Phong Nha & Dong Hoi – 28th July

I was awake early on Wednesday 28th July and not because it was my turn to go on the shopping trip today. I was worried about my friend who was still trying to get back to South Africa, he’d had an horrendous night and had ended up walking 5km to find water and food, which he didn’t because all shops are closed for the evening curfew in Saigon. Because this morning shops were open from 6am he found a 7-11 and got an egg and cheese sandwich which he said was disgusting but he loved it.
Captain Caveman went off to Phong Nha for work, he had given me the money for shopping, we had just over a week until pay day so things were pretty tight and I had my shopping list at the ready. We’d already had a message from Ben asking who was going and saying we would only be going to the organic shop and Co-op Mart so Veronika, after her traumatic experience last week, decided not to come along. I was told my pick up was at 8am and so I went outside ready for that, at 8.05am Duyet told me to get in the jeep to go to the Farmstay so I thought Bich may have told him to bring me there. As I was leaving Ben arrived to pick me up so I switched cars and off we went to pick up 2 customers at the Phong Nha Farmstay. At 8.45am Bich was ready to leave so off we all went to Dong Hoi and on the way she asked if we wanted to go anywhere specific and suggested Tuan Viet Gourmet so I said yes. My South African bound friend managed to get checked in for his flight to Singapore and was happy to be on his way at last. I got a few bits in the shop, including treating us to a bottle of wine for just under a tenner. Our next stop was the organic shop where I managed to get a couple of things from my list. Next, Bich dropped us at Co-op Mart and went to pick up something, I managed to get quite a bit from the list but there were no eggs or chicken and it was surprisingly empty so Veronika would have been fine. When we left the supermarket I mentioned to Bich I still hadn’t been able to get chicken or BBQ sauce so we stopped at Horeca and I got those plus some cheese. I had thought I’d get 2 lots of BBQ sauce but it wasn’t cheap so I put one back, while I waited for them to find me some frozen chicken breasts which they kept in the back of the small shop.

Here’s my list of the shopping I bought, prices in Vietnamese Dong. I bet you can see straight away the things I shouldn’t have been tempted to buy, which exceeded the tight budget rule;

Tuan Viet Supermarket
Green beans 14,500
Gluten free stock cubes 22,000
2 red peppers 26,220
6 Mangosteen 27,000
2 dragon fruit 30,360
1 packet of penne pasta 35,000
1 jar of green olives 45,000
1 bottle of red wine 310,000

Total 510,080vnd (£15.81)

Organic Shop
1 red cabbage 51,150
300g of beef 90,000

Total 141,150vnd (£4.38)

Co-op Mart
Broccoli 9,741
Carrots 11,085
2 packets of crisps 23,000
Pumpkin 27,422
Tomato puree sauce 28,400
Potatoes 36,527
2 Strongbow cider 36,600
2 packs of Mushrooms 64,000

Total 236,775vnd (£7.34)

Horeca
250g cheddar cheese slices 65,000
200g cream cheese 68,000
125g brie 90,000
2 bottles of BBQ sauce 150,000
2kg chicken breast 180,000

Total 553,000vnd (£17.14)

Is there anything you think I missed or shouldn’t have bought?

Bich had a request from one of the Farmstay guests to bring back some Banh Loc (which smelled of fish sauce so bad) and we made a new rule; whoever doesn’t go on the shopping trip has to order the smelliest food for the others to have to bring back on the 45 minute car journey!

When I got home Captain Caveman was a bit cheesed off because he had set off this morning to go on the Tu Lan take down trip but when he got to Oxalis it had been postponed until Friday but he hadn’t been told. Luckily Watto, who is going back to the UK next month, had given him a toaster – he was happy about that. So, my other half was in a mood, I was starving hungry and decided that a croissant with a slice of cheddar cheese on would be an amazing brunch – of course this made me terribly ill for about an hour.
I got a message from Tatas to say that her home isolation had ended 9 days early because her landlord had tested negative 3 times and she was already at work, in a meeting. Captain Caveman and I drank wine by the pool in the late afternoon, I snacked on crisps and longans and we discussed Captain Caveman’s plans for the off-season (September to December) this year. Vietnam has been promising that they were going to reduce the quarantine period for experts entering Vietnam to just 7 days followed by 14 days self isolation ‘at home’ but they still had not implemented it and as it stood it would be 14 days quarantine then 14 days self isolation. Given that Captain Caveman would need to be ready to work in November it didn’t leave much time for him to come to Turkey. He decided that it would be too risky to get stuck in either Turkey or Vietnamese quarantine and potentially not be able to work when needed so he would not leave Vietnam this year. We both agreed that while the pandemic was still continuing as it is, it would be sensible for him to stay in Phong Nha.
For dinner we used the leftover stew from yesterday and added the beef I bought today to have the same delicious meal we had last night. I noticed that at Horeca they had still charged me for 2 bottles of BBQ sauce so I messaged Bich to see if she could let them know so I could rectify it on the next shopping trip.

Phong Nha – 26th July

Monday 26th July was a very good day! I had the last of my gluten and dairy free pancakes (to be honest I was getting a bit fed up of pancakes for breakfast now) but we had run out of fruit so I put jam on.
The news in Vietnam read that we now had more than 100,000 cases and going on for 500 deaths since the pandemic began, read here:
https://vietnamnews.vn/society/997795/covid-19-case-tally-tops-100000.html
I read the following article which didn’t half give a bit of perspective – wouldn’t you just hate working in a factory in Saigon? Check this out:
https://vietnamnews.vn/economy/997569/hcm-city-factories-seek-to-remain-open-by-complying-with-covid-prevention-regime.html
There was also a curfew announced in Saigon which means supermarkets close at 5pm, I started to feel really sorry for our friends in Saigon:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/business/20210726/saigon-supermarkets-to-close-by-5-00-pm-in-adaptation-to-new-covid19-restrictions/62263.html
Captain Caveman went to Phong Nha and I chopped peppers and onions ready for lunch. I still had a headache but was at a normal temperature and my stomach was also bad despite not having eaten anything that could have set me off. I’d managed to remove all of my photos and videos (up to the end of June this year) from my phone on to the SD card and was pleased to see I could now do a screenshot again – unfortunately my phone still said it was full and I had issues with loading photos on to my WordPress now!
When Captain Caveman returned he had some good news, he had been told by his work that we will both get our second vaccines, him within 2 weeks and me within 4 weeks. We had a healthy salad for lunch followed by a piece of carrot cake, which we had in the freezer still since the last time we had Sunday dinner at the Phong Nha Farmstay. It was fresh bread day so Captain Caveman went up to the Lake House to collect it, he came back with bread, croissants and a bottle of wine from Tham and Tony for his birthday, which was really nice and we said we would go there as soon as they could open again. We were meant to be cycling to the Phong Nha Farmstay the long way round but it was already dusk and I didn’t fancy being stuck on the French Road in the dark so we went the short way. We sat with Lucie and Martan (the lovely Czech family) and the 3 adults at the table all enjoyed a cider/beer and the curry special. Martan had a massive burger which looked pretty good and he had trouble eating it all. This week was the first Buttered Chicken meal at the Farmstay, with The Villas being closed, and it was definitely one of the best ones yet. The curry was not too spicy, plenty of it, the steamed rice perfect and the nan bread really good too. The Magner’s cider was on offer so me and Lucie took advantage of that and it was a lovely chilled evening. Unfortunately the cavers had to miss out on curry night because under the rules here we still weren’t to be going out out and the Farmstay could only serve their registered residents (which we were lucky to be). Being conscious of money we just had a couple of drinks with our curries and our meal for 2 came to around 500,000vnd (£15.50) and we were very full!

