Phong Nha to Singapore – 4th July

Our best intentions to stay awake until my car came at 2am on 4th July fell flat! We had both fallen asleep but, luckily, I had set an alarm. I said my goodbyes to a very snoozy Captain Caveman who offered no words of ‘good luck’ or ‘hope to see you soon’ as I kissed him, and he barely woke up.
The driver, who I booked with the receptionist at the Phong Nha Farmstay, was early and the car was nice and comfortable. On the way to Dong Hoi train station, the driver had the windows open and was doing a strange tapping on the side of the car with his left hand – probably to try to stay awake. The journey cost 500,000vnd (£18) which is standard for the 50km distance and I was very early for my 3.15am train. The trains are very busy at this time of year so the booking had shown I had the last seat available, there were no sleeping berths left but I didn’t mind too much. When I got on the SE11 train it was dark inside the carriage and I could not see to get to my seat, which was in the middle somewhere. It was very busy with people sleeping, some were even on the floor with blankets over them. I found an empty couple of seats with a broken back which was reclined to almost horizontal – ideal! We left on time and were scheduled to arrive in Danang at 09.08am. By my calculations I probably had 2-3 hours of sleep before passengers started to get up and make a noise as the Vietnamese like to wake up early and eat breakfast. I got my trusty neck pillow and travel towel/blanket out and managed to nod off. By 5.25am the carriage was practically a party with the amount of toing and froing for ablutions, nose/throat clearance and smoking in the vestibule. I could see that my booked seat had people in it so I stayed where I was and was lucky enough to not get kicked out, unlike the old woman in front of me did, the conductor was pretty shouty at her too. When Captain Caveman woke up he checked on my progress and we worked out I was running about half an hour late. I still had time as my flight wasn’t until 1.15pm. I declined a banh mi breakfast baguette from the trolley, having seen them sneezed on at least twice. Masks were no longer compulsory on trains, most passengers wore them but pulled them down to sneeze! I didn’t bother wearing my mask, mainly because I knew I would probably have to wear one for a long time once I got to the airport and it makes my eczema worse.
When I got off the train I was planning on going to the noodle shop opposite the station. It was now a Korean BBQ place and next door was a craft beer place so I decided to walk towards the supermarket, Big C. I had the directions which Captain Caveman had given me and I followed them. After 11 minutes I realised I was lost so I flagged down a taxi and went straight to the airport. I couldn’t check in until 11.15am so I found a Big Bowl cafe and ordered a bowl of overpriced Pho Bo and a beer. The lady serving me kept saying I should have the more expensive wagyu beef version because it is better for foreigners. I stuck with the cheaper version which was still expensive. Even the drinks were twice the usual price for a can of beer, which definitely confused the server and the waitress that I was having beer for breakfast. So far, Plan B was going well and Captain Caveman was walking his group through the jungle towards Hang En right about now.

When I got to check-in, it was just starting to get busy but I was at the front of the queue. I’m not sure why I didn’t expect the check-in staff to be as thorough, but she did ask for proof of everything;
• vaccines and booster evidence,
• registration on Singapore site and email confirmation of that,
• onward/return flight within 30 days,
• a hotel booking in case of quarantine if testing positive on arrival
I almost forgot to ask for an aisle seat in all the paperwork checking. I had nothing printed out and all on my phone because we don’t have a printer. She didn’t notice that my hotel booking was just a photo of the link to the place Captain Caveman had sent me and she didn’t spot the mistake on my ticket back in to Vietnam for tomorrow.
I was through security relatively quickly but then the airport was pretty busy at the gates with not much seating. I wasn’t sure what time I would eat again today so I decided to go to Burger King which was fairly empty. I’d just placed my order and sat down when I noticed my ticket from Singapore to Hanoi tomorrow had an error on it, one that meant I couldn’t travel without amending it or buying a new flight.
Captain Caveman had spelled my surname wrong on my ticket back to Vietnam, and it was with one of those low cost airlines where the check-in is done by a machine, meaning my passport and ticket with booking reference wouldn’t match up.
Obviously, I could still leave Vietnam as the ticket to Singapore was fine but now I was stressed over what to do about this cock up! I decided I might be able to log in as Captain Caveman and try to amend my booking. I got all the way to where it wanted another $40 from his existing card and that’s where I failed, I didn’t know his 3 digit number on the back of his card. I let the transaction time out and it gave me a picture error message which I took a screenshot of. I’d just started eating a cheeseburger and fries when Captain Caveman rang from the little village on day 1 of his tour. He neither had his card nor knew the numbers I needed. He wasn’t as upset, or apologetic, as I thought he’d be and just said he was sure I would figure something out because I used to be a travel agent! That was about 25 years ago, it’s not like I had connections in Singapore and they were pretty strict. Now, not only was I worried about getting back in because of a potential visa issue, I was very concerned I would be stuck in Changi airport with no solution.
I had $300 cash on me but I didn’t want to buy a new ticket and have no money left. I decided I would chance it and see how things were once I got to Singapore, after all, I had 15 hours or more to work it out.

