monday 13th September, due to me not sleeping because of the storm I was very tired but I did some writing between 6.30 & 8.30am then went back to sleep for a couple of hours. When I surfaced Captain Caveman was already outside and had eaten his breakfast. I had buttered toast and read about another Corona outbreak in China, here is the article: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/international/20210913/chinese-city-imposes-travel-curbs-closes-public-venues-in-new-covid19-outbreak/63081.html By lunchtime it was raining heavily again so we stayed indoors and I started to toy with the idea of forming another escape plan. A friend messaged to say he had been for his scheduled PCR testing in Cu Lac only to find it was like a bun fight organised by chimpanzees and referred to it as a super-spreading event. I realised it was 1 month since I had last seen Bich and it was also already 2 weeks since Veronika had left Elements Collection, to go to the Phong Nha Farmstay, time was passing quickly. We ate egg fried leftover rice with peppers and sweetcorn for lunch while watching the rest of the film we started last night, Devil’s Advocate – it’s probably one of the weirdest films I’ve seen! While we ate chicken, potatoes and green vegetables for dinner we decided to watch another film. Yesterday, which is a really good Danny Boyle film, made me laugh and I really enjoyed singing along – definitely worth a watch if you like The Beatles. Before bed Tatas sent me a message to say that there was a proposal to move from Directive 16 to Directive 15 but our commune of Hung Trạch would stay in Directive 16. This meant that people in Phong Nha and the Farmstay would be in a less strict lockdown to us – so not fair! She sent a document with it on but couldn’t say where it was from or give me the first few pages. It also said that Hoan Lao and Dong Hoi would all remain in Directive 16 too – this could be a problem for me going to get the PCR test I needed to leave with and didn’t make for a very reassuring day 19 of #STFAH.
The housekeeping staff were looking lively on the morning of Sunday 12th September so we went in to the garden for our breakfast, it was day 18 of our #STFAH Directive 16 lockdown. Carrot was there and was really cute but a bit snoozy, he lay under the table as we ate our breakfast. I had a couple of bananas and peanut butter on toast while Captain Caveman did himself a menemen. The weather was hot again and we had not experienced any flooding as predicted yet, it was only 33°C with a ‘feels like 38°C’ but it was very humid. Here in Phong Nha we were lucky but in Danang, Hoi An and Tam Ky they weren’t so lucky, check this out: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210912/storm-conson-unleashes-torrential-rains-triggers-flooding-in-central-vietnam/63060.html Our favourite place for a holiday, Le Domaine de Tam Hai, near Tam Ky had significant damage which looked pretty expensive. In more Vietnam news the Saigon lockdown, which was meant to end on 15th September after months, will be extended until 30th September, more here: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210912/ho-chi-minh-city-needs-more-time-to-control-covid19-party-chief/63064.html For lunch we had the last of the tortilla with raw veg and pickled red cabbage, we both said we felt like we were eating rabbit food but we had the last of the brownie for pud. Captain Caveman had a few beers, I just had a half of one. In the afternoon we were lucky enough to have some pool time and then I fell asleep on the sunlounger. That evening, while I had a shower, Captain Caveman watched the Bangkok episode of Somebody Feed Phil (which I’d already seen). Then, while he prepared dinner, I watched the Copenhagen episode which he had already seen – Copenhagen is now on my list of places to go. We ate steamed chicken, rice, peppers, aubergine and cabbage and decided to watch a random film. We started watching Devil’s Advocate but before we got too far in to it there was a storm and a power cut so we went to bed. Captain Caveman was fast asleep through the thunder and lightening but I didn’t sleep, without a fan it was just too hot and sticky and I was still awake when the power came back on around 4am.
We ate very well on Saturday 11th September, day 17 of our #STFAH Lockdown. I didn’t wake up until 8.30am which was nice and I made more pickled red cabbage for later on. We still had some baguette left which we had put in the fridge so we warmed it in the microwave and shared the piece with butter on, then had a banana and a tangerine each. In the news there was talk of plans for Saigon to be fully open before Tet holiday next year, read about it here: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210911/ho-chi-minh-city-plans-to-pilot-vaccine-travel-passes-in-three-stages-of-economic-reopening/63049.html For lunch things were getting a bit samey and my stomach really didn’t like the egg but I continued to eat tortilla, egg fried rice, asparagus, cabbage and carrots. We had 2 apples, donated by Bich, so we went mad and had 1 each – it was the best tasting apple I’ve had in a long time! In the afternoon there were more warnings of the typhoon coming and Duyet was outside with Cuong preparing the trees for a storm. There was a post shared on Facebook saying that there would be compulsory PCR tests done in Son Trạch, the commune where Phong Nha is; it started this afternoon and would finish on the 14th September, testing 1 person per household. I hoped plenty of people would be ready for it, thinking that the more people that were tested negative the better chance of us coming out of a lockdown. Captain Caveman cooked chicken, potatoes and cabbage for dinner and I had half a beer. The rain came and then there was a power cut so we went to bed very early. I’m so grateful for the emergency light a friend brought us from Germany as my phone wasn’t charged.
joloyolo 