Phong Nha – 24th & 25th July

I’d not been feeling too well when I got in bed the previous night and had a headache at the back of my head on the left side. I woke up extremely early on the morning of Saturday 24th July extra sweaty, a worse headache and feeling hot or cold intermittently. There had been rain during the night, it was a bit cloudy and I had to force myself to eat my gluten and dairy free pancakes with banana and honey for breakfast, hoping I’d feel better. I took some paracetamol and ibuprofen and read the news, this time there was some good news. Apparently, Vietnam was going to mix first and second vaccine providers, so those of us vaccinated with Astra Zeneca, may get Pfizer as their 2nd vaccine, read more here:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210724/vietnam-to-prioritize-pfizer-as-followup-jab-for-people-who-received-first-dose-of-astrazeneca/62222.html
Reports came of chaos in Hanoi as the stricter social distancing measures were to commence, more info here:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210724/people-rush-in-out-of-hanoi-before-strict-social-distancing-implementation/62228.html
Captain Caveman stayed in bed all morning on his phone and eventually got out of bed at 12.30pm, made his own lunch and then sat on the balcony in the rain with a beer. I had a red dragon fruit and popcorn for my lunch and, feeling hot then cold most of the day, I watched a cooking show on Netflix and rested up.
For dinner Captain Caveman cooked chicken and veg while I got the job of peeling chopping and roasting potatoes, garlic, onion and pumpkin which took so much time to cook that we had dinner in two sittings. I still felt unwell so I went to bed early, during the night there was a massive storm and I was even a bit scared as the thunder and lightening sounded like they were hitting the roof.

On Sunday 25th July I still felt unwell and was awake really early taking some painkillers for my headache which still hadn’t gone and I also had a touch of indigestion. It was cloudy so there was no sunrise to see and Captain Caveman didn’t cycle in to work, with it being a Sunday. I had another nap to try to shake off the head and neck pains.
Captain Caveman made us bacon sandwiches for breakfast, we’d ran out of brown sauce so I had to have Vietnamese tomato sauce which is ultra sweet, and I had orange juice, jasmine tea and lots of cold water to keep hydrated too. I took over the oven and did a mass roasting of potatoes, shallots, pumpkin and onion ready to make our Sunday dinner. We do love the Phong Nha Farmstay dinner but 600,000vnd (£18.60) for the 2 of us is out of our price range at the moment. Instead we would prepare a healthier version at home, no wine and no cake for a start. I was a hot sweaty mess after being on roasting (literally) duty and so Captain Caveman made us lunch and in the afternoon I had 2 dairy free White Russians as I thought I’d started to feel better.
By the time it came to dinner time I was feeling much better, the headache had almost gone, I was a bit less sweaty and I managed to tuck in to a lovely dinner of chicken, potatoes, onion, pumpkin, carrot and broccoli with a dash of BBQ sauce on the side for dipping.

Phong Nha – 23rd July

On Friday 23rd July I had orange juice, and banana and honey pancakes (gluten and dairy free) for breakfast while Captain Caveman had gone to Phong Nha. I read the news which was not looking so rosey today;
Danang was back in lockdown, we have a lot less friends there now as most of them have already left Vietnam but it was disappointing as Danang has had a lot of lockdown weeks during the pandemic. More info here:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210722/vietnamsda-nang-bans-outdoor-activities-nonessential-businesses-over-new-local-coronavirus-infections/62201.html
It was worrying to read reports of a lot more deaths occuring, I believed due to the fact that very few people were vaccinated (especially the elderly and vulnerable), more here:
https://vietnamnews.vn/society/995869/viet-nam-reports-more-36-new-deaths-related-to-covid-19.html
I read a very interesting article about addicts at a rehab centre who had lots of positive cases all in the same building, which just shows how fast this 4th wave of virus is spreading, read it here:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210722/saigon-assists-binh-duong-in-treating-nearly-500-coronavirusinfected-addicts-staff-at-rehab-center/62203.html
The worst article I read today was horrendous and this is what worries me about travelling during a pandemic. A man with Corona got on a flight pretending to be his wife, who’s negative, and actually managed to get on the plane! Unbelievable, check this out:
https://bbc.in/3zq1LeR
When Captain Caveman returned he reported that there were no longer checkpoints in town but Phong Nha was even more of a ghost town than usual. In his entire journey of 18km he had not seen more than 10 people in total. The F1s that had been tested and had results so far were all negative for the first test so that was good news, they would have 2 more tests over the coming days.

I was a bit despondent as I had thought that, with The Villas being closed, we wouldn’t be having a pizza night but Captain Caveman had already checked and there most certainly was. We just had popcorn for lunch so that I’d have room for pizza night and I wasn’t really expecting much, given that it would be done with a different oven and staff at the Phong Nha Farmstay, who might not be used to the same style of pizza. Ben and Bich at the Farmstay had about 25 guests, mostly families who were staying longer term due to the Corona situation and restrictions in their home cities, so they were doing their absolute best to keep things running as normal as possible. We arrived at the Phong Nha Farmstay for Happy Hour, sat at the big table, I had a couple of the 2 for 1 rum and cokes, Captain Caveman had beers then we ordered our pizzas, he had a salami one with extra chillies on (so I couldn’t try his pizza) and I decided on ham and mushroom (a new pizza on this week’s menu). There was a big screen and the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics was being shown which, at first, all the kids were interested in, it soon wore off though and they were definitely enjoying their pizzas more, as were the adults. Our pizzas were excellent and the service very slick so I was very impressed and happy. I was pleased that the pizza night was a success and it was a bargain at 275,000vnd (£8.50) for the two of us, even though I’d hoped to take a slice or 2 home (Captain Caveman snaffled the last of mine, obviously). Back home I felt very full but I didn’t have a dodgy tum so I was pleased about that – it seemed I was fine with gluten and cooked cheese now!