My Danang to Singapore flight was delayed very slightly so we landed about 5.15pm at Changi airport. My flight tomorrow was at 09.55am, that’s if I could even get on it because of the name mistake on my ticket. I was tired but prepared to have a mini adventure in Singapore. I was wearing my volleys, some loose trousers and a vest top but I had not thought of bringing any clothing for if there was a storm. I looked outside of the airport and there was monsoon type rain. I’d intended to get the MRT (subway) but then walk to some accommodation, which I hadn’t booked yet. I would be soaked. Instead, I decided I would go to the terminal I was flying from tomorrow and investigate the automated check-in machines at Scoot. I walked around the airport for an hour and established that the Scoot check-in was a bit chaotic so I kept on walking. I found the Jewel which is a massive mall type area with amazing gardens, fountains and lots of designer shops over several floors – it was massive. Changi is one of the best airports for this kind of thing so I decided I would just stay in the airport. I had spent longer in airports overnight and I was sure I’d be fine, plus I would try my luck at check-in in the early hours of the morning and hope to get through to one of the lounges on my Priority Pass – the one landside didn’t include alcohol. I walked for 2 hours non-stop then watched the fountain and light show. I walked some more and tried my best to change my three 100 dollar notes which most of the exchange shops couldn’t do. I got myself $25 worth of Singaporean dollars with the intention of getting an alcoholic beverage, or two. Unfortunately I didn’t realise that by 10.30pm the airport had already closed most of the shops and alcohol was not able to be purchased until I was airside – it was going to be a long night. I asked a member of the Scoot staff if there was any way I could check in early to go through to a lounge and she said there was no chance. She said I couldn’t check in until 6.55am but I wondered how the automatic machines could tell that. I bought some chocolate and almost thought seaweed crisps were salt and vinegar flavoured. I found a quiet area upstairs near the prayer room and tried to have a bit of a rest, I’d started to have a sea-sickness feeling which I get when I’ve had no sleep. I would wait until after midnight then try to check-in again when the staff changed.

Phong Nha – 1st July

Captain Caveman was on day 2 of his tour and I was expecting rain, the skies were cloudy and it felt a bit cooler on Friday 1st July. I decided I’d been a bit slack with not taking my measurements or getting weighed each week and would reintroduce it. In Phong Nha we don’t have any scales but Captain Caveman had previously brought over a tape measure. The last time I had taken measurements was the 6th May, so almost 2 months ago and I was shocked by the results. I’d had a good month of going out in Dalyan and then a quieter month with less drinking in Phong Nha.
These were my results this morning;
Bust -3cm,
Waist -5cm,
Hips -6cm,
Right thigh -0.5cm,
Left thigh -2cm,
Right calf -2.5cm,
Left calf -3.5cm.
Wow, I wish I knew my weight. My calves had lost a lot, probably from not cycling, walking or dancing like I was in Turkey. Both calves measured the same but my thighs had a 1cm difference still and I was sure the swimming was helping my overall measurements.
I treated myself to a breakfast of buttered teacake toast and then got to moving Captain Caveman’s winter clothes in to the spare room. I also noted while tidying up his stuff that he had in excess of 10 pairs of sunglasses including 1 pair of mine that I had given him last year when he said he didn’t have any to wear – they were my only spare pair.
For lunch I took a Snickers out of the freezer and it defrosted naturally within minutes. In the afternoon the cleaners came, so I chopped fruit in the kitchen. I put mango and passion fruit in the fridge and freezer and ate an orange. The rain didn’t come and the humidity level was very high, I heard thunder nearby.
At 6.30pm I got picked up for pizza night with the Le Mitchell family at The Villas. When we arrived it was very busy so Veronika wanted to sit by the river, I find that it’s easier to get served nearer the bar so I joined René who was sat at a table outside but near to the door. I ordered a beer and said yes to the all you can eat pizza for 180,000vnd (£6.30). Veronika, Ross and the grandchildren came to sit next to us and went for the same deal. We chatted on about the visa extension debacle and the pizzas were great, as always. The company was lovely and I had a really good evening. René and I exchanged phone numbers and told me he was happy to come pick me up on his motorbike to go to his, while Captain Caveman was away which was really kind. Veronika and Ross also said they fancied a trip out to see his homestay and we could perhaps cycle there together. It wasn’t too far and I quite fancied doing that.

Phong Nha – 30th June

When Captain Caveman goes in to the cave I’m not usually one for being down about it, I always have a list of things to do to keep me entertained. On Thursday 30th June, though, I did feel a bit out of sorts and I wasn’t entirely sure why. It could have been that I had only 5 days left in Vietnam, potentially. It could have been that my family and friends in Dalyan were having a DBL (Deep Blue Leg-Ends) reunion today and I really wished I was able to be there. The day started super early, obviously, as Captain Caveman was awake about 5.30am and we were going to have ‘McMuffins’ for breakfast. Before 7am I was tucking in to a bacon and brown sauce muffin, Captain Caveman was devouring his bacon, fried egg and cheese (with mayonnaise) muffin. I said goodbye and decided I would go to pump up Bluey’s tyres. It was hot but a little cloudy so today just might be a good day to cycle to the Phong Nha Farmstay. I’d already said I would meet Veronika and Ross, Tatas was hoping to join us later too, as she had a day off. My Vietnamese was never brilliant but I’d noticed, since learning Turkish, that I had forgotten a lot of the Vietnamese I had learned so I ended up causing a bit of a misunderstanding with Duyet. Bluey’s tyres were completely flat and the small bike pump, which Captain Caveman had at home, was next to useless, mainly as the valve wouldn’t fit properly. I tried to tell Duyet this but I wasn’t sure if he understood and he gave me a lift in the jeep instead.

Veronika and Ross had already had breakfast so I didn’t bother ordering anything and we got reacquainted. They had spent the last 9 months back home in Australia and were staying at the Farmstay in the Jungalo Collection, on holiday for just 2 weeks. Stu and Jack came to join us and when I told them all my bike pump translation issue they were laughing at me for inadvertently propositioning Duyet. We decided that when I got back I should go check the bicycle first and if Bluey’s tyres were still flat, I should be concerned I’d said the wrong thing!
Tatas arrived and we had a draught beer each while chatting to everyone, she concurred that I had probably given Duyet the wrong impression. After Stu and Jack left, the rest of us ordered lunch. Both Tatas and I had the Nem Lui which is one of my favourite Vietnamese pork dishes and it was very tasty. Tatas bought a bottle of wine and we managed a swim in the Farmstay pool. We’d got out and we were getting down the wine when there was a sudden downpour. There was only one thing for it, more wine! I spent 950,000vnd (£34.20) on food and (mostly) drink but it was a brilliant day, ending with a pint of draught beer.
I got home late and forgot to check Bluey, but there were no surprises from Duyet so I think all was well. The coming weekend would be my last one in Phong Nha before I left for Singapore, I really hoped it wouldn’t be the last time I saw Captain Caveman for a while.