Phong Nha & Dong Hoi – 21st July

There were some changes afoot in Phong Nha and Dong Hoi on Wednesday 21st July, but first Captain Caveman and Veronika got picked up to join the Phong Nha Farmstay shopping trip at 8am, Duyet was driving the bus this week, while I had a Lake House croissant for my breakfast. The housekeeping staff thought we had all gone to Dong Hoi and so came to do a clean, surprised to find me in the room. I went outside, trying to find some breeze and drank some water. The new puppy was playing in the garden and came running over for some belly rubs and tickles. We have a new youth who has recently joined Duyet on the Elements team who cares for the pool, waters the garden and generally looks after the place. He came over so I asked him the puppy’s name – he’s called Cà rốt (which means carrot in English), the youth is called Cuong as I checked at the same time.
I prepared some lunch using left over tortilla, bacon and cabbage to make an interesting meal and saved some for Captain Caveman. He had messaged to say that the supermarket in Dong Hoi was full and people had started to panic buy. An area near to the train station was taped off and no trains were stopping at Dong Hoi.
Unfortunately during the tracking and tracing of people who were in direct contact with the 3 imported positive cases from Minh Hoa, Quang Binh, they had identified 2 people who had also tested positive. These were traced to be people in Dong Hoi; one a taxi driver and the other was a ‘drinking buddy’.

Video of Carrot, the puppy

Captain Caveman and Veronika returned from the shopping trip with very differing accounts of their outing. While nothing phases Captain Caveman, Veronika was still a little out of sorts due to the pushing and shoving at the supermarket. She had shopped, got to the counter and then abandoned her basket because it had just been too much for her. Luckily she had managed to get quite a bit of shopping in the Organic shop and wouldn’t be going hungry but it’s the first time I’ve seen her looking a bit frazzled after a shopping trip! Captain Caveman said it wasn’t as busy as a Morrison’s back in Sheffield on a normal Saturday and if he’d have known he would have got her shopping through for her. We are spoilt here because it’s so quiet generally that we don’t ever see a crowd.

Here is what Captain Caveman bought this week, keeping in mind our budget was still very tight and he went to 3 shops in total during a panic buy. As usual the prices are in Dong and it’s about 32,000vnd to £1.

Organic Shop
Mangosteens 41,200
Asparagus 46,060
Mushrooms 55,000
Onions 60,000
Popcorn kernels 124,000

Co-op Mart
Shallots 7,592
1 can of Coca-Cola 8,500
Lettuce 8,506
Carrots 16,464
Tomatoes 17,561
1 can of Strongbow 18,500
Tissues 18,500
Bananas 20,550
Potatoes 21,212
2 dragon fruit 34,125
6 cans of tonic 45,600
2 packs of butter 62,000
1 jar pasta sauce 106,800
2 packs of bacon 129,600
3 cartons of orange juice 135,900

Red Supermarket
2 red peppers 49,205
2 cans grapefruit juice 64,000
Hot dogs 265,000

I had made one request to Captain Caveman to get me something to take to Shannon’s party that night. We were all taking a dish which they call Potluck in America and Canada and so I wanted to take something easy that everyone would like, I also asked him to get me some wine but he didn’t get any. Captain Caveman didn’t get as many bargains and couldn’t get eggs or chicken anywhere this week.

Our 3rd Phong Nha Ladies Night was arranged for 4pm at the Belafonte and I was about to take the worst potluck dish in the history of potluck parties! Captain Caveman had got me dragon fruit and baby bananas to take, his logic being everyone likes fruit. He assumed Shannon would have shot glasses and so I would also take a bottle of Hanoi vodka as my drink contribution – this was certainly one way to avoid being invited back again, or to any other future parties. Meanwhile Veronika had decided to take rice crackers, grapes and 3 homemade dips (hummus, olive tapenade and red pepper) which she was busy making at home. The Belafonte, where Shannon lives, is about 2.5km from the Farmstay (almost 5km from our place) and I wasn’t too sure how I was getting there. Veronika had decided that she would get a lift with Bich but they weren’t going until later as she was busy with guests. Originally I was going to go with Tatas but she had gone on a 2 day Tu Lan tour this morning, meaning that she couldn’t come to another one of our Ladies Nights. Captain Caveman suggested I cycle there because then I wouldn’t be stuck for being able to get home but I thought it might be a bit too far, plus I’d probably be able to get a lift home. Instead we came up with a better plan; Captain Caveman and I would cycle to the Farmstay for about 4pm and then I would leave Bluey, my bicycle, there and we would walk to Shannon’s house (Captain Caveman would push his bike) and I’d cadge a lift back. It would be about 30 minutes walk so we would be there before 5pm and it had been cloudy all day so felt a bit cooler. Captain Caveman would then cycle back home and have a quiet night in. I was looking forward to the party and this Ladies Night looked set to have 15 attendees plus a couple of local friends of Shannon’s who she had invited too. I sent a message in the Facebook event and group to let everyone know the party was still going ahead and that we were under the general Corona rule of no groups of more than 20 people so all was good to go, then I jumped in the shower to get ready for Shannon’s send off.
Of course, this is Vietnam so by the time I had got out of the shower there was already some changes and at the time we didn’t realise how serious they could be.

I got out of the shower to several messages of cancellation, which is not unusual for Ladies Night, but the reasons were! The two people who were positive for Corona in Quang Binh (the taxi driver and the drinking man) had been in Phong Nha and so all the people in a section of town around the former Easy Tiger area were checked for F1 and F2 tracing, meaning quite a few people had to stay at home. Four of the girls who live in that area were unable to come due to their potential to be F2s and some were told they needed to stay home for the time being. Another couple of ladies had to stay at home (one in a different town) for the same reason and people in our sleepy town were genuinely worried that Corona had spread this far. What I didn’t know at the time was that the phone shop guy, at the corner of Phong Nha market, had been in direct contact with the positive taxi driver when he sold him and ice-cream and so he was F1 and had been taken away for quarantine and testing.
As we were setting off to the Phong Nha Farmstay on our bicycles, armed with fruit, Saigon beers and rice wine, the sun decided to come out and it was incredibly hot again. It’s only 10 minutes of cycling but it was definitely over 35°C so I needed to stop for a refreshment before walking on to The Belafonte for Shannon’s party. We both had a Huda beer and then one of the guests came over to say she and her family were heading back to Hanoi by car tomorrow but wanted to introduce her friend to us. We sat chatting and ended up having another beer by which time Bich said I could get a lift with her and Veronika. When I finally got to the party it was already in full swing, we’d missed the fizz and everyone was in the pool, including Momma D, Deb, Trang, Shannon and a load of local kids. The party went much better than expected and despite the Vietnamese ladies laughing at my contribution and all the kids swarming around Veronika’s grapes like locusts there was a good spread with plenty of BBQ pork and spring rolls. I was drinking beer when Shannon insisted I go on to white wine then later when Tham arrived, with several bottles of wine and a bottle of Bailey’s, I went on to red. Shannon said for me to stay so I agreed, let Captain Caveman know and then we cranked up the music and got right on it!