Phong Nha – 27th & 28th June

My week started very quietly, on Monday 27th June, and I was trying my best to save money. We still didn’t really know how much my going in and out of the country would cost us but it was an amount we hadn’t budgeted for.
I had teacake loaf and Frosties, with my Yorkshire tea, for breakfast then did some Turkish practice. I was still way behind on my lessons and thought I should check with Vanessa where she was with her’s this week.
I had a late lunch of chicken, rice, sweetcorn, carrots and mushrooms which I steamed in the rice cooker, with a gluten free stock cube, and was super healthy. That evening I had a chicken sandwich and a couple of Strongbow ciders for dinner as I had decided to forego curry night this week. For dessert I had Red Leicester with the last of Kate’s fruitcake then I had an early night.

My day started a little after 4.30am on Tuesday 28th June. I had got up for a pee and decided to check my phone, which was on do not disturb mode. I don’t normally check my phone like that but I had a strange feeling. I’d heard some tragic news from a friend and work colleague yesterday which I think had been playing on my mind. A former colleague had died unexpectedly and some of my friends were still in the same team. It was hard not to think about everyone who would be affected and I’d not slept too well.
I had a message from a friend, in England who was upset and so we messaged for a bit. I went back to sleep for a couple of hours but then it was too hot, today would turn out to be a warm one. I didn’t have any breakfast as I didn’t feel hungry but for lunch I had more chicken and veggie rice. In the afternoon I started helping someone in Dalyan.
I was in the pool when I noticed a visitor, one I used to see a lot last year. It was Eric the bee, he was back and he stayed on the door to the pool for hours. After lots of swimming it was time for a pool beer at 6pm and I took some selfies of me doing that. My hair was curly from the humidity and the pool salt which made it look nice but meant I wouldn’t get a hairbrush through it. I also wore my red swimmers, which Captain Caveman doesn’t like, because I like them.
I didn’t eat dinner until gone 9pm when I decided to have pesto pasta. When I opened the pesto it already had mould on it so I had to throw it away and find something else. We didn’t have any other sauces so I melted some Stilton cheese on to it, that was nice!
The mosquitoes were rife tonight, a few were in the house so I wore a band which is meant to ward them off. I had noticed that Dengue fever was on the rise in Vietnam and I definitely didn’t want to catch that.
At 10.30pm, which was 6.30pm Turkish time, Vanessa and I had a video call to discuss our Turkish lessons and homework. We were on the phone a while and it was good to chat and see a friendly face. It wasn’t quite the same as being in Okyanus with a glass of wine and a nice lunch but it was still good. I was meant to go to bed after we came off the phone but, instead, I stayed up until 2am doing my Turkish homework.

Dong Hoi & Phong Nha – 25th June

Captain Caveman had booked a car to take us on a shopping trip on Saturday 25th June. It wasn’t my idea of something good to do with a day off but Captain Caveman does enjoy shopping much more than I do. We were in the car and I was about to discuss my declined visa extension situation when Captain Caveman noticed a missed call from his boss. It’s not uncommon for this to happen on a day off early in the morning, so I wasn’t surprised. Captain Caveman was asked if he could be ready to go to do day 2 of a Hang Va tour, to cover for the Vietnamese tour guide who was on his way out. I thought we would have to turn the car around and go back but Captain Caveman pointed out that he couldn’t do it. This was the first time I’d ever witnessed Captain Caveman say no to one of his bosses asking him to do extra but, of course, I was pleased.
In Dong Hoi we got the driver to drop us off at Mr Bull’s for breakfast where we ordered Bo Ne, I had mine without eggs. It was delicious but I sensed Captain Caveman’s mind was still on the Hang Va issue. The operations manager, called him to say it had been sorted but they had sent in Tatas to cover, so now could Captain Caveman cover for Tatas on her pre-briefing duties. He agreed as they were both on the same Son Doong tour tomorrow. This meant he had to be at work an hour earlier this evening, at Son Doong Bungalows. I was definitely getting an idea of how busy Captain Caveman had been these last few months and I knew he was going to be very disappointed that I wasn’t able to get a visa extension without having to leave Vietnam.

Our first shop on the shopping trip was the Co-op Mart, the biggest of the supermarkets in Dong Hoi, and it was busy. We spent a lot of money, I had forgotten to bring the shopping list but I think we remembered most things between us. The next place was VinMart, which is now called WinMart, and has new products in. I was so excited that they had small rice cookers for less than £20 so we bought one to take back to Turkey. Next stop was for tampons, also tricky to find in Vietnam, which they sell in the Medicare shop but were 174,000vnd (£6.26) for 2 boxes. Our last stop was the wine shop where Captain Caveman came back to the car with a box containing 3 bottles of white wine and 2 bottles of Bombay Sapphire gin for a bargain total of £50.
We were meant to be spending some time in Dong Hoi and had planned to go to Tree Hugger for lunch and White Russian cocktails. Captain Caveman wasn’t in the mood now and suggested we just go straight back home.