As the last 3 standing Momma D and I agreed we needed to make sure Shannon had the best send off and not to get upset or it would make Shannon feel emotional so we were on a mission to make her night! By 2.30pm we were necking frozen Bellinis with extra rum, singing (and dancing) to Teenage Dirtbag at the top of our voices and generally celebrating we had made it to 2.30am – practically unheard of these days in Phong Nha. I vaguely remember going to sleep in a downstairs bedroom where the ceiling was a huge net and there was an actual thick duvet on the bed and I wondered why there were pegs on the curtains.

Phong Nha – 20th July

I’d been up in the night with indigestion and not having slept well so, when Captain Caveman went to Phong Nha on the morning of Tuesday 20th July, I stayed in bed a bit longer and had a nice lay in. When I got peckish I had one of the Lake House croissants for breakfast, it was bloody gorgeous and worth it that it made my tummy hurt a bit. Captain Caveman got back and had bought a jar of cashew nuts back from Funny Monkeys which I always prefer to the shop bought ones. While Captain Caveman had a shower I got him 2 croissants with butter and jam (he’s an animal) and he was so happy while eating them. We couldn’t resist, while the Lake House bread was still fresh, just having a peanut butter sandwich for lunch – the breadcakes were a little like a brioche bun but incredibly good. Information came from the Phong Nha Farmstay to say there would be a shopping trip tomorrow but there were some new rules; from now on only 1 person per household/villa/family was allowed to go. We decided that Captain Caveman would go for us as he holds the money, so he’s in charge. Our dinner that night wasn’t amazing as we just had a bit of a picnic meal with leftover jackfruit, Spanish omelette and pickles, but by the time we ate at 8.30pm I was kind of past it.
Then the news we had all been worried about came; our province of Quang Binh had 3 Corona cases for the first time! They were young Vietnamese returners from Russia who had spent 21 days in compulsory quarantine on arrival in Saigon, Vietnam, and had all had several negative tests prior to being allowed to leave to continue a 7 day isolation at home. Unfortunately their home is in Minh Hoa (over an hour’s drive from us) so they had travelled north to get there, one part of that journey was from Saigon to Dong Hoi via bus. Contact tracing and tracking had commenced but it was difficult to know how this would pan out for our province and whether Dong Hoi and Phong Nha would be affected. Either way, we knew that Quang Binh would be very worried given that the province had been doing so well up until now, compared to almost everywhere else.

Phong Nha – 19th July

Captain Caveman managed to stay in bed asleep later than 6.30am on Monday 19th July, which was nice. For breakfast we just had toast and it must have been a tad cooler today as the pumpkin soup I took out of the freezer took a few hours to defrost. In the news there was a report which showed that the Corona situation was still a concern in South East Asia, more info here:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210719/it-s-not-time-yet-for-vietnam-to-live-with-covid19-singaporean-expert/62141.html
We spent some time in the swimming pool before and after lunch but my eczema on my face and ear was getting worse because of it. Captain Caveman went to the Lake House to collect our order of freshly baked bread and this time we were successful in getting 6 croissants – it was like Christmas! We got 2 sourdough loaves, 1 wholemeal loaf, 6 croissants and 2 (free) breadcakes for 390,000vnd (£12.90) – proper bread is expensive here, in Vietnam, but the chef at the Lake House is so good!
While we were waiting for our pick up to The Villas I spotted the newest member of the Elements Collection team, then remembered getting back last night from the Phong Nha Farmstay and having cuddles with the new puppy. He came to greet us but hadn’t worked out that the hose pipe he was chasing had some leaks with water squirting out and he was a bit wet – he was such a cute little thing too.
That evening we joined everyone for a trip to The Villas for curry night but on the bus were 2 new customers who didn’t wear a mask, even when Ben asked them to and offered to stop at the market to buy masks they didn’t – this was the first time I had witnessed people not wearing masks (something I would probably have to get used to once I left Vietnam). In the UK today it was the day they had eased the restrictions so that people could pretty much do as they pleased and it was almost 3 weeks since Turkey went back to ‘normal’, both of which made me nervous but not as nervous as the couple of no-mask strangers in front of us.
Captain Caveman and I sat outside and, although Veronika put all her stuff down to sit with us, she was her usual social butterfly flitting about the tables, guests and kids. It was the busiest I’d seen The Villas in a while and so Lan, the manager, came to let us know that the butter chicken tonight would be at least 40 minutes and we said we didn’t mind and ordered another cold beer each. By the time we did get our meals it was almost 2 hours since we arrived but we weren’t too bothered that we had been kept waiting. The curry was certainly worth the wait, it tasted really good and came with nan bread and steamed rice, we were even offered more bread but we didn’t need any as it was a good sized portion for 185,000vnd (£5.74). Veronika didn’t get any food at all and when she finally asked Lan if she would be getting her curry she was told there was only 1 small bowl left but it was already allocated to a customer who had ordered the chicken curry without the chicken! When The Villas staff did the rounds to apologise and let us know there was a delay somehow Veronika had not heard or been seated when this happened and was unaware of the issue. A few minutes later a small bowl of buttered chicken appeared in front of a hungry Veronika and we can only presume the fussy customer then had to be told that Ben’s mom had eaten her order. The owners and staff were visibly concerned that they had not been up to their usual excellent standards but considering that almost every western expat or customer in Phong Nha was at the restaurant at the same time tonight, we still enjoyed our night. At the time none of us knew that it could be our last curry, or even our last meal, at The Villas for a while – things were about to get a little more restrictive.

Photo credit – The Villas

Phong Nha – 16th July

On Friday 16th July I was up early and had pineapple pancakes and jasmine tea for breakfast while reading the news.
A (New Zealand) woman had escaped from her isolation area in Nha Trang and the authorities were searching for her, more here:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210716/new-zealander-escapes-from-isolated-area-in-vietnam-s-nha-trang/62110.html
A Vietnamese friend in Saigon posted photos on her Facebook of what the conditions were like for those isolating in workplaces where there was Corona in the factories and so were unable to leave. I had some friends who were leaving soon or were locked down in Saigon and had questions about random stuff, so I helped them out. There was also a bit of a panic in Hoi An as there was supposedly 1 foreigner who had returned from HCMC with Corona and so today they were going to test all foreigners in Hoi An for the virus.
For lunch I had a bit of a strange concoction which happened to turn out really well, I was using up some fruit and veg too. I had a Momma D’s sausage roll, warmed in the oven, with white and red cabbage, carrot and gherkins and I really enjoyed it. I had pomelo and pineapple for afters and then made plans to collect my passport.

It was 1 week since my visa had expired, I’d had it confirmed verbally that it was extended until 9th August but had not actually seen it to see if it had that date, or even an ‘XC’ was written on it. I’d purposely not let the visa/passport issue stress me out this month and figured if it came down to it I’d just book the next available flight and go to Turkey. I was keen to go to the newly improved pizza night at The Villas that night so I got a lift with Duyet to the Phong Nha Farmstay in the jeep and arrived about 5.15pm. My passport was there and I was pleased to see it had the stamp I needed to stay for another month. I decided to have a celebratory beer, in fact I had 2, mistakenly thinking beers were 2 for 1 on happy hour. I ended up taking one with me because the shuttle bus to The Villas arrived on time. Lan, the manager at The Villas, came over to fill me in on the new rules of pizza night; instead of getting random slices that you either accept or decline when offered and until you’ve had enough, you could select your own pizza. It was still 100,000vnd (£3.20) for any pizza from the new list but didn’t include a beer or soft drink this time. So, the deal was less of a bargain for someone who could eat more than 8 slices and liked a beer but was better for someone who is more particular on the toppings they like and doesn’t usually have a beer. I preferred this new way and I finally decided I would have the Classic pizza and 1 beer which made my total spend 130,000vnd (£4.16) and I managed to eat almost all of it by the time Veronika came to sit down and ordered a smoked duck salad. It was a busy night and Ben was on duty sorting out the kids who were inside all having Margherita pizza and behaving very well. As there was just me in my ‘group’ I wasn’t able to fully take advantage of the great pizza prices, if there was a few of us we could have ordered a selection and shared so I would try that the next time perhaps. It would also be better for some of my Vietnamese friends who can only manage a couple of slices each of pizza and could share. Even though I didn’t this time, I thought it was a good idea to be able to add extra toppings for 10,000vnd (£0.31) and think I’d also give that a go in future.

Phong Nha & Dong Hoi – 14th July

I had an exciting day on Wednesday 14th July; while Captain Caveman had gone to Son Doong for another 4 days I was booked on the Phong Nha Farmstay’s weekly shopping trip at 8.30am. I had a very small budget to work with this week so I had to be really careful if I wanted to be able to go out for some meals as well as cooking at home. Bich picked up Veronika and I from Elements Collection and already in the car were 2 other passengers. One was a customer who was very nice and friendly and so we had a good chat while we drove to Dong Hoi, I was particularly interested in her home country of Bhutan and why her and her family were moving to Ethiopia. Our first stop was the Organic Shop where I was absolutely delighted to find they had popcorn kernels, unfortunately they were expensive but I decided to get them anyway and popped back the brown rice biscuits I was going to buy. I really wanted to buy the juicy looking cherries but, even though they had come down in price, they were still 400,000vnd (£12.80) per kilo – instead I sensibly bought some carrots.
Our next shop was the VinMart supermarket where the girl on the reduced veg and fruit weighing machine counter had started to recognise me and pointed out the pumpkin which I got as well as a selection of other cheap produce. I didn’t manage to get everything on the shopping list but I still got quite a few things before putting our stuff in the car then joining Bich at QB Casa cafe.

For those of you who do like a good shopping list and a nosey here’s what I bought and the cost in dong:

Organic Shop
4 carrots 14,310
500g popcorn kernels 124,000

Total spent 138,310vnd (£4.42)

VinMart Supermarket
1 pack of pumpkin 2,778
1 pack of pumpkin 2,999
1 pack of white cabbage 5,472
1 can of soda water 6,500
1 baguette 9,500
1 pack of broccoli 15,232
1 can of coconut milk 16,000
2 cans of diet coke 19,000
2 packs of pineapple 23,000
Washing up liquid 23,000
1 jar of tomato pasta sauce 27,000
500g of penne pasta 30,000

Total spent 180,481vnd (£5.76)

It wasn’t a thorough shopping trip but interestingly I didn’t buy any item that was over £1 in VinMart, do you think you could do that in your local supermarket and get most things for the week? What did I miss?

After shopping, Veronika, who likes a coffee in a morning, had taken herself off to the Vinpearl Hotel reception for a cappuccino, when she saw we were all in QB Casa she came over and ordered another cappuccino and found not only was it cheaper but it was better! Bich had ordered steak and chips for her breakfast so I decided to have the same, and I also ordered a fresh coconut. I was thoroughly impressed with my meal, the service was good even though the staff are a bit shy and not too confident speaking English, but that didn’t matter to me. I paid 200,000vnd (£6.40) for steak, chips, a warm baguette and veg, a fresh coconut, water and included a tip, I was very full and left there thinking I would definitely go again.

When we got in I popped my shopping away and realised I still had a small amount of almond milk left so I made myself a dairy free white russian to have with some gluten and dairy free chocolate brownie. My eczema on my face was still bad so I avoided putting my face in the water as much as possible while swimming and didn’t stay in too long. I watched some Netflix and made some popcorn, I had some of the old kernels left and when I popped the new and old together it was clear to see the organic shop was much better quality so I didn’t feel so bad for spending too much on it – it still works out better than crisps.
After dinner, of a chicken sandwich, I found a cockroach in the bathroom and was a bit anxious about trying to get it as they are usually indestructible (this one was massive and extremely fast) but I sprayed it with Mosfly before bed and hoped it would be dead when I got up.

Phong Nha – 10th & 11th July

On Saturday 10th July I had 2 gluten free, dairy free pancakes with banana and honey for breakfast and read the daily Corona stats. Unfortunately in Vietnam there had been 2 more deaths, one of them didn’t have long between diagnosis and dying, which was concerning. More info here:
https://vietnamnews.vn/society/989833/two-more-covid-related-deaths-reported-in-viet-nam.html
There was an updated list of categories for people receiving the vaccine in Vietnam and I would have been at the very bottom had it not been for Oxalis and Captain Caveman. Unfortunately the vaccine progress was still slow here and therefore cases were going to keep coming and deaths were inevitable, especially for those with underlying health issues already.
For lunch I had the left over buffet from last night’s party and in the afternoon I decided to tackle the rather expensive pomelo for a snack and realised it would last me for days. Around 5pm, I was swimming in the pool when Veronika asked if I’d like to share some wine with her, it was very hot weather again, after some storms in the night, so of course I agreed. She even got some crackers from Momma D’s out and an avocado for nibbles. Veronika kept topping up my glass and by the time it came for me to reheat my jackfruit seed curry for dinner I was rather merry. The curry with steamed rice was absolutely delicious and very filling but, as is usual with masaman curry, it made me ill as soon as I’d eaten it.