It’s been a while since Ive done a big shop so here’s what we spent in the 2 supermarkets.
£1 = 27,768 Vietnamese Dong (VDH)

Co-op Mart supermarket:
1 can of ginger ale 9,500
Baby wipes 12,300
2 onions 15,774
Bamboo Cotton buds 20,500
3 carrots 21,886
1 packet of pasta 22,500
Washing up liquid 22,500
1 packet of Grape haribos 25,200
Sugar free Milk 27,200
Passion fruit 30,751
4 cans of tonic 31,200
2 red peppers 32,347
3 mangos 39,063
Frozen sweetcorn 43,600
Mushrooms 50,500
2 chicken breasts 50,580
1 Tupperware 53,000
1 Tupperware 59,000
1 pomelo 59,988
Frozen strawberries 63,800
Tin foil 69,900
1 bottle of olive oil 130,000
3 cartons of orange juice 132,900
2 bottles of red wine 306,000

Total spent 1,355,189vnd (£48.79)

WinMart supermarket:
2 small cans of coke 15,800
2 baguettes 19,000
3 salted lemon drinks 20,700
1 teacake loaf 22,900
Pineapple 29,80
1 plastic bottle 33,500
Pork mince 54,264
Pork mince 56,662
Frosties cereal 54,700
6 Strongbow ciders 108,600
1 rice cooker 544,000

Total spent 959,926vnd (£34.56)

I was surprised at how cheap the bottles of Strongbow were as in Dalyan it was getting difficult to get even Turkish cider for less than £3 per bottle.

On the way back to Elements we came up with a Plan B and C for me and we decided I would apply for another e-Visa. I already had a flight booked from DaNang to Singapore, used as proof of leaving Vietnam after 1 month, so it made sense to take that. If another 30 day e-Visa was granted I would come back to Vietnam the next day and carry on as we were. If I didn’t get another visa then I would still come back in on the free 15 day visa exemption, get my stuff and go back to Turkey, or England perhaps.
While I applied for my e-Visa, Captain Caveman unpacked the shopping and put it away. I got confirmation of my visa application, paid $25, and was told I would have notification by Wednesday. In the afternoon we didn’t really have much leisure time as we were busy with ‘Operation get me back in to Vietnam’ and Captain Caveman had to unpack, pack and prepare for work. I was lucky that Captain Caveman is so organised and calm in a crisis because I had been ready to have a mini meltdown.
For dinner I had a bit of a concoction; yesterday I’d made tortilla but the frying pan was a bit iffy and it had stuck so it was more of a ‘deconstructed Spanish omelette’, I’d only made it to use up the potatoes, onions and eggs and had ended up with 2 in the fridge. I fried some of it up like a posh hash brown with some bacon and pickled white cabbage. It definitely wouldn’t win any awards for how it looked but it tasted great. For afters, I had fresh pineapple and passion fruit which was so good. I also noticed that the WinMart had charged us for 2 lots of pineapple but we only had one.
When Captain Caveman returned from his briefing, having had to deal with a late joiner and more issues than he’s used to because that would’ve been Tatas’ job, he brought booze! His last group were disappointed that he was unable to do the gala dinner with them and had saved him some of their bottle of whisky – he said they were a really nice bunch of people. He kindly shared it with me and we listened to Kate’s Ultimate Boat Trip Playlist which she had shared on Facebook. There were some brilliant songs on there and it was about 24 hours long, I wondered if we could do a boat trip to celebrate when we returned to Dalyan and do the entire playlist.

Phong Nha – 24th June

The highlight of my day on Friday 24th June was Captain Caveman being able to come out for pizza night once again. I put a dress on and had asked Lan, The Villas manager, to reserve a big table for us tonight. I’d messaged to ask if we could also have a lift with the Phong Nha Farmstay transport. Ben said the transport would be late so we agreed to ask Duyet to take us up to the Farmstay so we could be having a happy hour beer there, before going to The Villas. When we tried to get Duyet it turned out he was already on another job and so I had to get changed out of my nice dress (the one I wore for Des’s leaving do) and put jeans, a t-shirt and volleys on so I could go on the back of the motorbike with Captain Caveman. It was a bit of an inconvenience and I had a slight face on as I had wanted to go out in a nice outfit for a change. Captain Caveman only had 24 hours free until he had to be back at work and I needed to get his attention somehow. When we got to the Farmstay we got happy hour beers and I was trying to tell him about the visa extension being denied. Of course I didn’t get to do that as he got talking to a Farmstay customer about caves and Son Doong.
We were late for pizza night but Lucie and her family waited for us. They had not even started to eat without us, which was so polite. Also joining us were Giang and Aaron (freshly back from England), Luc (on a quick trip from Malaysia), Mark and Darren. This was the first time I’d seen Darren, Captain Caveman’s colleague, for a few years, he didn’t know about pizza night so he was about as excited as us and couldn’t believe his luck. As we didn’t have to drive back we were knocking back the half priced margaritas like someone was going to steal them. It was such a great night, the 10 of us had a lot of fun and I was really pleased to have got to see everyone again. Unfortunately, we had to leave about 9.30pm to get our lift back but we were grateful for staying later than usual! Our total bill came to 900,000vnd (£32.40) for the 2 of us, not bad as we don’t both go out together too often. Back home, Captain Caveman and I decided to have one more drink before bed as he wasn’t working until 6pm tomorrow – and what a day we had planned!

Phong Nha – 23rd June

Lucie, her mom and her son were in Phong Nha until Sunday so I had hoped to meet them for lunch. On Thursday 23rd June they had arranged to take a trip to the Pub with Cold Beer, which I’d recommended for trying the BBQ chicken. The place has a pool too but it is a bit tricky to get to without a motorbike or car. Lucie messaged late morning to say to meet there at noon but it was too hot and far, for me to cycle to. I was conscious of spending any money too because I may have to go back to Turkey or do a visa run. I decided spending money on a car, plus lunch and drinks, would not be justifiable given my situation right now. It was super hot and we had a fridge and freezer full of stuff so I was happy to stay home.
I went to lay on the sunbed by the pool and got a bit of a surprise; my new friend Kermit, jumped out at me and we made each other jump. A storm had been predicted, it didn’t look like rain to me, but maybe a frog on the 1st floor is a sign the water levels were going to be high. In the Vietnamese news there were photos of floods in Hanoi, which were pretty bad.
I still wasn’t in the best of moods given my visa extension situation but there wasn’t much I could do about it. I decided to organise some good things to look forward to, I invited a few people to pizza night at The Villas tomorrow, friends I’d not seen in ages. It had been almost 3 weeks since I spoke to my parents in Dalyan as it had never been a convenient time for them to have a video chat. We are only 4 hours ahead of Turkey but it still isn’t ideal and they were busy enjoying what was left of their holiday.
It was great to talk to them, even if my news wasn’t too positive today, and they cheered me up. I missed them and Dalyan but we joked that if my Plan B or Plan C failed, there was always the Plan D – go back to Dalyan. If it wasn’t for Captain Caveman I would have changed my flight and gone back – I knew he was going to be peeved when he got out of the cave tomorrow and heard about my predicament. My dinner was spaghetti bolognese and I had a Snickers for dessert, I’m not a massive fan of chocolate but I was starting to crave sweet things more than usual.

Kermit the frog

Phong Nha – 22nd June

Wednesday 22nd June turned out to be a bit of a rubbish day! I woke up to a reply from my visa contact to say she needed me to bring my passport to the Phong Nha Farmstay straight away because she would take it to Dong Hoi, earlier than planned. She could tell I was concerned so she asked me to leave my passport at the Phong Nha reception and she would pick it up on her way to Dong Hoi. I rushed to get ready and, after only a few hours sleep, I was tired. Bluey’s tyres were flat and Duyet wasn’t around for me to get a lift.
I eventually got to the Farmstay with Duyet at just after midday and left my passport at the reception desk. I decided to have a bowl of Pho Bo (beef noodle soup) and got chatting to a friend on messenger who was thinking of coming to Vietnam to visit.
I spoke to Bich, Ben and Howie for a bit, Bich seemed shocked when we heard that I couldn’t extend my visa because it’s a tourist e-Visa! This is the only legitimate tourist visa there is in Vietnam, currently, and has been the case since mid-March. I was fuming!
This was probably the most expensive trip I’d taken and I was regretting us spending the money for me not to see much of Captain Caveman. I had to leave Vietnam by the 5th July!
I went back home in the jeep feeling very deflated and disappointed, even though I knew this would happen.
I had a swim and a sleep but had headaches for the rest of the day. I had a coke to try to help with my headache and dehydration but it didn’t work. I had Stilton and French baguette for dinner with a glass of red wine, still left from last night. I had 12 days left of my visa so I should probably make the most of my time in Vietnam while I was still here so tomorrow I planned to meet up with friends who were visiting Phong Nha.
I would discuss with Captain Caveman a Plan B when he got back on Friday.

Phong Nha – 15th June

I was woken up early by a storm, heavy rain and the electric going off and on, on Wednesday 15th June. I did what I could to keep cool, without a fan or AC and made a cup of Yorkshire tea. Tatas and I formed a new plan and Darren had realised he couldn’t join us as he was off to Dong Hoi. Instead of meeting at East Hill for BBQ chicken, we would have it delivered to Elements around 12.30pm, Tatas would come over until it was time to go to the briefing with Darren.
It had been a while since I’d had East Hill chicken and it didn’t disappoint; 280,000vnd (£9.80) for a whole BBQ chicken, cucumber, sticky rice with peanut salt and a chilli based sauce, called cheo. We ate downstairs in the communal area because it was cooler but the electric did come back on. I opened a bottle of red wine, The Accomplice, which we had with our tasty lunch. We went up to the pool and had a swim, Tatas was up for taking photos and she became a model for a while. I had turned my back for a couple of minutes when I noticed Tatas had only put a glass of wine on the ridge of the infinity pool. My heart was in my mouth now, while I took photos, as I could see how easy it would be for her to fall off as she picked up the glass from beside the pool. I’m always telling Captain Caveman off for having glasses too near the pool too.
After Tatas had gone to work, I was having a quiet night in and hoping for an early night. I didn’t get to bed until gone midnight and it was pretty hot still.

Phong Nha – 13th June

Monday 13th June was another fun day and I was looking forward to Captain Caveman getting back later.
I was still struggling with the heat and, despite me having the AC on 24°C, the temperature in the room was over 30°C at 10am. The cleaning staff were surprised, but happy, to see me back at Elements. They came to give the place a spruce up and bring more towels for the bathroom and pool. I spent a lot of time swimming because my trapped nerve in my left glute was hurting and I didn’t have lunch until 2.30pm. I finished off the rest of the bolognese with spaghetti and probably shouldn’t have eaten so much because I had plans for tonight.
Captain Caveman was back home about 4pm but then had to be at his briefing for the next tour at 6pm. He had bought some new jeans for motorbiking while I’d been away and he looked really good in them. While he rode back off to Phong Nha I waited for my lift. Bich and Ben had decided to restart the Monday curry night at The Villas which was nice, as they used to do a lovely butter chicken. Bich came over and had a friend in the car with her who wanted to look round our villa so we did that first. We were still at The Villas before 6pm and I was going to sit in the AC room but Bich’s friend was making a call to his wife in Australia. He’d already spoken to her in the car on the way but he continued to speak to her for a long time, while I sat at the bar with a Pina Colada (50% off on a Monday) and free popcorn. Stu, the kids and a friend from Dong Hoi were meant to be joining the curry night but only Stu made it, by which time we no longer waited for the guy to finish his video call with his wife. The butter chicken came with steamed rice and garlic naan bread and was a generous portion.
The curry was delicious but I couldn’t finish it all so I got a doggy bag just as Captain Caveman came to join us. Stu pre-ordered enough for the guys back home plus took half of his home too. Captain Caveman had already eaten at his Oxalis briefing and we had another event to get to. One of the lads who he works with, Núi, was getting married tomorrow so tonight was the stag party, to which we were both invited. If Captain Caveman hadn’t been driving, and working tomorrow, we’d have been able to give the ball a right kick. Instead, I had to take a few beers for the team with the lads. We didn’t stay long but it was good to see a few friendly faces and it was a shame we would miss the wedding.