I started what was about to be a mammoth task on Sunday 11th July; transferring all my photos and videos from the laptop to one of the SD cards. I had a slice of buttered toast and a slice of toast with jam for breakfast (with no issues) and read the news. Because the number of daily cases was getting bigger each day they were proposing even tighter measures in Saigon, more info here:
https://vietnamnews.vn/society/989958/hcm-city-sets-up-mobile-teams-for-covid-19-testing-at-home-tightens-travel-from-nearby-provinces.html
Reports of bringing in a quick PCR tests at Hanoi airport meant this could be better for when I leave so I wouldn’t have to travel or wait long for my result to enable me to fly to Turkey, more here:
https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20210711/hanoi-airport-offers-covid19-testing-service-to-passengers/62001.html
For lunch I ate some pomelo and was expecting Tatas to come over for a swim in the afternoon. She arrived later than I expected which meant I had totally cleared everything of mine from the laptop and it was starting to function again, I could now view photos and videos, so started looking at old memory sticks. Tatas and I sat on the balcony with a cold beer but she hadn’t brought her swimmers. I had a bit of a swim and we arranged to go to the Happy Hour and Farmstay Sunday dinner with Veronika at 5.30pm ish. The Elements Collection staff brought us a plate each of warm jackfruit and peanut salt. I love it and was keen to tuck in to ours with another beer.

After pool time (for me) and showers for both of us all 3 of us got a lift with Duyet to the Phong Nha Farmstay. Tatas and Veronika were on the gin and tonics and I had rum and diet cokes (2 for 1 as we love a bargain) and we ordered our roast dinners. We met the first person I have ever met from Bhutan, a lovely customer from Tatas’ last Son Doong tour. Tatas had my pasta, I had her crackling, pumpkin and Yorkshire pudding and the food was excellent – I do enjoy a roast dinner almost as much as wine. Tatas decided to try a Pina Colada which she was now getting in to. She insisted on buying a bottle of red wine for us to share and we also got a glass of wine included and a carrot cake each – we took the carrot cake home as we were too full after such a substantial portion!

Phong Nha – 8th July

Our SD cards had finally arrived from Lazada and so on Thursday 8th July Captain Caveman cycled to Phong Nha to pick them up. I unpacked my suitcases hoping I wouldn’t have to repack them too soon but (just in case) I left all my winter stuff and the BBQ in the big one. I had 2 gluten free, almond milk pancakes with a banana and honey while reading the Vietnamese news. The Saigon lockdown had started with panic at the supermarkets, read more here:
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/vietnams-biggest-city-sees-panic-buying-over-virus-lockdown-fears-2021-07-07/
I made jackfruit seed curry to pop in the freezer with all the stuff we had in the fridge and it was a joint effort on the lunch. We had chicken topped with pulled BBQ jackfruit, carrot, cabbage and gherkins on baguette and it was really good (much better with the chicken). I didn’t go in the pool today because, even though it was a warm day, my eczema was playing up and I didn’t want it to get worse, as it does from the swimming pool. I also needed to get ready for the second of our Phong Nha Ladies Nights which looked to be fun!

We had planned our second phong Nha Ladies Night at Momma D’s rooftop bar! There were about 16 people invited and we had done a vote which had confirmed the majority wanted it to be on a Thursday, most people wanted it to start earlier and they wanted it sooner than having to wait a whole month for the next one. Shannon had the whole day off so was happy to get there at 4pm and then we could have sunset drinks, others who were working wanted to go about 6 or 7pm so, as is usual, no-one could agree on the leaving time for our car. I decided Shannon, Captain Caveman and I would book Duyet to take us at 5pm and we would pay 300,000vnd (£9.30) for the return journey. This way we could go with Captain Caveman who had his Son Doong briefing at Oxalis and needed to be on time. Unfortunately that meant Captain Caveman and I were already spending 200,000vnd out of our budget before I had even eaten or drank, so I decided I would only have something cheap to drink and not go mad tonight. By the time we set off there were fewer than the 16 that had said they were coming and so numbers were already diminishing and Tatas, my usual drinking partner, was in Son Doong so couldn’t come. Shannon and I had felt quite tired and so she ordered a coffee and I just had a Huda beer because it meant I could have more drinks, the cheaper they were.
First to join us was Diem who was excited to be able to come out this time, then next to arrive was Tham, with a big smile on her face and she had brought duck for everyone to share. Next was Bich who started the party off with a Bloody Mary, Huyen arrived shortly after that, bringing a big bag of sim fruit for everyone to share. It was the first time of trying them for me but they taste a bit like blueberries wrapped in a then layer of carpet or fuzzy felt. I ordered roasted peanuts and tacos, some of the others ordered various things from the extensive menu including nachos and pies. Momma D gave us all free frozen Bellini shots and some extra peanuts to share. Unfortunately for various reasons we had 3 more ladies cancel after we had started the evening so only 7 out of the invited 16 were in attendance, including Momma D, but we were still up for a good time. The BBQ duck was a winner as everyone shared it, I didn’t have any but everyone said it was delicious.
After a couple of Huda beers I decided to try Momma D’s own draft lager which she had recommended and was very nice – not as gassy as the Huda. The 7 of us had a very civilised evening and by 8.30pm most of the Vietnamese ladies were ready to go. I had booked Duyet to take us back when Captain Caveman finished work and could join us so the westerners had another beverage and Captain Caveman had a quick Huda when he arrived. As we were leaving there was a bit of a storm brewing and some heavy rain came but luckily Captain Caveman was able to help me on the stairs and down the ramp to the pavement. I’d enjoyed my night out despite spending just over 500,000vnd (£16) on food, drink and transport meaning I’d need to be very frugal with the housekeeping over the next few weeks, as we had a few events coming up.

Phong Nha & Dong Hoi – 7th July

On Wednesday 7th July it was clear that the number of Corona cases in Saigon were not letting up and there were some issues in trying to keep it under control so an announcement was made that Ho Chi Minh City would go in to Directive 16 lockdown from midnight, more info here:
https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/covid-19-sources-spread-all-over-hcmc-says-health-department-4305117.html
A lot of our friends in Saigon were feeling the stress of it a bit more now and some were F1 or F2 and having to isolate.
There was a morning shopping trip at 8.30am which both Captain Caveman and I decided to join Veronika and Stu on. Our first stop was the pharmacy where I bought cream for my eczema, paracetamol, contraceptive pills and some Decolgen for Captain Caveman. In all pharmacies now you have to give your name, address and phone number if you are buying any medication which could be for Corona so I had to do that and I didn’t have enough money as the face cream was so expensive that Captain Caveman had to come and bring me more cash in the now heavy rain.
We also shopped at the organic shop and the VinMart before going for a fancy lunch.