Phong Nha – 12th June

I found Sunday 12th June to be a more positive day. I decided to make some plans to go out, while Captain Caveman was on day 3 of his 4 day tour. Tomorrow, Captain Caveman would come out in the afternoon, have a shower, put the washing in and repack to go back in the cave. He would attend the briefing of the next group instead of the gala dinner of the existing group and be back in Son Doong the day after, for another 4 days. This was disappointing for me but I focused on him having 2 days off on the 18th of this month, so only 6 days to wait until we could do something together, perhaps.
I didn’t bother with any breakfast but I did have a lovely lunch. I’d taken another mystery jar out of the freezer to find that Captain Caveman had made Bolognese with pork mince and bacon. There was further disruption to my exercise schedule this week as the dead bird was still in the pool. By this time I had seen Duyet who had sent another man to remove the dead bird from the pool. He couldn’t find the bird even when I was pointing to it while wrapped in my towel, having just got out of the shower.
I decided to ask Duyet for a lift to the Phong Nha Farmstay, for my first time this year, where I hoped they still had a bar and a happy hour. While I was waiting to get in the jeep I noticed we had a new pet. Unfortunately, Carrot the dog was no longer with us so it looked like we now had a squirrel. In a cage.
The word for squirrel in Vietnamese is sóc so I promptly named it Sox. There was water and banana for it to eat but it was quite shy and looked a bit scared of me.
The drive up to the Farmstay brought back memories as I saw the farmers planting or tending to the rice paddies along the way.
When I arrived and logged in to the free WiFi (I still didn’t have a SIM card yet) I noticed Kat had been trying to call me. She only uses Instagram but I didn’t have notifications turned on for it. Kat and Buu had decided to come join me at the Farmstay for happy hour and a Sunday Roast. I couldn’t believe my luck when I discovered that there was draft beer and the Sunday dinner had been restarted too. As I was at the bar I noticed there were some pretty good ‘not on the menu’ specials, including the notorious Sam Mackenzie Veggie pie, apparently available every day. The staff were still getting used to having international customers again but there were a few of us about, including a lady I remembered seeing just as the pandemic hit Vietnam. As I had been desperate to eat pork again I ordered my roast dinner with just pork and no lamb, Kat and Buu shared a meal and ordered a Spaghetti Bolognese too. I had the red wine which came with the deal too. It was good to see Kat and Buu again who had remained in Vietnam throughout the pandemic. We chatted with Bich too, who had some funny stories from her recent Australia trip. There was a new book on display at the Phong Nha Farmstay which Veronika and her friend, Sue, had written about the local area of Cu Nam. It was a available for a minimum 100,000vnd (£3.60) donation towards the village museum. I donated 200,000vnd for a copy of it and popped it in my bag to read by the pool one day. Kat and I shared my chocolate fondant cake as it’s very rich and she hadn’t tried it before. She shared her carrot cake with Buu and offered me some but by this time I was too full. The set price of 300,000vnd (£10.80) was the same as last year but I did notice the portions, although a generous portion, weren’t quite as big as the last time I had one. I ended up with lamb and pork despite my ordering specifically without lamb because the staff forgot, there was no crackling and the Yorkshire pudding was small – I suspected the oven was opened during the cooking process. I enjoyed my dinner and I even took half home to pop in the freezer.
After saying our goodbyes and agreeing to meet up for wine drinking at a girls night for us cave widows we all went home. I got a lift back with Duyet after having an extra beer because the happy hour had not included draft beer but I’d had 1 draft and 1 bottle, so now I needed 1 more bottle. Even though the draught beer was so much nicer it was 45,000vnd (£1.62) for a half so I would have to limit them. My total spend for today had been 600,000vnd (£21.60) which was kind of a bit over our usual budget, but did include a book, 4 alcoholic drinks, a dinner and a pudding.

Phong Nha – 10th June

My first full day in Phong Nha on Friday 10th June was a little surprising. It was before 6am when Captain Caveman was up, packing and rustling about with the laundry bag and getting something that he needed sewing. I said goodbye to him as he went off to work on his first trip of several this month. Unfortunately, the time off I’d hoped he might have in June, was not as much as I had anticipated. I started to realise I would be spending a fair bit of time in Phong Nha without him, for the rest of this month. It was a cloudy day but still too hot for me to cycle the 10km in to town. I went to see Bluey but Captain Caveman had left the seat too high for me and I couldn’t free the leaver to change it.
I put some of my stuff in the bathroom, where there was some space for me to use. I sent my passport to the Phong Nha Farmstay receptionist to register me as staying there, as the villa we are staying in is in their private villa portfolio, ideal for longer term stays where you want a home from home. It was nice to see the Elements Collection villa in the daylight again and it did look really lovely in the bright sunshine.
For lunch I cooked half the defrosted pulled pork and put the rest back in the fridge for a second meal. I didn’t even get half way through my food before I had a bad reaction, it had chillies in it! I rested up, mostly in the bathroom or drinking water until I started to feel better. Later in the afternoon, I got my swimmers on and had a bit of a dip. The pool was as warm as bath water so I only did about 20 lengths before getting out for a lay on the sunbed in the shade.
Just as I had resigned myself to having a very sedate weekend I was invited for a lift to a night out. Ben and Bich, the owners of the Phong Nha Farmstay, were back from their Australia visit and had relaunched the infamous all you can eat pizza night, from 6.30pm to 8pm this evening at The Villas restaurant! I was up for that and was looking forward to not having to eat 2 portions of spicy pulled pork in the same day. I sat outside while waiting for my lift with Bich, which gave me time to sit and admire the matured gardens, getting bit by mozzies at dusk. I watched the staff saturate the garden with a hose and wondered why all the Christmas decorations, including a 5ft tree, were still up.

When I arrived at The Villas restaurant I was so happy to see lots of people I hadn’t seen in ages, some since before the pandemic had started. Ben, Bich and the boys were excited to be back in Phong Nha and we were all delighted that international tourism was back in Vietnam. Stu was with his kids and a friend, who I had met once before. Next to them was a guy who said hello but I didn’t know him, I would get to meet him again. At a table up the steps was Hanh who sat with her son, some female friends and Drifter. I said hello to all of them but Kat and Dung were already waiting for me to go join them by the river. After welcoming hugs we ordered margarita cocktails (50% off on pizza night) and sat down. Dung used to be my boss when I worked at Jungle Boss and it was great to catch up after so long! I was pleased to see Kat, a really smart American girl with great hair, who I had become friends with during the pandemic. Her boyfriend, also a friend of mine, is a cave guide for Jungle Boss so she and I had automatically formed a cave widow appreciate group (aka CWAGs, formerly Cavers Wives and Girlfriends). We joined a table with Leo, who I am good friends with and worked with at JB, and his girlfriend Su, the new manager of the Sales team. All the staff were still there and it was good to see them again, they looked like they were happy to see Phong Nha welcoming back more people and were ready to see some busy weeks and months ahead, hopefully. We had a great laugh and I had about 8 pieces of pizza and 3 margaritas. It was only day 1 and, so far, I had spent 160,000vnd (£5.76) on the pizza and 225,000 (£8.10) on the cocktails. Bich was giving me a lift back so I had to leave my friends, which was a shame because I was just getting in to the swing of it. I was invited to the Jungle Boss event tomorrow night where they were having live music and a mobile bar in the town centre.
I was home and in bed before 10pm, feeling very full and happy to have seen quite a lot of my Phong Nha friends tonight. I was so distracted that I forgot to take any photos of my own, I’d have to go again next week and try harder!

Photo credit – Victory Road Villas, The Villas restaurant, Hanh, Dung.

Saigon – 7th June

I didn’t wake up until 7am on Tuesday 7th June, although it was still 3am on my Turkish watch. I was missing having 2 pillows and having to get used to a hard bed again. Captain Caveman was already up and about in the kitchen making himself peanut butter wraps because he was hungry. For lunch we went to the same place as for breakfast yesterday, as Captain Caveman was complaining that I couldn’t walk far, or quickly enough. I thought my foot was ok but I just wasn’t used to walking at his pace so it was starting to hurt a bit. I was back to walking several metres behind my man again and it felt weird.
While Captain Caveman ordered a Caesar salad and a smoothie I ordered chicken fried rice and a draft Platinum beer. When Captain Caveman’s salad arrived it had poached eggs on which I commented was unusual. Our first argument happened because now Captain Caveman was insisting that there is always eggs in a Caeser salad. I agreed that eggs were in the dressing but I had never seen cooked/poached eggs in one, but of course he had to argue the point until I really couldn’t care less if it did or not. I could see I was going to have my work cut out for me as I’d temporarily forgotten how much Captain Caveman likes to argue and be a know-it-all. I still maintain he is wrong but I just said ‘lovely’ then drank my beer and ate my chicken fried rice without speaking. My food was ok, it didn’t have much flavour to it, but the beer was good so I had another one. We were sat in the shade, with a fan on, it was only 30°C but I was melting – the humidity was a bugger!

By 4.30pm we were on our way to meet Keith from Grimsby, who lives in Saigon. I’d asked Captain Caveman to think of a bar which had AC as I didn’t want to drink in this heat and become sick with dehydration. When we arrived at Bia Craft, which I already knew would be an outdoor place, we picked a table near to a fan in an attempt to keep me cool. It was still unbearable but of course we were here now so I may as well get a beer. I chose a beer made with rice in the attempt that I wouldn’t consume too much gluten and have a bad stomach. It tasted ok but when Keith arrived he let us in on one of his top tips that there is another beer which is a lot cheaper if you buy the bigger size. We all had one of those and ordered food. I had already decided I was having a rack of pork ribs with chips, Keith ordered a burger and Captain Caveman ordered a sausage but was giving Keith his chips as he’s not a fan of them. My ribs were so good and we had several more of the better value beers.

Next, Captain Caveman had arranged to meet his friend, Hung, at a Bia Hoi place not too far away so we invited Keith to join us. When we got there Hung was already on his way and had several Bia Hoi containers at the ready and snack food. There was duck and beef jerky, later he ordered frog. I was too full to eat anything more so I just stuck to the beer. It was a great evening and I enjoyed catching up with Hung and Keith from Grimsby as it has been a long time since I’d seen them, due to the pandemic. Keith was the first to leave as it was a school night, but luckily he didn’t live far from the Bia Hoi bar.
By 9.45pm I was ready to say bye to Hung and go back to the apartment, I was so full of beer and still jet lagged. I could tell Captain Caveman wanted to stay out so I said he could and I would go back by myself. It was decided we would both leave as I don’t yet have a working Vietnamese phone or access to the Grab app.
Back home Captain Caveman got the washing out and was annoyed at me that I had not secured the Stilton cheese in a Tupperware for transporting all this way, so some of my clothes still smelled of cheese. I thought he’d be excited to try some of Kate’s fruitcake because he does like fruitcake, but he didn’t want any. As soon as we got in to bed Captain Caveman was snoring very loudly so it took me a while to get to sleep. At least tomorrow we had no plans to be up early, as far as I was aware of!