We got quite a few things but we’re still meant to be on a strict budget so we were trying to be as careful as possible. Captain Caveman had been paid but after all the outgoings there wasn’t much left. Here’s the shopping we bought, for all you list lovers, prices in Dong;

Pharmacy
Decolgen (16 tablets) 19,200
Panadol (24 tablets) 22,000
Marvelon (63 tablets) 195,000
Eucerin cream (1 tube) 434,700

Total spent 670,900 (£20.80)

Booze Shop
2 bottles of Bombay Sapphire gin 460,000

Total spent (£14.26)

Organic Shop
1 red cabbage 13,330
4 carrots 20,670
2 red peppers 47,530
1 pack of vegetable stock granules 75,000
4 potatoes 75,600
1 pomelo 157,500

Total spent 389,630 (£12.08)

VinMart Supermarket
Tissues 8,500
1 baguette 9,500
1 packet of Fox’s glacier mints 15,100
6 bananas 23,880
Mushrooms 35,500
1 bag of frozen sweetcorn 41,000
10 eggs 43,900
3 180ml cartons of almond milk 69,500
1kg of chicken 88,900
1 jar of jam 138,000

Total spent 473,780 (£14.69)

The bargain of the day was the gin being only £7 per bottle which Captain Caveman was thrilled with it being cheaper for 2 bottles than my small face cream. The items we probably could have left off the list was the pomelo (which was huge) and the jam, but we got a nice free tote bag with it this time and that would come in handy for me to use in Turkey.
We still didn’t buy any wine which is usually around 400,000vnd for 1 bottle and at least it was keeping me healthier! Once I got to Turkey I would drink a lot more wine as a cheap (but good) bottle there is about a third of the cost of that in Vietnam. The 2 items I would love to be able to buy are popcorn kernels and mince beef but nowhere has any in stock.

What would you have left out or added this week?

Bich had chosen the Vinpearl hotel for lunch, we were the only guests and the staff had to put the lights on as we sat at a huge table with a lazy susan! Captain Caveman and Stu ordered Caesar salads, Bich ordered prawns, Veronika chicken breast and I went completely off the diet and ordered the chicken burger (I’d taken stomach medicine in case of any issues). My food was absolutely fantastic, it came with French fries, cheese, bacon and gherkins and was only 180,000vnd (£5.58). Everyone else said their food was nice too and we had a good laugh before heading back to Phong Nha.

Captain Caveman and I had BBQ ‘pulled pork’ jackfruit on a baguette with shredded cabbage, carrot and gherkins for an early dinner. It was nice, if not a bit unusual, but it definitely wouldn’t fool a meat lover. I would have it again though, which was a good job as we now had BBQ jackfruit left, which we popped in the fridge for tomorrow’s lunch. I’d organised another Ladies Night for tomorrow but was having a few problems getting people to commit to whether they were coming or not.

Phong Nha – 3rd & 4th July

While Captain Caveman went to Phong Nha on Saturday 3rd July I packed my suitcases, one of which was a hand luggage case I’d borrowed from Vanessa in Dalyan, thinking I’d be giving it back 3 months later. I’d hoped for a message first thing about my visa extension decision but didn’t get one and so I had my usual pancake breakfast and read the news.
In Vietnam yesterday we had the biggest amount of cases in one day so far and this 4th wave was certainly continuing to be a worry:
https://vietnamnews.vn/society/985492/viet-nam-sees-record-high-daily-increase-of-covid-19-cases-on-saturday.html
At 11.48 a text confirmed there had been no response from immigration as promised so we could perhaps assume I was still leaving, although it would still be double checked on Monday when they were back at work. This would mean that option 1 of leaving on Tuesday was definitely cutting it fine so when Captain Caveman returned we decided to go with option 2 of me going to Hanoi next Friday, but we would book the flight on Monday, which was Captain Caveman’s payday. This would also give me time to still attend my own leaving celebrations on Monday too. I researched new phones and found the one I needed which I would also be better off getting in Hanoi because of availability. I got a message from Funny Monkey’s to say that a friend from Dong Hoi had sent Captain Caveman and I a gift, what a lovely surprise. That night Captain Caveman made a massive mushroom risotto and we didn’t argue, he was looking forward to getting back to work and had even managed to be working on Monday, meaning he couldn’t come to celebrate me leaving Phong Nha.

There was some excitement on Sunday 4th July when we used our new gifts. Mo, from Earth cafe in Dong Hoi, had sent us each a cup for our morning drinks and it was such a lovely thing to do. I had jasmine tea in mine, Captain Caveman had Vietnamese coffee and I made more pancake mixture for my breakfast. For some reason neither of us had any lunch but we decided after some time in the pool that we would go to the Farmstay for sunset drinks. It was happy hour so to keep it cheap we both just had 2 for 1 Huda beer, which I hadn’t drank in quite some time. We watched the buffalo get fed and washed in the fields, we chatted about expats getting kicked out of Vietnam and cycling in hot sun with 2 of the Phong Nha Farmstay guests. The two of them were going to Son Doong next week and they were really looking forward to it.
Back home, while Captain Caveman cooked our dinner, I checked with East Hill that they could accommodate us tomorrow at 11.30am for my leaving lunch and started to get a bit concerned about fitting everything in that I needed to do!

Video of a farmer feeding his buffalo

Photo credit – Captain Caveman

Phong Nha – 2nd July

One good thing to come out of the recent passport, visa, money, lack of tourism issues was that I hadn’t been drinking wine as much or eating as many treats. The last of my worries at the moment was whether I was thinner or fatter but none of my bras fit now and at least I would be able to get some new ones when I left. I didn’t have any breakfast as I started going through my clothes and working out what I was taking with me to Turkey and what I would leave here for if/when I could come back. Captain Caveman was in Phong Nha and had got the suitcases out at the Glass House so we could bring them over to pack when he could borrow a car. As is usual there is often an electrical item requiring transporting between countries and this time would be no different. I’d been away from Turkey for almost 18 months and from England for 3 years but I definitely needed to carry an electric BBQ hotplate back with me and, if I had time, I would buy a new phone and take a small rice cooker too.
I had 2 options for flights out of Vietnam that were the most suitable for me and I double checked all of the details, ready for Captain Caveman coming home so that we could book everything with his Vietnamese bank card.

These were my flight options:

Option 1 (the legal one)
•PCR test in Dong Hoi Tues 6/7 09:00
•Pick up PCR test result Wed 7/7 09:00
•Fly to Hanoi Wed 7/7 13:30
•Arrive in Hanoi 14:40
•Fly to Singapore 18:50
•Arrive in Singapore 23:25
•Fly to Istanbul 01:45 Thurs 8/7
•Arrive in Istanbul 07:45
•Fly to Dalaman 11:55
•Arrive in Dalaman 13:10
•Car to Dalyan to arrive at Fire Opal apartment by 14:00 on Thursday 8th July, the day before my visa expires!

Option 2 (the illegal overstay one)
•Fly to Hanoi Fri 9/7 13:30 or Sun 11/7 if that one cancels
•Arrive in Hanoi 14:40
•Stay in Hanoi for 4 days (or 2 days)
•PCR test in Hanoi Mon 11/7 09:00
•Pick up PCR test result Mon 11/7 17:00
•Fly to Singapore 12:35 Tues 12/7
•Arrive in Singapore 17:05
•Wait at airport for 8.5hrs
•Fly to Istanbul 01:45 Wed 14/7
•Arrive in Istanbul 07:45
•Fly to Dalaman 11:55
•Arrive in Dalaman 13:10
•Car to Dalyan to arrive at Fire Opal apartment by 14:00 on Wednesday 14th July, 5 days after my visa expires!

There were pros and cons of both options really but the main one being that if the flight from Dong Hoi to Hanoi cancelled on option 1 there was no wiggle room and I would miss my international flight. The downsides to option 2 was that I had to not catch Corona in Hanoi for 4 days and pay an unknown amount of overstay fine at the airport when I left.

Leaving Phong Nha sooner rather than later, seemed like a sensible approach at first so at 9.30am I was checking the logistics of the PCR test and researching the number of flights which didn’t get cancelled from Dong Hoi to Hanoi. If I did take Option 1, the legal one, there was a massive risk that the domestic flight would get cancelled and I wouldn’t have time to get to Hanoi by train for my international flight. Refunds were taking up to a month in some cases which then meant I would not have the money in the bank to book another flight and I would still be overstaying. I decided to go for option 2, to deliberately overstay and get my PCR test in Hanoi, which gave me much more time to get another flight or overnight train from Dong Hoi to Hanoi if needed. Everything was decided and Captain Caveman would be back from Phong Nha shortly so we could go ahead and book it.
At 10.22 I got a message to ask if I had booked my flights yet and when I said I hadn’t, I was told ‘do not book the ticket’! Immigration had agreed to take another look (maybe they had just got round to reading the memo) and would call back this afternoon. When Captain Caveman returned he was a bit surprised but we were both hopeful that it would be good news and I could stay a bit longer, at least until I could get my second jab and say goodbyes.
Captain Caveman made us bacon and asparagus for brunch, followed by mangosteen, as neither of us had eaten yet and we were going to treat ourselves to pizza night at The Villas tonight, taking my passport so that I could submit it if necessary. We saw that Eric the wasp had come for a visit but got himself in to difficulty trying to drink from the pool, Captain Caveman saved him and put him on the wall to recover.

By 6pm I had still not heard back about the visa situation which was disappointing because now the immigration office was closed until Monday morning and I still didn’t know what was going on. We were picked up by the Phong Nha Farmstay for pizza night and Captain Caveman had drawn out some extra money from his non-vietnamese account to tide us over a bit. When we got to The Villas, Captain Caveman asked if he could borrow the car to collect my suitcases so I could at least get packed. He knew I was stressed so he told me to order what I liked and off he went – I didn’t need telling twice and I ordered a glass of red wine. Tatas was already there so I sat opposite her at the end of the table, Veronika and the family sat at a different table as the long table outside didn’t have as many available seats tonight. Trang, Andrew and their son arrived and were getting their temperature checks as Momma D arrived with Kevin, the dog, then Hien and her daughter arrived shortly after. Even though we have not yet had any cases of Corona where we are it’s good to see that The Villas records all the temperature data of each customer, the tables are set according to the rules and it feels very safe. When Captain Caveman returned he ended up sitting at the other end of the table opposite Andrew and when the Funny Monkeys bunch arrived a bit later they sat on another table. At 7.40pm I was sent a message to say that our contact in immigration would be going in to the office tomorrow morning and a decision about whether I’m going or staying would be communicated to me before lunch. After all the toing and froing I was becoming indifferent about it but still sad that this could be my last all you can eat pizza night! I had 3 glasses of the quality red wine at The Villas and thoroughly enjoyed each one, the pizzas were as delicious as always. Back home we put the suitcases in the bedroom, wondering how soon I’d be checking them in!

Phong Nha – 1st July

My day on Thursday 1st July started with me asking if I should bring my passport over to Victory Road Villas tonight so that it could be submitted for another visa extension. There was lots of information on various Facebook groups retracting the information that said all tourist visa extensions had been stopped and that they were definitely being extended now, so I was pretty confident all would go ahead once the authorities in Dong Hoi ‘read their memos’. At 09:13 I got a reply to say we were still waiting for immigration to reply and we just had to wait. Having wasted too much time faffing about already this morning, I decided to make several pancakes at once and as they were turning out on the crispy side I popped a few in a tuppaware box for later – the walnut milk was not as good as the almond milk but it didn’t taste as sweet so it was a tough one which to use for the best results. When Captain Caveman returned he had picked up 2kg of mangosteen from Mina and we had a quick check on if we still had enough cash to go to Fish and Chips night at The Villas later. We had 832,000vnd (£25.80) left until pay day and the special tonight was 175,000vnd (£5.42) each and a glass of wine is 110,000vnd (£3.41) but we were going for it! For lunch we had Baba Ganoush on what I thought might still be crispy pancakes but they had gone to the consistency of proper pancakes again and were delicious. We shared some mangosteens and discussed our plans for the rest of the weekend, which kind of depended on me staying in Vietnam and me getting the answer we wanted from immigration. I would be sad to leave Phong Nha and Vietnam but of course I had already started to try to keep positive and remind myself of everything I could look forward to if I was to go back to Turkey next week.
We got picked up at 6pm and headed over to meet Tatas and Craig Davis with Veronika and the Farmstay guests. At 18.27, as we were at the dinner table, I got a message which said that immigration could not do an extension this month. It was suggested that I try asking elsewhere, maybe an agent in Hanoi or Hoi An. I asked about an overstay or exit visa but I was told that I must leave before the 9th July, they did not know how much overstay fees were – that was whatever the airport staff wanted to charge. I legally had only 8 days left in Vietnam and the airline which I preferred to use only had flights once per week. It didn’t seem real until, as we were leaving, one of the lovely Phong Nha Farmstay guests gave me a massive hug and wished me well for leaving Vietnam.