Dalyan – 25th May

Wednesday 25th May turned in to one of those days! I was already missing Vanessa, who had gone back to England on Saturday, the day we all had the jolly out with the Muğla Chamber of Commerce and Business. I knew I was going to miss her at Turkish class, and for drinks with the pool gang later that afternoon. I used leftover Yorkshire pudding mixture to make pancakes for breakfast before going to Turkish class, which I ended up late for. Today we started learning more about family in Turkish which is similar to Vietnamese in the hierarchy and complexity of who’s who.
While we were having our Turkish class, Kate arrived early and was able to make use of the lovely swimming pool at Casablanca hotel, I’d forgotten my swimmers. After her lesson we ordered food and this time I went for the cheeseburger which Vanessa had recommended from last week. Kate ordered a spaghetti bolognese which didn’t come with cheese but the waiter brought some when asked. We had a beer to wash down our very tasty lunch and then we went over to Retro bar to join the pool gang. It was very busy at Retro today, lots of the women were already sat outside so we joined some of Kate’s friends. My friend, Annie, who I met on a Dalyan boat trip, had just arrived in town so she came to join us for a beer too.
When Nazim closed Retro bar’s pool table, so that he could get the place ready for the Wednesday night quiz, some of the pool guys were disappointed that they weren’t able to continue playing. Matt got everyone together and suggested they go to Sinan’s bar, which had a pool table and was nearby, a few of the fellas were quite drunk and it was almost 5pm. Most of the people I was with, left, and either went home or to Sinan’s. Kate had gone home to feed the cats but was coming back to join us. Annie and I went to Sinan’s as it’s on the way back to her hotel. It was only my second time of being in Sinan’s because in the past I’ve usually found it a popular place for smokers so have always avoided it. It was friendly and seemed nice, a merry Matt was just happy to be playing pool again. By the time Kate arrived at 7.15pm, we were sozzled but some of us were booked in to do the quiz at Retro bar. I still had my shorts and strappy top on but not enough time to change so I had to cycle down to Retro, with Mark and Kate, looking underdressed.

While Annie had to get back to her hotel to get ready for dinner, Mark, Kate and I cycled back to Retro bar and joined my parents in readiness for the quiz. I said hello to Nazim, Andrea, Nusret, Gonca, Murat, Deniz and then went to see Dick and his team to wish him well for the quiz tonight. Mark and I were pretty drunk so sharing a bottle of red wine was probably a bit silly, but seemed more cost effective as we got a good one at a decent price from Nazim. From what I remember, the quiz went well, we didn’t win but we had a good laugh. There was a massive storm where it rained really hard, I had the sense to move Bluey2 to a sheltered area when Kate moved their bikes.
We paid our bills then things got a tad messy as we all decided to go to Sofra bar and we invited Nusret and Gonca with us too. At Sofra we drank draft beer and I danced with my parents and Nusret. I tried to ruin a karaoke singers song and don’t even know what the song was. I took lots of photos and after Nusret, Gonca, Kate and my parents had all left, by 12.45am, Mark and I ordered another pint each. We got chatting to a young fella and Mark got his skipper’s ticket out, presumably to show he could drive a boat. I think I got in very late and I was certainly still awake when the call to prayer went off – Thursday was going to be a struggle and a half!

Dalyan – 24th May

Now that I knew I was going to Vietnam to see Captain Caveman I was a bit concerned there were still things I needed to do and places I wanted to go before I left Dalyan. On Tuesday 24th May I started a list of those things, acutely aware I had less than a fortnight left. Ma & Pa had invited me to the beach today and I was looking forward to it. There are 2 ways to get to Iztuzu beach by public transport; boat which is currently 60 lira (£3) or bus which is 28 lira (£1.40) return. We got the bus as this takes you to the quieter end of the beach and I got a return ticket because it was too hot to walk the length of the beach to get to the boat end. I paid 90 lira for 3 sunbeds and a parasol which we unfortunately selected in the smoking section but didn’t realise. I’m not a massive beach lover as I hate sand but with smoke and fag ash blowing at me it was less pleasurable than it should’ve been. The sea was chilly but good enough for a deep paddle, refreshing. I’d took a picnic of a cheese and ham sandwich, water and a grapefruit drink but my parents had a sandwich at the beach cafe, for less than £1.50 each. I shared some of their chips and had a peach tea too. Back on the beach I continued to read my book, Mike Tyson’s autobiography, which is really good.
I’ve stopped buying credit for my Turkish phone, which I rarely use, because it’s a waste of money. It also forces me to not have a phone when I’m away from home or somewhere with free wi-fi – it’s a good way to switch off more. When the wind got up and sand was blowing about we decided to leave, via the cafe for refreshments. My parents had a Magnum, I played it safe with a Calippo orange lolly but then we missed the bus and had to wait half an hour for the next one. I was booked in for Pilates at 6.30pm so didn’t want to miss that, first though, Mom suggested a cheeky drink at Tez bar where they had an Efes and I had a Summer IPA. I went home to get ready and left them at Tez while I went to my class. Back at the apartment the roses outside Amanda and Greg’s were really blooming, the pool was looking good and had been used. I did notice a tree branch from the neighbour’s was sticking out at a jaunty angle, directly in to the path to walk to the pool. After Bougainvillea-gate in September I decided it was not my business to involve myself in getting it removed, there were quite a few owners and renters in the apartments right now who could let the gardener know.
My Dad suffers with his indigestion if he eats late so I was surprised when my parents were up for going out for dinner at 8pm. We went to Firat’s which is another one of their favourite places to eat. As an appetiser we were brought a rather large lavaş, or balloon bread, with some garlic butter. Mom ordered a fresh sea bream, I had a pide and Dad had a beef casserole with cheese that was hotter than the sun. We had a glass of wine each and I took some of my pide home as it was a massive portion. It was a really lovely day, spent with my parents, and almost the calm before the storm as the rest of the week was about to get a tad lively!